The List So Far...
Below are the books that I've read and am counting towards my 100 books. There will be some books you'll read about on my blog that won't appear in the list - either because I've already read an author from that country but couldn't resist another, or because they aren't relevant to the 100 countries challenge. This list will be updated as I finish books.
1. In Lucia’s Eyes, by Arthur Japin (Holland)
2. Les Liaisons Culinaires, by Andreas Staïkos (Greece)
3. Spring Flowers, Spring Frost, by Ismail Kadare (Albania)
4. No Saints or Angels, by Ivan Klíma (Czech Republic)
5. Embers, by Sándor Márai (Hungary)
6. The Czar's Madman, by Jaan Kross (Estonia)
7. The Three Cornered Hat, by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón (Spain)
8. The Fish Can Sing, by Halldór Laxness (Iceland)
9. Les Enfants Terribles, by Jean Cocteau (France)
10. Journey In Blue, by Stig Dalager (Denmark)
11. Reunion, by Fred Uhlman (Germany)
12. Home And Exile, by Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)
13. As The Crow Flies, by Véronique Tadjo (Côte d'Ivoire)
14. So Long A Letter, by Mariama Ba (Senegal) AND Scarlet Song, by Mariama Ba (Senegal)
15. Ancestor Stones, by Aminatta Forna ( Sierra Leone)
16. The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, by Ayi Kwei Armah (Ghana)
17. This Blinding Absence of Light, by Tahar Ben Jelloun (Morocco)
18. Woman At Point Zero, by Nadal El Saadawi (Egypt)
19. Memories of My Melancholy Whores, by Gabriel Garcia Márquez (Colombia)
20. Waiting, by Ha Jin (China) and A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, by Yiyun Li (China)
21. Death In The Andes, by Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
22. Dirty Havana Trilogy, by Pedro Juan Gutierrez (Cuba)
23. If This Is A Man & The Truce, by Primo Levi (Italy)
24. The Lady, The Chef and The Courtesan, by Marisol (Venezuela)
25. The Obscene Bird of Night, by Jose Donoso (Chile) AND Memoirs, by Pablo Neruda (Chile)
26. The Red Queen, by Margaret Drabble (UK)
27. Thirteen Cents, by K. Sello Duiker (South Africa)
28. The Fatal Eggs, by Mikhail Bulgakov (Russia)
29. Pedro Páramo, by Juan Rulfo (Mexico)
30. Mugasha: Epic of the Bahaya, by Nyambura Mpesha (Kenya)
31. Nehanda, by Yvonne Vera (South Africa)
32. The Lonely Londoners, by Sam Selvon (Trinidad)
33. Shipwrecks, by Akira Yoshimura (Japan)
34. The Sorrow of War, by Bao Ninh (Vietnam)
9 comments:
I feel bad. I haven't read any of these books. Which one would you recommend to start with?
Riikka
I frequently see lists where I haven't read anything on them, so don't feel bad! There are just so many books! From this list, I'd definitely recommend Reunion by Fred Uhlman - very powerful. Also Embers and This Blinding Absence of Light. But I've enjoyed almost everything on the list!
I don't see anything Swedish yet...although it looks as though you're touring in South America at the moment, if you feel like a side trip to Sweden, I strongly recommend "Doctor Glas", a classic which is so good! Even though it was written about 100 years ago it is fresh and still so relevant. Loved it. And love your blog; it inspires!
That's an impressive list! I need to copy it down for when I am looking for a good foreign read! I also have not read any of the authors though there are several I have contemplated reading. It would be interesting comparing the different writing styles and subject matters!
What did you think of the Armah?
Armah's expressions of imagery are possibly the best I've come across - I read in another review somewhere that after reading The Beautyful Ones you'd never look at a banister in the same way again. Completely true, every time I go to put my hand on a rail on a public stairwell, one of Armah's passages about layers of grime and filth come back to me. I'd definitely be interested to read something more of his at some point.
That's excellent. That novel seems to be assigned a lot in classrooms but Armah doesn't get read much beyond that; which is a shame because he's a rewarding novelist.
So true about Armah and imagery! You've done so fabulously well on your African countries, but here's another that you really must read: NERVOUS CONDITIONS by Tsitsi Dangarembga from Zimbabwe. At 208 pages, does that fit into your shortish category?!
P.S.- Doctor Glas is written by Hjalmar Soderberg, and is 150 pgs. long. Nice and short... :)
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