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    Friday, July 27th, 2007

    SOUTH AMERICA - Reading The World

    southamericamap.gif

    South America
    Countries read are in bold blue

    Potential books to be read are listed below each country. Books read are in red. An asterisk (*) indicates books I own but have not read yet.

    1. Argentina (Buenos Aires)

    2. Bolivia (Sucre)

    3. Brazil (Brasilia)

    4. Chile (Santiago)

    5. Colombia (Bogota)

    6. Ecuador (Quito)

    7. Guyana (Georgetown)

    8. Paraguay (Asuncion)

    9. Peru (Lima)

    10. Suriname (Paramaribo)

    11. Uruguay (Montevideo)

    12. Venezuela (Caracas)

    Friday, July 27th, 2007

    NORTH AMERICA - Reading The World

    northamericamap.gif

    North America

    Countries read are in bold blue

    Potential books to be read are listed below each country. Books read are in red. An asterisk (*) indicates books I own but have not read yet.

    1. Antigua and Barbuda (St. Johns)

    2. Bahamas (Nassau)

    3. Barbados (Bridgetown)

    4. Belize (Belmopan)

    5. Canada (Ottawa)

    6. Costa Rica (San Jose)

    7. Cuba (Havana)

    8. Dominica (Roseau)

    9. Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo)

    10. El Salvador (San Salvador)

    11. Grenada (St. George’s)

    12. Guatemala (Guatemala City)

    13. Haiti (Port-au-Prince)

    14. Honduras (Tegucigaipa)

    15. Jamaica (Kingston)

    16. Mexico (Mexico City)

    17. Nicaragua (Managua)

    18. Panama (Panama City)

    19. Saint Kitts and Nevis (Basseterre)

    20. Saint Lucia (Castries)

    21. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (Kingstown)

    22. Trinidad and Tobago (Port-of-Spain)

    23. United States (Washington D.C.)

     

     

     

    Friday, July 27th, 2007

    AUSTRALIA/OCEANIA - Reading The World

    australiaoceaniamap.gif

    Australia - Oceania
    (click on map to enlarge)

    Countries read are in bold blue

    Potential books to be read are listed below each country. Books read are in red. An asterisk (*) indicates books I own but have not read yet.

    1. Australia (Canberra)

    2. Fiji (Suva)

    3. Kiribati (Bairiki)

    4. Marshall Islands (Majuro)

    5. Micronesia (Palikir)

    6. Nauru (no official capital)

    7. New Zealand (Wellington)

    8. Palau (Koror)

    9. Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby)

    10. Samoa (Apia)

    11. Solomon Islands (Honiara)

    12. Tonga (Nuku’alofa)

    13. Tuvalu (Funafuti)

    14. Vanuatu (Port-Vila)

     

    Friday, July 27th, 2007

    ASIA - Reading The World

    asiamap.jpg

    Asia

    Countries read are in bold blue

    Potential books to be read are listed below each country. Books read are in red. An asterisk (*) indicates books I own but have not read yet.

    1. Afghanistan (Kabul)

    2. Azerbaijan (Baku)

    3. Bahrain (Manama)

    4. Bangladesh (Dhaka)

    5. Bhutan (Thimphu)

    6. Brune (Bander Seri Begawan)

    7. Burma/Myanmar (Yangon)

    8. Cambodia (Phnom Penh)

    9. China (Beijin)

    10. Cyprus (Nicosia)

    11. East Timor (Dili)

    12. India (New Delhi)

    13. Indonesia (Jakarta)

    14. Iran (Tehran)

    15. Iraq (Baghdad)

    16. Israel (Jerusalem)

    17. Japan (Tokyo)

    18. Jordan (Amman)

    19. Kazakstan (Astana)

    20. Korea, North (Pyongyang)

    21. Korea, South (Seoul)

    22. Kuwait (Kuwait City)

    23. Kyrgyzstan (Bishkek)

    24. Laos (Vientiane)

    25. Lebanon (Beirut)

    26. Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)

    27. Maldivs (Male)

    28. Mongolia (Ulan Bator)

    29. Nepal (Kathmandu)

    30. Oman (Muscat)

    31. Pakistan (Islamabad)

    33. Quatar (Doha)

    34. Saudi Arabia (Riyadh)

    35. Singapore (Singapore City)

    36. Sri Lanka (Colombo)

    37. Syria (Damascus)

    38. Tajikistan (Dushanbe)

    39. Tibet (Lhasa)

    40. Thailand (Bangkok)

    41. Turkey (Ankara)

    42. Turkmenistan (Ashgabat)

    43. United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi)

    44. Uzbekistan (Tashkent)

    45. Vietnam (Hanoi)

    46. Yeman (Sana)

    Friday, July 27th, 2007

    EUROPE - Reading The World

    europemap.gif

    Europe
    (click on map to enlarge)

    Countries read are in bold blue

    Potential books to be read are listed below each country. Books read are in red. An asterisk (*) indicates books I own but have not read yet.

    1. Albania (Tirane)

    2. Andorra (Andorra la Vella)

    3. Armenia (Yerevan)

    4. Austria (Vienna)

    5. Belarus (Minsk)

    6. Belgium (Brussels)

    7. Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo)

    8. Bulgaria (Sofia)

    9. Cape Verde (Praia)

    10. Croatia (Zagreb)

    11. Czech Republic (Prague)

    12. Denmark (Copenhagen)

    13. Estonia (Tallinn)

    14. Finland (Helsinki)

    15. France (Paris)

    16. Georgia (Tbilisi)

    17. Germany (Berlin)

    18. Greece (Athens)

    19. Hungary (Budapest)

    20. Iceland (Reykjavik)

    21. Ireland (Dublin)

    22. Italy (Rome)

    23. Latvia (Riga)

    24. Liechtenstein (Vaduz)

    25. Lithuania (Vilnius)

    26. Luxembourg (Luxembourg)

    27. Macedonia (Skopje)

    28. Malta (Valletta)

    29. Moldova (Chisinau)

    30. Monaco (Monaco)

    31. Montenegro (Podgorica)

    32. Netherlands (Amsterdam, The Hague)

    33. Norway (Oslo)

    34. Poland (Warsaw)

    35. Portugal (Lisbon)

    36. Romania (Bucharest)

    37. Russia (Moscow)

    38. San Marino (San Marino)

    39. Serbia (Belgrade)

    40. Slovakia (Bratislava)

    41. Slovenia (Ljublijana)

    42. Spain (Madrid)

    43. Sweden (Stockholm)

    44. Switzerland (Bern)

    45. Ukraine (Kiev)

    46. United Kingdom (London)

    47. Vatican City (na)

    Thursday, July 26th, 2007

    AFRICA - Reading the World

    africa_map.gif

    Africa
    (click on map to enlarge)

    Countries read are in bold blue

    Potential books to be read are listed below each country. Books read are in red. An asterisk (*) indicates books I own but have not read yet.

    1. Algeria (Algers)

    2. Angola (Luanda)

    3. Benin (Port-Novo)

    4. Botswana (Gaborone)

    5. Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou)

    6. Burundi (Bujumbura)

    7. Cameroon (Yaounde)

    8. Central African Republic (Bangui)

    9. Chad (N’Djamena)

    10. Comoros (Moroni)

    11. Congo (Brazzaville)

    12. Congo, Democratic Republic of (Kinshasa)

    13. Cote d’Ivoire/Ivory Coast (Yamoussoukro)

    14. Djibouti (Djibouti)

    15. Egypt (Cairo)

    16. Equatorial Guinea (Malabo)

    17. Eritrea (Asmara)

    18. Ethiopia (Addis Ababa)

    19. Gabon (Liberville)

    20. Gambia (Banjul)

    21. Ghana (Accra)

    22. Guinea (Conakry)

    23. Guinea-Bissau (Bissau)

    24. Kenya (Nairobi)

    25. Lesotho (Maseru)

    26. Liberia (Monrovia)

    27. Libya (Tripoli)

    28. Madagascar (Antananarivo)

    29. Malawi (Lilongwe)

    30. Mali (Bamako)

    31. Mauritania (Nouakchott)

    32. Mauritius (Port Louis)

    33. Morocco (Rabat)

    34. Mozambique (Maputo)

    35. Namibia (Windhoek)

    36. Niger (Niamey)

    37. Nigeria (Abuja)

    38. Rwanda (Kigali)

    39. Sao Tome and Principe (Sao Tome)

    40. Senegal (Dakar)

    41. Seychelles (Victoria)

    42. Sierra Leone (Freetown)

    43. Somalia (Mogadishu)

    44. South Africa (Pretoria, Cape Town, Bleoemfontein)

    45. Sudan (Kartoum)

    46. Swaziland (Mbabane)

    47. Tanzania (Dodoma)

    48. Togo (Lome)

    49. Tunisia (Tunis)

    50. Uganda (Kampala)

    51. Zambia (Lusaka)

    52. Zimbabwe (Harare)

    Thursday, July 26th, 2007

    Reading The World

    In the last year, I have become interested in reading world literature. I was surprised the other day when I sat down and reviewed my 2007 reads and found I’d read many books either set in other countries, or authored by foreign writers.

    Several lit-bloggers have proposed world literature challenges: Reading Across Borders, Around the World in 80 Books, and Book Around the World. One of my favorite blogs is Around the World in 100 Books - a blog devoted to reading world literature.

    So, I have decided to set up my own plan to read around the world. I’m not setting a deadline. I’m not formally joining any of the challenges (except for Reading Across Borders which is an ongoing challenge I’m doing).

    There is some disagreement among scholars how many countries actually exist. The numbers range from 189 to 194. I have decided to use the list compiled by WorldAtlas.com and found here. My goal is to read at least one book for each country listed. The book(s) I choose will either be in translation from that country, primarily set in that country or written by an author from that country. I want to get a sense of each country from the books I read.

    I plan to gather my ideas about books from several sources, including (but not limited to) the following:

    1. Michelle’s blog at 3m3a and her list of potential books from around the world
    2. Bonnie’s blog at Book Around The World
    3. The wonderful blog Around The World in 100 Books
    4. Books in Translation Yahoo group
    5. The magazine World Literature Today

    So Far This is What My World Literature Map looks like:
    create your own visited countries map or vertaling Duits NederlandsIf you would like to customize a map like this for YOUR world reading, you may do so by visiting this site.

    Thursday, July 26th, 2007

    Blogging Tips Meme

    Bonnie over at Bonnie’s Books has tagged me for this meme…and it looks like fun so here goes:

    -Start Copy-

    It’s very simple. When this is passed on to you, copy the whole thing, skim the list and put a * star beside those that you like. (Check out especially the * starred ones.)

    Add the next number (1. 2. 3. 4. 5., etc.) and write your own blogging tip for other bloggers. Try to make your tip general.

    After that, tag 10 other people. Link love some friends!

    Just think - if 10 people start this and the 10 people pass it on to another 10 people, you have 100 links already!

    1. Look, read, and learn. *** http://www.neonscent.com/

    2. Be EXCELLENT to each other. ** http://www.bushmackel.com/

    3. Don’t let money change ya! * http://www.therandomforest.info/

    4. Always reply to your comments. ***** http://chattiekat.com/

    5. Link liberally — it keeps you and your friends afloat in the Sea of Technorati. * http://chipsquips.com/

    6. Don’t give up - persistence is fertile. * http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/

    7. Give link credit where credit is due. *** http://www.sfsignal.com/

    8. Pictures say a thousand words and can usually add to any post. ** http://scifichick.com/

    9. Visit all the bloggers that leave comments for you - it’s nice to know who is reading! * http://stephaniesbooks.blogspot.com/

    10. Thrown in something humorous occasionally, to keep things fun. http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/

    11. Make it easy for your readers - use tags and labels and keep it simple! http://www.caribousmom.com

    -End Copy-

    Time to pass it on, so here are my 10 links …

    HeidiJane at Adventures in Bookland
    CoversGirl at Between The Covers
    Nyssaneala at Book Haven
    Sally at Books and Musings From Down Under
    Rebecca at Fond of Books
    Maggie at Maggie Reads
    Joy at Overwhelmed With Joy
    Amy at The Sleepy Reader
    Dane at So Many Books So Little Time
    MaryDell at A Variety of Words

    Sunday, July 22nd, 2007

    Birds Without Wings - Book Review

    “Man is a bird without wings,” Iskander told them, “and a bird is a man without sorrows.” -From Birds Without Wings, page 44-

    “Well, the mystery is a shallow one, and not very difficult to fathom, Polyxeni Hanim. I clip their wings because most people don’t want to buy a bird that might escape so that they have to sprout their own feathers in a flash and take off in hot pursuit. Most people couldn’t be bothered, you see. People make odd birds; they don’t fly much.” -From Birds Without Wings, page 50-

    For birds with wings nothing changes; they fly where they will and they know nothing about borders and their quarrels are very small. But we are always confined to earth, no matter how much we climb to the high places and flap our arms. Because we cannot fly, we are condemned to do things that do not agree with us. Because we have no wings we are pushed into struggles and abominations that we did not seek, and then, after all that, the years go by, the mountains are levelled, the valleys rise, the rivers are blocked by sand and the cliffs fall into the sea. -From Birds Without Wings, page 550-551-

    This is not a novel which can be read quickly. It must be read slowly and contemplatively to fully enjoy its message. There were several times I almost stopped reading - but, because this was a challenge read, I kept plugging along. And I am glad I did. Louis De Bernieres’ thoughtful novel - Birds Without Wings - is one that deserves to be read and considered in light of the history it is based on.

    In the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, a small village in southwestern Anatolia is home to a fascinating cast of characters: Philothei, a beautiful Christian girl in love with Ibrahim - a Muslim; Drosoula, Philothei’s homely best friend; Karatavak and Mehmetcik who play their bird whistles and pretend to fly; Rustem Bey and his beautiful mistress Leyla Hanim; The Dog - who lives among the dead and flashes his ghastly smile; Iskander the Potter; Velad the Fat; Ali the Snowbringer; and a real person from Turkish history, Mustafa Kemal, who is known for his famous statement: “I am not ordering you to attack, I am ordering you to die. By the time that we are dead, other units and other commanders will arrive to take our place.” -From Birds Without Wings, page 314-

    Told in alternating points of view over a span of more than twenty years, the novel is a series of glimpses into village life, the horrors of trench warfare, and the political and historical events which define the story. De Bernieres gives the reader insight into the villagers, using humor to soften the sometimes brutal reality. When war comes to Turkey, no one in the village is not spared the consequences.

    I was most touched by the boyhood friendship between Karatavak (the blackbird) and Mehmetcik (the robin). One Muslim, the other Christian, they maintain their friendship despite being separated by war and geography. Karatavak’s recollections of the battles in Gallipoli are shocking, brutal and filled with sorrow - and yet, he also shows the survival of humanity amid the tragedy.

    The novel also explores the conflicts between Muslims and Christians, Turks and Greeks and Armenians, the working classes and those with education and money. De Bernieres seems to be making a statement about the pointless and arbitrary nature of war and conflict between countries and races.

    The Greek Prime Minister, Eleftherios Venizelos, submits a memorandum in which Greece lays claim to Thrace and to western Anatolia. he proposes a voluntary exchange of Turkish and Greek populations. The idea seems terribly sensible, as if it is a perfectly acceptable idea that the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent individuals should be arbitrarily disrupted in the interests of nation-building. -From Birds Without Wings, page 401-


    De Bernieres brings a strong sense of place to his novel - from the idyllic setting of the village of Eskibahce…

    The town itself rose up to the left-hand side, occupying a concave hillside that was like a vast amphitheatre. In it our ancestors could have built the biggest theatre in the world, had the idea occurred to them, because down at the bottom was the meydan, which might have been a natural stage. In the meydan, and I swear this is not some mischievous traveller’s tale, there was actually a family living with an asthmatic donkey in the hollowed trunk of an enormous tree. More than anything else this illustrates how quickly civilised standards tailed away the further you got from Smyrna. This was the kind of place wehre you might find beehives actually inside people’s houses, and people making cattle food in their kitchens, consisting of cakes made of apricot and walnut leaves. -From Birds Without Wings, page 236-237-

    …to the impoverished streets of Galata…

    Emaciated dogs squabbled with naked infants and pigs over heaps of rubbish, offal and excrement. Prostitutes, filthy, flaunting and inebriated, howled and catcalled from the doorways and balconies. Tattered chickens with bleeding rumps scratched in the gutters. A dead cat lay swelling on the cobbles, circled by crows. Rats preened their whiskers in the cornerways. Shutters and doors sagged from their rotting frames on broken hinges, roofs patched with packing case and cardboard caved gently in up on their beams, and dead-eyed drunks swerved along the straitened alleyways or slept stupefied in the gutters, their mouths working soundlessly, their chins flecked with spittle. “At least,” thought Rustem Bey, “there is no one here who will endure the pains and troubles of growing old,” but it was so grim that he found himself thinking that there was nothing to do with such a place, except burn it to the ground and start again. He gave thanks to God that it had not been his destiny to live in such a hell of desperation, filth  and iniquity, but it did not yet strike him as paradoxical that he had come here in order to seek his happiness. -From Birds Without Wings, page 160-161-


    This is not a novel which was easy to read - although I enjoyed the occasional humor and insights. At over 550 pages in length with very small print, it took me more than a week to get through. In the end, I was left with a good sense of the history of Turkey in the last days of the Ottoman Empire. I’m glad I took the time to read this fascinating novel.

    Recommended.

    Saturday, July 21st, 2007

    Summer Crossing - Book Review

    There’s nothing to change the spirit like a summer crossing. -From Summer Crossing, page 18-

    In late 2004, Sotheby’s in New York contacted Alan Schwartz who is a trustee of The Truman Capote Literary Trust. A manuscript had been delivered to Sotheby’s for auction which appeared to be an early, unpublished novel by Truman Capote. The manuscript turned out to be Capote’s first novel (really a novella) drafted when he was only nineteen years old. Schwartz’ decision to publish this early work in 2005 has given readers the opportunity to enjoy a novel whose style and insight probably led to Capote’s penning of Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

    Summer Crossing is a slim novel with surprising depth. Grady McNeil, a New York socialite, is spending a summer alone in the city. On the cusp of her eighteenth birthday, she is ripe for independence. Her budding relationship with a Jewish war veteran leads her down a path where the future is far from clear.

    It was as if the world where they joined were a ship, one becalmed between two islands that were themselves: with any effort he could see th shore of her, but his was lost in the unlifting mist. -From Summer Crossing, page 40-

    As a summer heat wave descends on New York City, the novel also heats up - leaving Grady with the consequences of her decisions.

    Toward midafternoon, as the heat closed in like a hand over a murder victim’s mouth, the cit thrashed and twisted but, with its outcry muffled, its hurry hampered, its ambitions hindered, it was like a dry fountain, some useless monument, and so sank into a coma. -From Summer Crossing, page 96-

    Capote’s deft literary style explores such themes as sexuality in the mid 1940s,  as well as cultural, socioeconomic, class and religious issues during that time period.  Filled with stunning insights into a young girl’s emotional development, the novel is a compelling read.  Capote uses symbolism artfully.

    Somehow the leopard does not suffer; nor the panther: their swagger makes distinct claims upon the pulse, for not even the indignities of confinement can belittle the danger of their Asian eyes, those gold and ginger flowers blooming with a bristling courage in the dusk of captivity. -From Summer Crossing, page 44-

    I breezed through this novel in less than a day, carried away by Capote’s fine sense of place, as well as his deep understanding of the characters. A fastidiously written first novel, Summer Crossing is well worth the read.

    Highly recommended.

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