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Random books from shawnd's library

A Walk in the Dark by Gianrico Carofiglio

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell

Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion by Bernie Marcus

The Rainbow Stories (Contemporary American Fiction) by William Vollmann

Heart of Darkness (Norton Critical Editions) by Joseph Conrad

Crime and Punishment (Penguin Classics) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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Member: shawnd

CollectionsYour library (519)

Reviews272 reviews

Tagsbusiness (75), contemporary fiction (57), cultural studies (44), classics (38), Africa (30), american (30), action (30), mystery (27), Russia (21), children's (17) — see all tags

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

Groups30-something LibraryThingers, Buddhism, Fans of Russian authors, Reading Globally

Favorite authorsMikhail Bulgakov, Douglas Coupland, Nikolai Gogol, Amélie Nothomb, Alexander Pushkin, William Shakespeare, William T. Vollmann (Shared favorites)

About meARL 202001603253 ALEX 29012004270510 FRFX 22769102756701

About my libraryVisited Countries
Visited Countries Map from TravelBlog

**Africa**
Algeria - Assia Djebar - Children of the World
Angola - Pepetela - Jaime Bunda Secret Agent
Benin - Olympe Bhely-Quenum - Snares Without End
Botswana - Moteane Melamu - The Unweeded Garden and Other Stories
Chad - Joseph Brahim Seid - Told By Starlight in Chad
Congo-Brazzaville - Alain Mabanckou - African Psycho
Congo-Kinshasa - V.Y. Mudimbe - Before the Birth of the Moon
Djibouti - Abdourahman Waberi - The Land Without Shadows
Egypt - Ahmed Alaidy - Being Abbas el Abd
Ethiopia - Nega Mezlekia - The God Who Begat A Jackal
Kenya – Ngugi wa Thiong’o – Wizard of the Crow
La Cote d'Ivoire - Ahmadou Kourouma - Allah is not Obliged
Lesotho - Thomas Mofolo - Chaka
Libya - Hisham Matar - In The Country of Men
Malawi - James Ng'ombe - Sugarcane with Salt
Mali - Amatou Hampate Ba - The Fortunes of Wangrin
Morocco - Tahar Ben Jelloun - This Blinding Absence of Light
Mozambique - Mia Coutu - Under the Frangipani
Namibia - Joseph Diescho - Born of the Sun
Nigeria - Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani - I Do Not Come To You By Chance
Senegal - Sembene Ousmane - Xala
Sierra Leone - Ishmael Beah - A Long Way Gone
South Africa – J.M. Coetzee – Disgrace
Swaziland - Senzenjani Lukhele - Tell Me No More
Tanzania - Abdulrazak Gurnah - Paradise
Uganda - Moses Isegawa - Snakepit
Zambia - Quills of Desire - Binwell Sinyangwe
Zimbabwe - Solomon Mutswairo - Chaminuka: Prophet of Zimbabwe

**Asia**
China – Gao Xingjian – Soul Mountain
India – Aravind Ariga – The White Tiger
Pakistan - Bapsi Sidhwa - The Crow Eaters
Japan – Tsunetomo Yamamoto – Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

**Central America**
Costa Rica - Fabian Dobles - Years Like Brief Days

**Europe**
Austria - Thomas Bernhard - Execution
Belgium - Georges Simenon - Maigret at the Gai-Moulin
Czechoslovakia - Martin Simecka - The Year of the Frog
Denmark - Peter Hoeg - The Quiet Girl
England – Charles Dickens – Bleak House
France – Gustave Flaubert – a Sentimental Education
Germany - Erich Maria Remarque - All Quiet on the Western Front
Iceland - Haldor Laxness - The Atom Station
Ireland – James Joyce – Ulysses
Italy – Umberto Eco – Foucault’s Pendulum
Norway - Jo Nesbo - Redbreast
Poland - Andrzej Stasiuk - Nine
Portugal - Eca de Queiros - The Maias
Russia – Ivan Goncharov – Oblomov
Spain - Ildefonso Falcones - Cathedral of the Sea
Sweden - Henning Mankell - One Step Behind
Ukraine – Nikolai Gogol – The Overcoat and Other Short Stories

**North America**
Canada – Douglas Copeland – Life After God
Mexico - Gonzalo Celorio - And Let The Earth Tremble At Its Centers
US – Theodore Dreiser – An American Tragedy

**Australia**
Australia – Peter Carey – A True History of the Kelly Gang

**South America**
Argentina - Osvaldo Soriano - A Funny Dirty Little War
Bolivia - Edmundo Paz Soldan - Turing's Delirium
Chile - Antonio Skarmeta - The Dancer and the Thief
Colombia - Gabriel Garcia Marquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude
Peru - Mario Vargas Llosa - Death in the Andes

(N.B. No qualifying novels exist for Burundi, Falkland Islands, Mauritania, Madagascar, or Rwanda. For a novel to qualify (and this is my definition only), it must be fiction, non-poetry, set in that country, and the author must have been born and raised in that country, and must have resided in that country for the some part of their adult lives.)

I'll be postponing the Reading Globally Challenge in 2010 to read these 20th Century Russian authors:

Aldanov
Gorky
Grossman
Kaverin
Limonov
Pasternak
Pelevin
Platonov
Solzhenitsyn

Membership LibraryThing Early Reviewers/Member Giveaway

Real nameShawn Dolley

LocationArlington, Virginia, USA 22202

Account typepublic, lifetime

Connection NewsConnection News

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/shawnd (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/shawnd (library)

Common KnowledgeSeries (63), Awards (238), Characters (2390), Places (547)

Member sinceJun 30, 2007

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Knud Rasmussen didn't as such write fiction, but he was one of the first if not the first, who made literary collections of Greenlandic folktales. Greenlandic folktales can be read as fiction and alot af them is really interesting and funny.

posted by trisweather at 11:13 am (EST) on Oct 17, 2009

Have you look in the polar region thread? I think it was back in june or july we read about the polar regions. I posted about some books there.

Knud Rasmussen was born in Illulisat (Jakobshavn) 1879. He was the son of a Danish priest and a Greenlandic woman. So he was half Greenlandic. His importance for early polar research was huge and he did alot of work describing the inuit way of life.

posted by trisweather at 12:44 pm (EST) on Oct 16, 2009

I will see what I can find and get back to you as soon as possible

posted by trisweather at 12:53 pm (EST) on Oct 12, 2009

Hey Shawn,
I realise that I never replied to your South American question. I actually have very little to offer on the subject of South American writers. I have read little above the requisite single book for most nations. Books I would strongly recommend are:
Death in the Andes - Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
A Funny, Dirty Little War/Winter Quarters - Osvaldo Soriano (Argentina)
In Evil Hour - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Colombia)
Dona Ines Versus Oblivion - Anna Torres (Venezuela)
They are all blackly humorous, and have a dose of magical realism (mostly).

I don't actually have a written list of countries I haven't found anything for. It is more a sort of metal list. This is because if I haven't found anything I tend to leave the country for a while, go back later and expand my search (poetry, non-fiction, etc.). I have been very unsystematic about this, although I have some idea about how hard I've looked in any one case. Also, I have found that there is so much more available in second hand shops than you can find on the web, so I am still finding stuff from 'impossible' countries ('impossible' as defined by web searches). Seeing as you are in South America at the moment, I will mention that I have had no luck with Suriname. There is one Dutch Surinamese writer who is fairly well known, but not currently in print in English (or available out of print). Unfortunately I have lost his name for the moment.
Also, I get the impression that my 'rules' for assigning nationality are slightly more lax than yours, so there may be stuff that qualifies under my rules, but not yours. If you have questions about specific nations, then feel free to ask, but my list of currently unavailable/undiscovered ones is probably a bit long to post and, to be honest, I don't want to put it on LT to be bombarded with suggestions. I like doing the discovering every now and then, and prefer to take one nation at a time.
All the best,
Andy

posted by depressaholic at 1:12 pm (EST) on Oct 11, 2009

Oh, that's fine, Shawn. I knew there was someone else interested, I just couldn't think of your name at the time;-) The big question will be whether you will decide (perhaps between the two of you) whether to only do Russia proper or to include writers from countries which were part of the Soviet union, many of whom would have been writing in Russian. I mention this because of the Kyrgyzstani (sp?) author I recently read who wrote his books in both languages.

Decisions, decisions, eh? I'll leave you two to figure that out.

Thanks for taking up the reins! Best, Lois

posted by avaland at 5:57 pm (EST) on Oct 9, 2009

Hi Shawn,
I have read some good stuff from South America, though, with the exception of Argentina, not a lot from any one country. I have to be honest, I haven't really got a handle yet on the sort of thing you like to read, so maybe you could expand on that before I make any recommendations. I ask now, because a lot of the South American stuff I have read is a little more weird and/or challenging than average, and I wouldn't want to recommend something you hate.
All the best,
Andy

posted by depressaholic at 4:34 am (EST) on Sep 9, 2009

I notice your Zambia read was Binwell Sinyangwe. He was going to be mine as well, but I got hold of a book by a writer called Malama Katulwende. Mine turned out to be awful, unfortunately, and I have been planning a return to Zambia for a while. I notice you only gave yours a couple of stars. I take it you wouldn't recommend Sinyangwe?

I am very impressed with your progress. I know that I have said this before, but you really should consider posting. I like the fact that your list is almost entirely different to mine, it shows more depth than some people would have thought possible for certain countries. Keep me posted as yo progress! I was avoiding my challenge for a while this year, but I have got a bit bogged down in my other reading, so have picked up a couple from my TBR. Also, I am blogging on my reading for Oxfam, so I need to keep it moving as much as possible, to have something new to write. I just posted on Malta (not impressed) and am currently in Jordan, which is much more interesting.

As an afterthought, what did you think of your Malawi book?

posted by depressaholic at 12:02 pm (EST) on Aug 7, 2009

No, I haven't given up yet. I am easing off a bit, though. Last year I found I read too many bad books for the sake of my reading globally challenge, so this year I am trying to read more books I actually wanted to read for their own sake. It has worked to date, as I have had a very good reading year. I have enough 'new' countries to take me up to 143 (I think). My target for the year was to get up to 142, which would leave 50.

As an aside, I am not really 'trying' to read more from countries I have already visited (in the sense that it isn't a 'challenge', or anything like that). As I have passed through places I have found some authors I wanted to read more of, or where I came across two interesting authors and only read one I am now going back to read the other. The only reading challenge I am doing is the 192, the rest is just collateral I pick up along the way.

I haven't actually read the Rabearivelo (I presume that this is what you mean for Madagascar). I can't get hold of it for reasonable money, and it is not published in the UK, so inter-library loan is tricky. My partner works in Madagscar for several months each year (she makes TV programs) and have asked her to look in Tana when she gets the chance, but there aren't really any bookshops. At the moment it looks like it is poetry or nothing, but you never know.

My library is also very male biased. However, I am actually trying to tip the balance back a little bit. My current TBR is very male, but I am buying more books by female writers (especially Caribbean ones at the moment - I feel a reading jag coming on). I have at last found a couple of female writers who I am prepared to call favourites of mine, so I am expanding my horizons in that direction as well.

All the best,
Andy

posted by depressaholic at 4:43 am (EST) on Jul 21, 2009

I'm good, thanks for asking. I am accumulating new countries without managing to read any. I noted you Namibia read (the Diescho). I was in Windhoek not too long ago and saw the book, but decided to buy it elsewhere because it was too pricey. Needless to say, that was the first and last bookshop I saw on my journey. Diescho has written a sequel. My read for Namibia was 'The Purple Violet of Oshaanti' (I've got that a bit wrong, but can't remember the exact title), which wasn't great.

Burundi is a problem. I have found no fiction so far. There is a memoir by the athlete Gilbert Tuhabonye, which talks about his escape from genocide via his running, but I am holding off on this, as I would rather read literary fiction. I'll let you know if I come across anything in the future, and will, as always, follow your reading with interest.

posted by depressaholic at 3:04 pm (EST) on Jul 20, 2009

No, Ebnou was the best I can do at the moment. I am leaving Mauritania for a while, in case something crops up, but I think reading in French may be the only option.

posted by depressaholic at 2:57 pm (EST) on Jun 28, 2009

By the way, one thing that annoys me even more than the map not being updatable, is that Serbia and Montenegro are still listed as one country, and they are impossible to turn red. I know it shouldn't matter. but I've got this big hole in SE Europe where there shouldn't be one. I think I am too anally retentive.

posted by depressaholic at 3:43 pm (EST) on Jun 23, 2009

No, unfortunately you have to start from scratch. Its a pain, because it takes a while, but I haven't found a way of storing the data yet.

posted by depressaholic at 1:46 pm (EST) on Jun 22, 2009

Hi Shawn,
There is a link below my my that I use to update it, which now takes me to the larger version. If that doesn't work, then the full address is:
http://www.travelblog.org/VC/visited-cou...
That seems to work for me. I didn't know you were pursuing a Reading Globally challenge, but it looks like you are making fantastic progress. I would be interested to hear more about what you are finding out, either in the Reading Globally group or via direct chat.
All the best,
Andy

posted by depressaholic at 7:26 pm (EST) on Jun 18, 2009

ShawnD, You have posed an interesting challenge! I believe Africa is on the verge of breaking out beyond the stories of war and post-colonial identity. It may be the next generation of writers who will be freer to do this and certainly South Africa and Nigeria will likely be on the leading edge. I will have to give this some thought, but off the top of my head: Possibly something by Mia Couto of Mozambique. There is much of his I have not read. I suspect there is something by Nurrudin Farah (Somalia) that may fit your criteria, but though I have collected several of his novels, I have not read him yet. Abdulrazak Gurnah's (Zanzibar) By the Sea has a contemporary setting in the UK (the protagonist is an elderly asylum-seeker in the UK) but does spend quite a bit of time telling the back story. Doreen Baingana's (Uganda) collection of related stories - "Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebee" is set in the 1990s. There is the "Yacoubian Building" by Alaa al Aswany (Egypt) which is set in 1990. Laila Lalami and Tahar Ben Jelloun have written books about leaving Morocco. I have not read the later, but reviews indicate that Morocco is a persistent 'character' in the book. In the former, she tells a few of the backstories to understand why these people would risk their lives to cross the strait of Gibralter in tiny boat. Both of these are short books. I hope some of this helps. There is certainly much I have not read yet!

Other LTers you might ask: depressaholic, akeela (who lives in South Africa), kidzdoc OR feel free to start a thread in the Reading Globally group and put the question out there for everyone to brainstorm and contribute to.

Best, Lois

posted by avaland at 7:59 am (EST) on Apr 22, 2009

I was made curious by this part of your review of Cryptonomicon: "a humorous view of pre-revenue seed stage startups and the between-the-lines satire of their business plans." That part didn't stand out for me, I assume because I know little to nothing about the subject matter. I'm curious to know how you find it contrasts with reality.

posted by Cecrow at 7:51 am (EST) on Jan 19, 2009

read, enjoyed, and agreed with your review of the White Tiger.

posted by loosha at 10:25 pm (EST) on Dec 21, 2008

Hello. I apologize for the delay in responding, but I just looked at your comment. I don't visit this site frequently enough I suppose. I hope your visit with the author was pleasant and useful.

With regard to the book, I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, so I can't comment. I'll put up a review when I do read it.

posted by bingereader at 11:58 am (EST) on Aug 17, 2008

Hi
Forgive me for saying so, but I think you need to reread The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. your review is not at all accurate about Jaynes's central thesis, and is not at all whacky as you make it out to be.
Murr

posted by tomcatMurr at 12:49 am (EST) on Aug 4, 2008

Sorry - just noticed your Continental US comment.....

posted by Nitestar at 4:14 pm (EST) on Apr 28, 2008

Hi: I would love your book if you are done with it. Of course, I live in Montreal which would mean international...but it would be GREATLY appreciate. Thanks. TINA

posted by Nitestar at 4:13 pm (EST) on Apr 28, 2008

Your review of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel amuses me greatly because your tastes match mine: I am not a Harry Potter or Tolkien fan, but I just finished JSMN and am quite sad that it's over with. :)

posted by Spiraling at 3:32 am (EST) on Aug 31, 2007

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