Bookoholic13' World Tour

I thought I might as well join in the fun, so here's my list! I'll only list one book per country, even if I read more. For simplicity’s sake (not for any political reason), my list consists of the Members of the United Nations (192 countries as of today). I’m counting the author’s birth country or nationality, regardless of the individual book’s setting (unless eventually a country turns out to be "impossible," i.e. no books translated into a language I can read).

Afghanistan - The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Albania

Algeria

Andorra

Angola

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Armenia

Australia

Austria - The Devil in Vienna by Doris Orgel

Azerbaijan

Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belarus

Belgium

Belize

Benin

Bhutan

Bolivia

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Sista kulan sparar jag åt grannen (eng. translation of title: The Last Bullet, I'm Saving for the Neighbor) by Fausta Marianovic

Botswana

Brazil - The Alchemist (org. O Alquimista) by Paulo Coelho

Brunei Darussalam

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cambodia

Cameroon

Canada - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Cape Verde

Central African Republic

Chad

Chile

China

Colombia

Comoros

Congo, Democratic Republic of the (Congo-Kinshasa)

Congo, Republic of the (Congo-Brazzaville)

Costa Rica

Côte d'Ivoire

Croatia

Cuba

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Djibouti

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Eritrea

Estonia

Ethiopia

Fiji

Finland - Svinalängorna (org. Sikalat) by Susanna Alakoski

France - Tillsammans är man mindre ensam (org. Ensemble, C'est Tout) by Anna Gavalda

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany - Inkheart (org. Tintenhertz) by Cornelia Funke

Ghana - Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey

Greece

Grenada

Guatemala

Guinea, Republic of

Guinea, Republic of Equatorial (Equatorial Guinea)

Guinea-Bissau

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Hungary

Iceland - Jar City by Arnaldur Indriðason

India - Q & A by Vikas Swarup

Indonesia

Iran - Kalla det vad fan du vill by Marjaneh Bakhtiari

Iraq

Ireland - The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Israel - Laundry (org. ke'visa) by Suzane Adam

Italy

Jamaica

Japan - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Kiribati

Korea, Democratic People's Republic of (North Korea)

Korea, Republic of (South Korea)

Kuwait

Kyrgyzstan

Laos

Latvia

Lebanon - Gaza Blues by Samir El-Youssef (and Etgar Keret)

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Macedonia

Madagascar

Malawi

Malaysia

Maldives

Mali

Malta - Palestine by Joe Sacco

Marshall Islands

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mexico

Micronesia

Moldova

Monaco

Mongolia

Montenegro

Morocco - The Director and Other Stories from Morocco by Leila Abouzeid

Mozambique

Myanmar (Burma)

Namibia

Nauru

Nepal

Netherlands - The Twin (org. Boven is het stil) by Gerbrand Bakker

New Zealand

Nicaragua

Niger

Nigeria

Norway - Fladdermusmannen by Jo Nesbø

Oman

Pakistan

Palau

Panama

Papua New Guinea

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Poland - Run, Boy, Run by Uri Orlev

Portugal

Qatar

Romania

Russian Federation - There Are Jews in My House by Lara Vapnyar

Rwanda

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Samoa

San Marino

Sao Tome and Principe

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

Serbia

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Slovakia

Slovenia

Solomon Islands

Somalia

South Africa - Sommarsquash tokolosh! (eng. title: Gem Squash Tokoloshe) by Rachel Zadok

Spain

Sri Lanka

Sudan

Suriname

Swaziland

Sweden - Låt den rätte komma in (eng. title: Let the Right One In) by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Switzerland - Blue Pills (org. Pilules bleues) by Frederik Peeters

Syria

Tajikistan

Tanzania

Thailand

Timor-Leste

Togo

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia - Den trettonde lärjungen by Claude Kayat

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Tuvalu

Uganda

Ukraine - A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian by Marina Lewycka

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - Mr Clive & Mr Page by Neil Bartlett

United States of America - Light Fell by Evan Fallenberg

Uruguay - Little Indiscretions by Carmen Posadas

Uzbekistan

Vanuatu

Venezuela

Vietnam - Short Girls by Bich Minh Nguyen

Yemen

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Brazil - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The message of this tale is not difficult to understand - follow your dreams no matter what (and make whatever mistakes you need along the way). And, I'll buy that. What really attracted me to it, though, was its format - I love fairy tales and magic realism and I really enjoyed all the adventures and forays into the supernatural that this tale took me on. I love the mythical characters and only wish the book would have been longer. I'm not going to rush to read more Coelho, but next time I come across one of his books, I'll probably pick it up.

Canada - Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

I really enjoyed this as a light reading book. The best parts are the ones where Jacob is in the old people’s home, which are told with a very sincere sensitivity and also the end, which (although pretty ludicrous) is all kinds of awesome! Gruen has done a fair amount of research on circus-life during the Depression era and there are a lot of interesting historical tidbits. I wish there had been more of a description of the true circus-life, but this is more of a “troubled love”-story in a circus-setting than a circus-story with some troubled love in it. If nothing else, it made me interested in reading more about circus-life – getting inspired to read about something new is always good! It’s not a deep, serious novel by any means, but as long as you are prepared for that, it’s an enjoyable read. The animals are very well characterized, but some of the humans are very two-dimensional. And the bad guy just had to be mentally ill, didn’t he? That’s one of my pet peeves in novels (unless they’re actually about mental illness) when the evil guy is evil due to circumstances beyond his own control. It just doesn’t make for that interesting of a bad guy – you can’t wonder about his actions because they are really not actions at all, but merely reactions to brain chemistry. A really good book to bring to the beach or on a plane, but I won’t be falling over myself trying to find more of Gruen’s books.

Finland - Svinalängorna by Susanna Alakoski

This one may have won Augustpriset, but this was not a good ride. It's depressing to the max and although the truths revealed in this book are important and relevant, it failed to really speak to me. It may be because my childhood was so far removed from anything like this (and I do count myself lucky in that case). My biggest problem, however, is that the narrative doesn't flow very well; it's not so much a novel as a long row of vignettes that don't seem to have a real resolution. If this was Alakoski's childhood, I really understand why she needed to write it - as an exorcism of sorts - but I wish she had given us something uplifting at the end to really show that the girls will survive and flourish. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I want, if not a happy ending, at least an ending with a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. There is a hint of it - bitter one at that - but it's a little too little, a little too late in my opinion.

France - Tillsammans är man mindre ensam by Anna Gavalda

This started off a little slow for me - before you understand how the characters are/will be connected - but really took off once they got together. They're all so flawed and vulnerable that you just have to love them and care not only about their welfare, but about their happiness. I even cried at at least three different instances, which means I got very involved with the characters. The epilogue has some fun parts, but I wouldn't have minded if it had been left off. Just heard that a movie's made.... Hmm, not quite sure they'll pull off the true heart of the book, which is in the interior monologues. But, we'll see.... I just hope they don't make it into a romantic mess instead of letting the characters be their own nasty, honest selves.

Germany - Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Obviously, the premise appeals to any bookworm: What if you could read characters out of their books? (Winnie-the-Pooh springs to mind, Pippi Longstocking maybe, or even Bulgakov's Behemoth would be fun to have a chat with.) Of course, the narrator's father accidentally reads out not some cozy characters, but some really bad guys (and reads in her mother) and mayhem ensues. OK, maybe not mayhem - I don't quite get the sense of urgency I would have wished for. There is a lot of driving and walking back and forth - from the bad guys' village to the next village and back again to the bad guys' place. And back to the village. Lather, rinse, repeat.

My favorite character is definitely Gwin the marten who, as opposed to the "normal" familiars in this genre, spits and hisses and bites pretty much everyone. I like that he acts like a marten does in real life and still manages to be a good character.

Ultimately, I wish that the absolutely wonderful premise - reading people in and out of books - would have been the main topic of the novel rather than just the reason the bad guys are there. Still, it is a decent enough read - so decent in fact that I went and got the second part of the trilogy (which I've heard is better).

Ghana - Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey

This is my kind of mystery: a properly flawed detective (in this case, pot-smoking and hot-tempered) with a heart of gold (a gallant defender of women and children) gets thrown into a case where the stakes are as high they can get because his own mother's disappearance and his family members play a huge part. Quartey does a great job presenting Ghanaian nature and people to the reader and I really like that he manages to pull real-life issues like the AIDS crisis and his criticism of the trokosi practice into the story without preaching about it. I particularly enjoy how Dawson is extra sensitive to the timbre of people's voices - like a blind person would - it's a great quirk that I've never read a detective who had before.

India - Q & A by Vikas Swarup

I really loved the format of this - what could have been a few separate stories is cleverly woven into a cohesive narrative, which describes certain aspects of Indian society (at least the lower echelons).

Our narrator, Ram Mohammad Thomas, is a street-wise orphan who manages to get himself into and out of various tight situations, sometimes with more and sometimes with less success. The stories are not chronological (they follow the order of the gameshow-questions) so sometimes it can be difficult to figure out the sequence of events in Ram's life.

Although some of the stories are quite improbable, the narrator's innocent voice make them believable, but the ending is so neatly tied together it's almost annoying. It feels like the author wanted to make sure that his characters had happy endings after all the misery he has put them through. However, the Prem Kumar-solution is simply too much of a coincidence to be satisfying.

Note: The movie Slumdog Millionaire was loosely based on this novel, but the only things they have in common are the frame-story and a few details - most of the characters and events are quite different.

Ireland - The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

I might as well admit that I'm a huge sucker for fairytales, and anyone who uses elements of fairytales in an innovative fashion will endear themselves to me. What I find particularly appealing about Connolly's story, though, is that it can read as a fantasy tale - in the Narnia tradition (although more gruesome) - or it can read as a very much adult story about a child who is forced to deal with grief and loss and the mechanisms and techniques subconsciously used to do that.

Connolly draws his story from traditional fairytales (the grim Grimm-versions) and quite successfully uses Bruno Bettleheim's ideas (fairytales being vehicles to pass life-lessons and cautions on from generation to generation) in order to explain the main character's trials and tribulations.

If I have one criticism, it is that in his eagerness to use all these fairytales, Connolly's story becomes a picaresque rather than a completely cohesive story, but that's mainly a personal peeve of mine and I wouldn't dock too many points for that. All in all, it's an engaging and at times truly heartfelt story about a young boy's struggle with the evils and horror of the scary place that is the adult world.

Israel - Laundry by Suzane Adam

This is a very creepy, creepy, creepy story. Creepy! It’s described as a thriller and, although it’s completely devoid of the spies or political intrigue normally featured in a thriller, it’s still a very apt description. Thrilling indeed. Stomach-churning thrilling.

The tension is helped (or made worse, depending how you look at it) by the fact that the story starts at the end when we find out that something terrible has happened. What that terrible event is, we only find out at the same slow rate the narrator finds out as his wife, Ildiko, relate the traumatic event that has shaped her life.

Once you start reading this, it’ll be hard to put it down before the end, if only so that you can get to the resolution and so that your tensed-up stomach-muscles can relax.

Japan - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Ever read a book that you really liked and had a hard time putting down, but you had no idea what it was actually about? No? Here it is!! Basically, a bunch of tales (supernatural, mythological, historical, etc.) blended together into a narrative that throws out a million little threads that don't get tied together in the end. Sounds bad? It isn't, amazingly enough. It reminded me of the first Hayao Miyazaki-movie I ever saw where I had no idea what was going on, but was awestruck by the imaginative powers and stunning characters. I got the feeling (there, like here) that if I knew more about the culture, I would understand more of the plot - like a fascinating puzzle I just don't have the key to just yet (like a slightly less sinister Lemarchand box). Wind-Up Bird would have gotten an even higher rating from me if there was just few threads that tied together, but I will definitely read more Murakami!

Lebanon - Gaza Blues by Samir El-Youssef (and Etgar Keret)

This book consists of 15 of Keret's short stories and one novella by El-Youssef. Of the Keret stories, only the "Shoshi" stories do not appear in Keret's previously published collections (in English), but the "Shoshi" ones are interesting in that they culminate in a bit of meta-fiction, which I have not seen from Keret before. El-Youssef's story, "The Day the Beast Got Thirsty," is slow-moving compared to Keret's flash fiction, but it manages to say something important about the mental state of a group of people who feel displaced, unwelcome, and impotent. It's not a cohesive collection as such, but the collaboration between the two writers is what's really interesting here and their effort should be not only applauded but repeated.

Malta - Palestine by Joe Sacco

Apart from being a little dated (Sacco visited Israel in the early 1990s), if this book has a flaw, it is that it is partial to a fault, with not even a hint of the Israeli side of the struggle. Sacco does admit to this in his foreword - his intention was to write from only one side of the issue. Being a US-educated journalist, he felt he had never been educated about the Palestinians and thus set out to write their, and only their, story. And he does it extraordinarily well. The stories of these children, women, and men are heart-wrenching and their powerlessness is palpable. Sacco admits to being very naive about the situation when he went on his trip, which adds to the narrative in that his reactions to the people he meets come across as very genuine. The fact that he is (in the foreword) still - almost 20 years later - defending his own naiveté at the time is a little disappointing, however.

Ultimately, I think this is a book about human hardship and how the "little person" suffers because of their powerlessness in the face of national and international powers. The story of Sacco's Palestine is not limited to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Indeed, it plays itself out all over the world, every day of our lives, whether we get our news from papers, TV, word of mouth, or decide not to get our news at all.

Sacco's drawings (especially in the later part of the book, where the style gets less cartoonish) are nothing short of amazing, particularly when you get to see photos that he based his drawings on side-by-side with the finished work. Photos that are not all that remarkable in and of themselves are given an extraordinary potency with the help of mere ink - a sharper shadow here and a refined layout there boosts the narrative exponentially.

The fact that he dedicates only a few pages (and very little passion) to the women's rights issues is probably the most upsetting to me, personally (honor murders gets less than a page and no commentary). I almost wish he hadn't included the issue at all, rather than give it such a diminutive place in the larger narrative.

The book is important, if not indeed necessary, to read as part of a bigger study on the topic if you grew up in a country that is pro-Israeli. For those (like me) who grew up in a country explicitly pro-Palestinian, it's not that much of a shock to see Sacco's story unfold –it is in fact a lot less gruesome than I had expected.

Morocco - The Director and Other Stories from Morocco by Leila Abouzeid

A few of the stories were absolutely fine, very normal short stories about modern ideas versus traditional ideas (traditional being favored) and about the outside world's negative influences on Morocco - very interesting stories about culture and people, regardless if you agree with them or not. However, many of the other stories were strange little quips or critiques about society - things that had happened to the narrator (author?) at the post office or at work - that really just seemed like fillers, just little musings about this and that. The imbalance between the two completely different types of writings in the same book just made it not a coherent read for me.

Sweden - Låt den rätte komma in by John Ajvide Lindqvist

I don't normally read horror, but vampires is an old love, and since it's raised so much talk internationally and it's Swedish I felt I had to pick this up. And I wasn't disappointed. Lindqvist has done really well with integrating vampires into the Swedish countryside without it seeming awkward or forced. In a way, it doesn't even seem supernatural, strange as that sounds.

The story really is about outcasts and revenge and people who live on the fringes of society, whether they're drunks or pedophiles or, indeed, vampires. Eli can even seem like a part of Oskar - a part that can get away with the vengeful deeds Oskar, as a regular human, cannot. I was especially pleased that there is no "romantic" element (which seems to be the current trend in vampire fiction), to lessen the urgency and danger of the story.

The stakes are extra high because of the youth of the boys and the story is really about how vulnerable these children are - each for a different reason, of course. Most likely I'll not read more of Lindqvist's fiction, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this, especially if you look beyond the basic plot to see the characters' various ways of surviving in a rather harsh and, sometimes, truly vicious world.

Switzerland - Blue Pills by Frederik Peeters

I really liked the idea of dealing with such a difficult concept in this format and some parts of the story are presented with such delicacy that it really tugs at your heartstrings, especially the parts about the narrator's growing relationship with Cati's young son. However, I find that Peeters falters a bit when he tries to describe the love-story and it doesn't come across as heartfelt as I would have liked it. There's also a long fantasy-piece of straight philosophizing at the end that I would rather have had taken place within the actual story. All in all, some good parts that makes for an OK story, but not a spectacular one, despite the great potential.

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - Mr Clive & Mr Page by Neil Bartlett

Hands down, Neil Bartlett is one of my favorite writers. He has this amazing ability to let his characters be open and vulnerable to the point that you feel as if when (not "if") you meet them in real life, if you were to put a hand to their chest, it would sink through the skin and you would be able to grasp their heart in your palm. It's hard for me to read his works - I get so moved by the characters' stories and emotions that it takes me a while to get functioning in the real world.

Mr Clive & Mr Page is at times confusing - we're not sure what is dream, what is fantasy, and what is pure speculation. What we do know is that it's all real. To Mr Page, it's realer than real, it's his life. Some of the authenticity comes from Bartlett's research of the times and some from his specialty, which is telling a story in the first person about the second person characters. He did this to the extreme in Ready to Catch Him Should He Fall and to a lesser extent here. This hearsay voice gives the impression that you're being told a true story; the narrator is not omniscient and he can only guess as to what really happened - like any real person trying to make sense out of any real events.

It's like a troubled friend has decided to write you a letter and you feel honored that he would trust you enough to confess things, some of which he openly admits he's ashamed of. Maybe that's it - it feels like it's a story that is written for you and for you alone. It's your responsibility to keep its secrets safe.

United States of America - Light Fell by Evan Fallenberg

Fallenberg is an amazing writer - it seems that translating Hebrew fiction has helped him accomplish a very distinct voice, which borrows influences (and expressions) from both Hebrew and English. Apart from the poetic language, what this novel really wins on is its characters. At the forefront is of course Joseph's struggle between his religion and his love (and the added "bonus" of his homosexuality), which is portrayed with a really fine sensitivity (even though the scenes with him and Rabbi Rosenzweig tend toward the schmaltzy). However, what stands out is Fallenberg's treatment of the five sons and their extreme differences, which he manages to portray not only plausibly but with so much humanity that you do feel like they are real people copied onto paper. Does it have a down-side? Yes, the ending is a little deus ex machina with Daniel producing the explanatory letter from Rosenzweig, but for a debut novel, it's quite an achievement and I'll definitely look out for Fallenberg's next novel.

Vietnam - Short Girls by Bich Minh Nguyen

This is first and foremost a story about two sisters and their (developing a) relationship, and second a story about immigration and assimilation. Nguyen manages to reveal the sisters' past without writing a lumbering exposition, and their experiences growing up are woven into the overall narrative without being intrusive. The description of their developing relationship and better understanding of each other is what makes this a particularly good story - the two have such different personalities that it seems like they would never have anything in common, but Nguyen makes the transition not only believable, but plausible and even probable. There is much talk about the agonies of being short, and I think those parts could have been cut down quite a bit. It is a fast, sometimes sad, sometimes funny read - Nguyen's writing is very readable and she seems a natural story-teller. I must admit I chuckled knowingly once or twice at the descriptions of Vietnamese culture; my best friend's husband is Vietnamese, and some of the things Nguyen describes (food, social interaction, etc.) struck me as very true indeed!

Hi bookoholic13,

Sorry your Finland read was disappointing. Magical realism is one of the literary forms I like a lot. If you want a good Finnish novel incorporating magical realism, try Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi (published as Troll in the US and Not before Sundown in England). This book is terrific. Better than The Book of Lost Things is The Stolen Child, which plays on the idea of the changeling from fairy tales, with a really dark twist.

P.S. How can you stand the US? I have relatives living in Sweden. I desperately wish to move there. I did get married there - in Fristad at the church for which my husband's great-great grandfather was minister.

Thanks!! I have Troll on my TBR-list for the 1010 challenge next year - I have heard great things about it! And, Keith Donohue is now added to my wishlist.... :)

Why the US? Well, there are a lot of negatives about this particular country. But, then there are some REALLY big negatives about Sweden that makes me stay here in California (e.g. great weather and no whiny people! - Swedes can be such grouches....). :)

Swedes, grouches???? I must hang out with the wrong Swedes ;-) Lots of laughter, lots of fun.

#23

Sounds like you're hanging out with the right Swedes!!!! :) Privately, yes - fun crowd. Workwise though....no. Once you get used to the American "can-do" attitude, it's difficult to adjust to the Swedish negativity. Have you tried queueing in Sweden? Or tried getting on a full bus? Or tried getting anyone in an official position to do something even slightly out-of-the-box? *shivers* :)

>24,

At least you have buses in Sweden :-) Have you tried getting just twenty miles down the road to your job when your car is in the shop? By bicycles, you suggest? Not with the mega-vans, mega-mega pickup trucks, and lack of bicycle lanes? *hair standing on end at the very thought*

As for thinking outside the box in the US? Try herding a bunch of Southern-fried Republicans outside the box and see how far you get ;-)

But then I forget, you live in California where bikes, buses, and environmentally sound out-of-boxes abound.

"herding a bunch of Southern-fried Republicans outside the box" LOL!!

Fair enough, my only experience of the South is Louisiana, which I found to be just as friendly as CA, but I've "somehow" managed to miss the other states. :)

Zimbabwe - Harvest of Thorns by Shimmer Chinodya
A nicely crafted story of the war of liberation by arguably the country's best and most prolific writer of fiction.

South Africa - Heart of Redness by Zakes Mda

Uses the highly intriguing episode of Nonqawuse and the cattle killing in the 1850s to connect to today's post-apartheid South Africa. Even if you don't know the history you'll get it. (Nonqawuse was a Xhosa leader who ordered all the people to kill their cattle to appease the ancestors. The result was large-scale starvation and lots of historical controversy--fascinating to analyze if we can avoid trying to look at it through the eyes of the "civilizer"

#27 & #28

Great suggestions - thank you!!!

Hello, me too wants to interfere with your Finland book selection... I know Alakoski was (or is?) Finnish, but the book is about Sweden anyway, and depressing...

Beside translations, don't forget there are at least two great Swedish-speaking (and writing) Finnish authors whose work should therefore be quite easily accessible: Kjell Westö and Tove Jansson (there is so much more to her than just the Moomin). Please reconsider :)

#30

LOL! Yeah, not too happy, that one! It is well written, though, I'm not arguing that.

I love the Moomins - best family in the world! Or, as Stinky says, "Indeed you are the most idiotic family I ever saw - but you are at least living every minute of the day!!" :) I read some biographical info on her and it seems the Moomins are basically based on family and family-friends in her youth - I can only imagine what that household was like!! :)

I'm reading Sinisalo and Paasilinna for the 1010 Challenge next year, so I'll post something a little perkier, OK?! :)

I've heard a lot about Sofi Oksanen too, so I'll try to pick up Stalin's Cows when I go to Sweden later this year.

Stalin's Cows? urania scuttles off to the wicked A to discover more information

Alack, I will have to read it in Spanish (an experience around which I am having trouble wrapping my mind). Alternately, I could get serious about learning Swedish instead of approaching it in such a dilettante fashion. However, I didn't see a Swedish offering for Stalin's Cows . . . and Finnish? I've heard it's one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn . . . sigh.

Spanish is not an option for me... :( And, let's not even get started on Finnish! :)

There is a Swedish translation of Stalin's Cows, thankfully! It's mainly about Estonians, though, not the Finns (Oksanen is of Estonian heritage, but born in Finland).

Estonia??? Those Finns do get around. Sometimes Swedish, sometimes Norwegian, sometimes Russian, and sometimes Sami. But Estonia . . . hmmm.

Are you familiar with the music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt? He is hands down my favorite contemporary "classical" composer. I wish the classical music experts would clarify terminology for us. Classical music comes from a distinct period in music history . . . so I spend a lot of time confused since I tend to like Early Music (classical) and Late??? Music and everyone looks and me and says "huh?" until I clarify with the term "classical."

And notice how many conjunctions I managed to throw into the preceding sentence. Really outside the box for a former English professor and grammar princess.

Sofi Oksanen is truly a good writer and she has a lot to say. Her latest is hitting big, I've heard. Puhdistus won the biggest literary prize here in Finland last year, and I just read it has been sold to 23 countries, including the US, which is quite exceptional. This is about Estonia again, and actually the only book by her I've read. Others will follow.

There is something in both English and Swedish here http://www.wsoy.fi/sofioksanen/kirjailija/ even though the site is mostly in Finnish.

Edit to add another link: http://www.salomonssonagency.com/authors.php?id=39

Thanks eairo. English translations of books by Finnish writers are hard to come by. I have a whole list of Finnish titles I want to read when they are translated into English. It seems as if every decade or so, US publishers decide on their "most favored nations' translations" and the themes of those novels. Thus, one ends up reading the same book over and over again.

#35

I've heard of Arvo Pärt, but I'm not sure if I've ever heard any of his music. I'll have to check it out!

Yes, noticed the conjunctions - very nice! :)

#36

Thanks eairo! I'll definitely pick up whatever is available in Swedish when I go there! I've heard a lot of good words about her on the Swedish lit-blogs, so I'm very curious!!

#37

Very true! Look at how Swedish mysteries have taken over the world universe!!! But, we don't just write mysteries.... :)

Oops, I almost forgot this, my favorite by one of my favorite authors.

And before I forget this: Happy travels bookoholic!

There's also something about Paasilinna I feel like saying, but I can't think straight anymore. I hope I'll remember it tomorrow.

#41

Is that the whole thing online? I'll have to check that out.

Lots to say about Paasilinna, no...?! I have two of his books that I really enjoyed, so I'll happily read more!

>42,

Yes the entire text of Tainaron is online. I checked it against my copy. I've only read one book by Paasilinna The Year of the Hare. I laughed all the way from Göteborg to somewhere over the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

#43

Year of the Hare is the one I'm planning on getting while I'm in Sweden. I read a review online (by a British reviewer) that was slightly disparaging, but all the negative points they made were things that I love about Paasilinna - they just completely missed the Finnish humor. :)

Ack . . . I hate being an insular American with reading knowledge (but no longer speaking ability) of only two languages. Why wasn't I born in Europe or Iceland????

#45

LOL! It's not going to help - whatever language you learn, there's always going to be something written in a language you don't know that you'll want to read... :)

Poland - Run, Boy, Run by Uri Orlev

Although this is written for a younger reader and the pacing is very repetitive at times, I enjoyed reading about this young boy's experiences running from the Nazis in WWII Poland. The stakes are very high (life and death), and Srulik's persona is probable and likeable. The real clincher of the story is, of course, that it is based on a real person that Uri Orlev actually met in real life.

Iceland - Jar City by Arnaldur Indriðason

Despite a slightly awkward translation, Indriðason's story is a captivating read. The climate is bleak and the landscape grey, and so are the characters and the crimes. This is the third book in the series about Detective Erlendur, but the first translated into English. Despite this, the reader hits the ground running with the main character who, with his drab personal life, his drug-addicted daughter, and absentee son, is very believable as a regular human - no supernatural powers or gut feelings here, not even a "standard" detective quirk. The secondary characters are a little flat, but hopefully that'll be rectified in subsequent books. Since I've been to Reykjavik, I didn't have a problem with the scarce descriptions of the place, but it would have been nice to see a little more of the landscape. I've heard that subsequent books are even better than this one, so I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series.

re 36 et al: Puhdistus by Sofi Oksanen is now available in English as Purge ... still highly recommended (by me ;), and more and more award-winning: Nordic Council Literature Prize 2010.

Netherlands - The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker

I never thought that a story about a middle-aged man living on a farm with his dying father could be a page-turner, but here it is! Mainly it's Bakker's voice (and Colmer's fantastic translation) that pulls the reader into Helmer's world as he walks around the farm, remembering the past, not really regretting but definitely questioning the events that derailed his planned life and turned him into his twin's substitute. At the same time, the past comes back in form of Riet and of his father's former farmhand to lessen the hurt. Although Helmer tries to be a simple man, he is clearly a complicated soul whose thoughts tell the reader of his emotional life even though he doesn't always see it himself. I can only describe it as a lyrical story, even though I would usually use the word "lyrical" to describe something written in a more poetic language and this is written in "normal" prose, but still gives an almost dreamlike and yet engaging feeling.

Austria - The Devil in Vienna by Doris Orgel

Very good, not too gruesome YA-book about the Nazis taking over in Austria in 1937. The main story-line is about the girls' friendship, which is very heartfelt, but in the background are the horrible events of the war and its effect on the Austrian population. Definitely recommended for a younger reader's venturing into reading about the Holocaust.

Uruguay - Little Indiscretions by Carmen Posadas

This is marketed as a mystery and there is indeed a murder that takes place, but I wouldn't pick this up for the suspense. Rather it's a story about the shady secrets that the characters are hiding and how they think other characters would react if they knew. It's a rather seedy crowd we're dealing with - a couple of them are not hiding "little indiscretions," but rather awful pasts. In the end, the solution to the murder of the chef is haphazard at best and the others are left to go about their horrid business. It's partially described as a "foodie"-novel, but the foodie bits are few and far in-between, so that didn't help either.

Russia - There Are Jews in My House by Lara Vapnyar

This is a simple and easily read collection of stories, even though the subject matters aren't always so easy. Perhaps the author having English as a second language limits the complexity of the language, but even if this is the case, I hope it's a style that Vapnyar will continue. The easiness of her language makes her stories about shame and guilt so much more pointed and heartfelt. The title story is the strongest in this collection - maybe because the viewpoint is different from what I've read before - but the other stories are very potent as well and as a debut collection this shows huge potential.

Tunisia - Den trettonde larjungen (The Thirteenth Disciple) by Claude Kayat

Life for the blacksmith Hesekiel is difficult. He wants to marry the love of his life and start a family, but the religious leader Jesus keeps asking him to become his thirteenth disciple. Kayat's book about life by the Kinneret in the Galilee, its people, its religious phalanges, and its many so-called prophets, is remarkably believable. The biblical stories (obviously) talk about people in respect of how they pertain to the story, but here we are presented with the normal human version of those characters. Jesus is a charismatic and rather persistent (or annoying?) character and his disciples are prone to anger and resentment towards anyone who disrespects their leader. Kayat lets the conflicted Hesekiel be a voice, or discussion, of reason - the voice that questions all angles of this new era when old and new comes to a stand. Regardless of personal religious views, Kayat manages to bring to life the Galilee and its people as well as the religious fervor without preaching to his reader. Definitely a recommended read.

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Sista kulan sparar jag at grannen (The Last Bullet, I'm Saving for the Neighbor) by Fausta Marianovic

The first half of this book is a description of how society completely falls apart at the onset of war and how people, including close friends and family, turn on each other, not necessarily to save their own skins, but in a frenzy of nationalistic pride, some of which was never expressed before. It's a scary picture of the damage caused by a war, and, although difficult to read, is recommended. The second part is the main character's search for her oldest son on the frontlines of the war. Not as gut wrenching as the first part, it is still an interesting look at the events of that particular war. The author fled Bosnia for Sweden with her two sons in 1992 and this is her first novel, written in her adopted language, which she uses to its full advantage - it's in no way obvious this was by someone writing in a second language.

South Africa - Sommarsquash tokolosh! (Gem Squash Tokoloshe) by Rachel Zadok

The first part of this - the story of Faith's childhood with her depressed and delusional mother - is nothing short of mesmerizing. The stories her mother tells her of the fairies and the other supernatural beings that surrounding their house are scary and intriguing and you can really emphasize with how this lonely little girl is affected by her surroundings. The second part lets this novel down something terribly, however. Gone is the magic of the fairies and the horrors of the tokolosh, and Faith turns into an indolent version of her mother. Although she does get redemption, I would have wanted it to come from herself, not through an external force. Unfortunately, what started with a bang ended with a whimper. It's a first novel, though, and Zadok is showing enough potential that I would pick up another of her books.

Found your discussion. Pity it seems to have stalled but I see you use the same kind of guidelines to help you travel round the world in style. ;-)

I need to do something serious about the existing Mt. TBR, but I'll definitely be back here to finish eventually!!