Where In The World Are You? - September/October 2011

Happy September, All!

I came Across Many Mountains from Tibet to Switzerland, and I am in Trollope's England wondering Can You Forgive Her?

I'm in present day Norwich, England, reading The Last Gift by Abdulrazak Gurnah.

I've just finished Stella Rimmington's Rip Tide which has taken me to Athens and Somalia as well as Birmingham and London in England.

I'm in Bucharest, Romania in the last days of the Ceaușescu regime, in The Last Hundred Days by Patrick McGuinness.

I'm in Egypt, in between books after witnessing the Death of an Ex-Minister, and wonderering now whether it is the time of The Fall of Imam or the Friendly Fire.

I've once again left early 20th century Hungary, and the second and third novels of Miklós Bánffy's Transylvanian trilogy, They Were Found Wanting and They Were Divided.

I'm in Spain with Monsignor Quixote by Graham Greene and about to return home to New Zealand with Jack Lasenby's The Mangrove Summer.

rebecca,

I just read the first two, and while I enjoyed them, I found them a bit depressing and I am hesitating on whether to go ahead and read They Were Divided, please let me know if you recommend seeing it through to the end.

I'm now travelling the Three Day Road in Canada with sidetrips to WWI Flanders.

8, quartzite, I would see it through to the end because that's what really gives you the full scope of what Bánffy is trying to do. However, the end is definitely depressing, and not only because the first world war is starting. I am a big reader of depressing and grim books, however.

I've just left The Girl in the Polka-Dot Dress traveling across the US in the fraught year of 1968 and have had Train Dreams in the wilderness of the US northwest in the early 20th century.

10, I did go ahead and buy the final one-- in for a penny in a for a pound I guess.

Apparently this my week for Hungary -read a spy novel Danube Stations right now.

Let's see...since my last post I've visited Dublin (Ireland), Chicago, Cleveland and Long Island in On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry; spent a harrowing few months in Bucharest, Romania prior to the fall of the Ceaușescu regime in The Last Hundred Days by Patrick McGuinness; and accompanied the young son of a drug lord in an mountainous hide out in Mexico and in Monrovia, the Liberian capital, in Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo Villalobos. I'm now in a Kenyan village outside of Nairobi just before the onset of the Mau Mau uprising in Weep Not, Child by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.

I am in 19th Century Russia, so far back-and-forth among Petersburg. Moscow, and the countryside; and so far always among the nobility; courtesy of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, which is absolutely wonderful so far!

ETA: Now I am in Braunau, in the Archduchy of Austria under the command of General Kutuzov.

14 One of my favorite books of all time!

# 15 It's quickly becoming mine, too! Tolstoy is incredible! Anna Karenina is a favorite of mine as well.

I'm in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo looking for the talented but elusive former cricketer Pradeep Mathew alongside an besotted aging sportswriter in Chinaman by Shehan Karunatilaka.

I am in The Slum of Rio de Janeiro and also in England wondering Can You Forgive Her?

I'm in Concord, Mass getting reading to head to Washington, DC during the American Civil War. Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott

1950s New York, with a precocious young teenager whose Name Is Asher Lev, trying to reconcile his artistic gift with his devout Hasidic background.

I'm in WWII Rome studying History with Elsa Morante. This is actually a terrific novel detailing the effects of the war on the populace year by year, as control of Rome changes back and forth.

That sounds fascinating, SassyLassy.

That one's on the wishlist SassyLassy!

I'm in Amiens, northern France 1910 with Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong - which I'm sure most of you read over a decade ago while I was away...!

I'm exploring garbage dumps in Isle of Dreams in Japan with Keizo Hino.

>2 kidzdoc: That was a good read. Not my favorite of his, but still very good.

I've been in Norway with Anne Holt and Sweden with Kjell Ericksson, but settling in exclusively in upstate New York with Bellefleur (until another book distracts me).

I'm in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) learning about Michael Ondaatje's relatives in Running in the Family.

Off-world, again!, exploring a space-station with Hal Junior and looking out for The Secret Signal.

At the moment I'm in Geneva alongside a 14 year old Egyptian boy whose father has mysteriously disappeared there, in Anatomy of a Disappearance by Hisham Matar.

I've traveled from the Sahel to the Great Barrie Reef to California's Central Valley to the Arctic (Canada and Greenland) to Dhaka and Bangladesh, and back to New York City in climatologist Heidi Cullen's chilling book about global warming, The Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme Storms and Other Scenes from a Climate-Challenged Planet.

I am in Rio de Janeiro in The Slum, in England wondering Can You Forgive Her? and also in Three Pines, Quebec learning that it is all A Trick of the Light.

I'm in the midst of a Victorian English mystery, in Derby Day by D.J. Taylor.

I'm still in the process of Regeneration in WWII England. The Eye in the Door by Pat Barker

In 1960s Perth Australia, with farming families, runaway girls and European refugees and a Blue Rose, brought to life by wonderful Perth poet Andrew Burke.

I'm in Moscow during the go-go 1990s in Snowdrops by A.D. Miller.

I've left Moscow, Siberia, Germany, China, New York City, and other places in the past and present in Ice Trilogy.

I'm in a remote mountainous area of 18th century Poland with Isaac Bashevis Singer's The Slave and also enjoying a touch of home here in New Zealand with the Once upon Aotearoa short stories by Tina Makereti.
I've just been cycling around Edinburgh with A Method Actor's Guide to Jekyll and Hyde by Kevin MacNeil.

I am in Egypt, in the 1300 BC with The Egyptian, and in the modern times trying to cover myself from the Friendly Fire.

What fun! I'm new to this group (LT suggested it), but I love travelling via books. :D

Right now I'm in 19th century east India with Sea of Poppies (a reread to prepare for the about-to-be-released sequel), modern-day Paris with Paris, Paris (essay collection by a US expat), 19th century Russian with Tolstoy: a Russian Life (biography), and the mythic Norse world with Ragnorak (touchstone isn't working, but it's A.S. Byatt's latest)!

Welcome, BiblioEva, and thanks for your list of suggestions on the migration theme read thread.

38 BiblioEva Welcome! It looks like you're reading some great books! I'm reading War and Peace, which confirms that I'm in love with Tolstoy's writing; so I'll definitely have to read a biography on him at some point. I'd definitely be interested to know what you think when you've finished Tolstoy: A Russian Life.

Sea of Poppies has also been on my radar for a long time. It really sounds interesting. There are just so very many great books I've never gotten to it!

Thank you Rebecca and Bookwoman!

War and Peace is excellent, isn't it? :D And I see you have the Pevear & Volokhonsky translation: they're my fave Russian-to-English translators! So far the bio is v readable, but I wish it was a bit more critical...she seems to be basing most of the research so far on Tolstoy's own writings/memoirs.

I've just left The Towers of Trebizond in early 1950s Turkey.

I'm in mid-19th century Bombay and Mauritius in River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh, the second novel in his Ibis Trilogy after Sea of Poppies.

I'm still in India w Sea of Poppies (it's my audio-read, so it'll last awhile!), but I've also moved on to the Florentine countryside in an effort to escape the plague w The Decameron. Meanwhile, I'm visiting various countries to learn The Story of Stuff.

I'm in Kenya, reading Nairobi Heat by Mukoma wa Ngugi.

Marie, I didn't realise you were on LT! :) How you finding Nairobi Heat? I really enjoyed it, although it's different from my usual taste.

Eva, I'm enjoying it. I like crime fiction as a break from literary stuff. It's fun!

I love mysteries, but I tend to go for the Golden Age writers and their offspring v more 'crime/thriller' stuff. I'm a softie! Have you read Malla Nunn's books? She's a South African writer and her series (2 so far) are set in SA shortly after apartheid had been institutionalised: they're really well done, but a bit too gritty for me to love.

I left Colonus, sacred ground in Athenian territory of the Heroic Age of Greece* and moved on to a later era -- but still legendary
and a battle ground--the Greek Camp besieging Troy
ca. 1200 B. C., the scene of Sophoclesʻs Ajax, which I am now metrically translating..

* by finishing my metrical translation of Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles

Eva, no, I haven't, but I'll add her to my watch list :-)

I'm in Bangladesh reading A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam.

I'm curious to get your take on A Golden Age, Monica; I bought her latest book, The Good Muslim, earlier this month

On my flight to Paris I read Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura and absolutely loved it. Can't wait to write my comments on it although first I really should take a nap. Takes place in Japan.

Elizabethan England with Shakespeare's Sonnets.

I'm mainly in the UK but also moving around Europe and the Middle East with Minotaur by Benjamin Tammuz. I'm also in the Australian outback with Bruce Chatwin's The Songlines.

Im in the US with a British guy, but really I had to take the book back to the library so Im officially nowhere :(
(Hitch 22- must get it out again asap so I can finish it!)

Just got back from real life Vermont. I missed Birdsong way back when as well and it is on my current TBR list. Good trade!

SassyLassy - apart from one or two minor issues I had with the book, overall I thought it was a really compelling read. So vivid.

I'm looking for a way to earn a living in early 20th century Palestine with S Y Agnon's classic of Hebrew literature Only Yesterday.

I'm now in London with Bernice Rubens Madame Sousatzka and I'm also hanging around Dresden with Slaughterhouse Five, my Banned Books week read.

After leaving India in The Artist of Disappearance by Anita Desai I will journey alongside Mehran from Karachi to London in The Cloud Messenger by Aamer Hussein.

I am in England wondering Can You Forgive Her? and also in England and Yemen learning about Salmon Fishing in Yemen.

I am in Lagos with 16-year-old Elvis Oke in GraceLand.

I've been traveling between Dakar, Paris, and Milan, and all around northern Italy because I Was an Elephant Salesman.

In a strangely altered Western Australia with The Waterboys.

I'm in Serbia with David Albahari's strangely compelling Götz and Meyer, also in nearby Croatia reading a German children's classic by Kurt Held, The Outsiders of Uskoken Castle, and taking a hike along the Appalachian Trail with Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.

I am in Japan learning about The Life of Hunger and also still in England with Can You Forgive Her?.

67 -
I enjoyed that one. Nothomb's semi-autobiographical works are her strongest and I remember that one being entertaining.

I am in Ethiopia reading A Far Country: Travels in Ethiopia

I'm in late-19th century Brazil, with the Counselor in The War of the End of the World by Mario Vargas Llosa, and investigating the past history of the London borough of Hackney as it relates to the present in Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire by Iain Sinclair.

I'm in Israel feeling Homesick.

I'm hopping from war to war throughout the Middle East and trying to determine if Every Man in This Village is a Liar.

->71 cushlareads:
If you like that one, I highly recommend Nevo's World Cup Wishes - it was one of my top reads last year!

In London witnessing some Foreign Affairs.

In Calcutta, just about to set sail for Mauritius aboard the Ibis in Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies.

In ancient Egypt (which is also an allegory for twentieth-century totalitarianism) building The Pyramid.

I'm in Russia where Everything Flows.

On the shores of the Thames in London with Joe Sporks in Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway.

I read Summer Resort by Esther Kinsky. She is a German author but the book takes place in Hungaria. Interesting book to read.

I'm in Africa getting To See the Mountain and Other Stories with The Caine Prize for African Writing 2011. Midway through and enjoying the trip!

I was recently in 11th century Japan reading the The Tale of Murasaki by Liza Dalby but I'm back in Africa now, in present day Botswana with Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith. An engaging, slow paced read after the studious trip to Japan.

I am tracing Van Gogh's life from the Netherlands, through Belgium and France in the newly released Van Gogh: The Life.

I'm at a small private college in the mountains of Pennsylvania courtesy of Quoth the Raven by Jane Haddam.

I'm in Japan, in the surreal novel Kangaroo Notebook by Kōbō Abe, and somewhere in the Balkans in The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht.

I am in Barcelona visiting the Cathedral of the Sea, and also in Argentina visiting The Museum of Eterna's Novel.

Somewhere in west London on the way to Heathrow on foot with Will Self as he walks to New York in his Psychogeography.

I'm now in Australia, currently in Queensland courtesy of The Australian Pen Pal by Michelle Linn-Gust.

84 -
Can't wait to see what you think of Kangaroo Notebook.

I've left the Yalta Conference in Yalta: The Price of Peace.

I'm in Lisbon, where Pereira Maintains many things.

I have no idea where I am.....my book of short stories (Telling Tales) is jumping all over the place. From a mythical landscape to Berlin to Africa. I feel so well -travelled!

I'm mesmerized, reading Congo, een geschiedenis by David Van Reybrouck.

I'm in the Israeli village of Tel Ilan, in the new short story collection Scenes from Village Life by Amos Oz.

ETA: Oops, it's November, isn't it? I've created a thread for November and December here.