akeela 2010

Hi everybody!

Don’t think I’ll make the magic number this year, but I’m back for the great company and good friends in this group. Thanks for inviting me back :)

Books Read in 2010:
Karma Suture by Rosamund Kendal (South Africa)
Thirteen Hours by Deon Meyer (crime, South Africa)
Loom by Therese Soukar Chehade (Lebanon-US)
Fruit of a Poisoned Tree by Antony Altbeker (NF South Africa)
Stitches by David Small (graphic novel, US)
Pictures of You by Caroline Leavitt (US)
Betrayal by Karin Alvtegen (Sweden)
Missing by Karin Alvtegen (Sweden)
In Cold Blood:The Murder of Baby Jordan by Renee Otmar (NF South Africa)
The Cohen Case by Benjamin Bennet (NF South Africa)
Cecilia by Linda Ferri (Italy)
Sleeper's Wake by Alistair Morgan (South Africa)
The Last Brother by Nathacha Appanah (set in Mauritius)
The Last Summer of Reason by Tahar Djaout (Algeria)
Jamilia by Chingiz Aïtmatov (Kyrgyzstan)
My Brother's Keeper by Jassy Mackenzie (South Africa)
How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer (US)
Shadow by Karin Alvtegen (Sweden)
The Writing on My Forehead by Nafisa Haji (Pakistan)
Incantation by Alice Hoffman (set in Spain)
Sabrina Fludde by Paulina Fisk (UK)
Irma Stern: A Feast for the Eye by Marion Arnold (South Africa)
The Diving Pool by Yoko Ogawa (Japan)
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa (Japan)
All The Living by C.E. Morgan (USA)
The Story of Maha by Sumayya Lee (South Africa)
Lahore with Love: Growing Up with Girlfriends, Pakistani Style by Fawzia Afzal-Khan (Pakistan)
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto (Japan)
A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar (Palestine/ Egypt)
Touch by Adania Shibli (Palestine)
A Hundred Silences by Gabeba Baderoon (poetry, South African)
House of Mist by Maria Luisa Bombal (Chile)
A Thousand Rooms of Dreams and Fears by Atiq Rahimi (Afghanistan)
The Dream in the Next Body by Gabeba Baderoon (poetry, South Africa)
The Three Marias by Raquel De Quieroz (Brazil)
Death of an Ex-Minister by Nawal El-Saadawi (Egypt)
The Resurrection of Mozart by Nina Berberova (Russia)
The Moonlight Bride by Buchi Emecheta (Nigeria)
The Grandmother's Tale by R.K. Narayan (India)
This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun (Morocco)
Magherita Dolce Vita by Stefano Benni (Italy)
Hunger by Knut Hamsun (Norway)
Rien Ne Va Plus by Margarita Karapanou (Greece)
All this Belongs to Me by Petra Hulova (Mongolia)

I've been busy sorting and packing for an impending move, so my reading's down to a minimum. But here's what I've read for 2010:

All This Belongs to Me by Petra Hulova. Translated from the Czech by Alex Zucker. (set in Mongolia)
Rien Ne Va Plus by Margarita Karapanou. Translated from the Greek by Karen Emmerich.

Both will be reviewed in the forthcoming issue of Belletrista.

Hey, Akeela! I was just thinking about you an hour or so ago and wondering what you were up to. Glad to see you back!

Thanks, Stasia! You are very quick! ;) It's good to be back.

I finally got to read the amazing Hunger by Knut Hamsun. Excellently translated from Norwegian by Sverre Lyngstad. This classic was written in 1890 and is a simple story about a struggling but talented writer who often finds himself homeless, and suffering the effects of starvation for days.

What sets this book apart is the astonishing writing. It is an absolute joy to read. I often had a lump in my throat, and then also laughed out loud at the brashness and creativity of the affable character portrayed. And then quite honestly, there were moments when I found the protagonist's pride, and obsession with being honourable and honest infuriating - simply because it caused him so much grief! In spite of the dark subject matter, this was a light, quick read, and it is a book I cannot recommend highly enough.

* A note on the author: The 150th celebration of Knut Hamsun’s birth was widely celebrated in Norway in 2009. Many negative things have been written about his political leanings, but what I find interesting is that he had virtually no education - hard to believe - and at 12, lived with an uncle who beat him regularly. He escaped from this man’s clutches as soon as he could and took to the road, doing menial jobs to survive, often experiencing virtual starvation during that time. So it would seem Hunger was autobiographical in a sense.

Aww! No ts. Will have to come back to fix them...

Hunger has been in the BlackHole for a long while now. I really need to get around to reading it one of these days.

You really should! It's good.

>5 alcottacre: Thanks for the touchstone, btw. I still can't seem to fix mine?

Welcome Back! You were missed!

Good luck with your impending move. ugh..I hate moving...boxes and boxes of books.

Good to see you here, Akeela! Is this a long- or short-distance move?

Thanks, Linda! I'm considering giving away some books to make the load lighter, because it's so embarrassing having the boxes and boxes of books you so rightly mentioned - but it's a huge challenge to part with them.

Hey, Darryl! I'd say it's short distance, still in Cape Town, just closer to the mountains so we can enjoy more fresh air and natural beauty. It doesn't make it any easier, though. I still have to pack up Every-thing!

Glad you're here Akeela. I have several Hamsun books on the shelf that I hope to get to this year.

Thank you, Deborah! I've got your thread starred, as always, so will watch out for those reviews.

Margherita Dolce Vita by Stefano Benni. This was a gift from a dear friend, so I wanted to love it. It has an intelligent imaginative 15-year-old protagonist, Margherita, whose voice I enjoyed. One day her family gains hugely materialistic neighbors who put up a monstrous black cubic glass house next to theirs. As time passes, she watches in horror as members of her family become enthralled by the Del Benes and all they stand for.

Benni's forte is apparently satire and the beginning of the book was funny and promising, but as the book proceeded it started to come loose at the seams, and at the end it just all fell apart. It did for me, anyway. Pity. It may be more interesting and entertaining to YA readers.

Stephano Benni is considered one of Italy's foremost writers, and I would read more by him.

I started This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun yesterday. The setting is stark, a pitch dark prison cell, but I'm already completely drawn in by the skill of the author.

#13: I think I will skip that one.

#14: I already have that one in the BlackHole, but my local library does not have it. I look forward to your thoughts on it, Akeela. Maybe I can get a copy through the dreaded ILL.

This Blinding Absence of Light was one of my top reads last year.

This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun. Translated by Linda Coverdale. This book is based on real events.

The protagonist is one of 58 prisoners who were taken captive in the king’s palace after a failed coup to oust King Hassan II of Morocco, in 1971. After two years in a conventional prison, they were transferred to Tazmamart Prison, where these men would be held individually in subterranean dungeons under the most alarmingly barbaric conditions. They were deprived of food and water – except enough to keep them barely alive – of company, of physical space, and of everything else, including light, hence the striking title of the novel.

The narrator, Salim, is one of the incarcerated men who tells of the 18 years he spent in this cell, and how he and some of the men managed to stay alive, sometimes just barely. The majority of them died because of a lack of strength to withstand the terrible deprivation. The contents of the book are bleak, but on the flip side, it shows the amazing reserves of human willpower.

The well-read narrator draws on his inner strength to keep going, and exercises his mind by telling stories to his fellow inmates ranging from scenes from A Streetcar Named Desire to Albert Camus’ The Stranger. They would teach each other language skills, and recite verses from the Koran. Sometimes a little bird would visit the cell and bring the inmates an inordinate amount of joy, with their movements and their song.

Throughout this ordeal Salim refuses to think about his life before prison, and this takes considerable restraint. “To remember was to die ... How were we to know that, in that place, homesickness was fatal? We were in our graves, banished forever from our lives and all remembrance. Perhaps the walls weren’t thick enough, in spite of the ramparts all round, nothing could keep memory from seeping in.” As he perseveres, he develops a strong sense of spirituality, which pulls him through the most difficult and trying times.

I was completely moved by this book, and like Hunger, it made me grateful for the little things in life that I take for granted. To quote from the book: “Ah! The smell of toast and coffee in the morning. Ah! The softness of warm sheets and a woman’s hair as she gets dressed again ... Ah! The shouts of children on a playground, the ballet of sparrows in a limpid sky, as the afternoon draws to an end! Oh, how lovely and how terrible are the simple things in life when they are gone, set forever out of reach...”

An important, compelling, and highly recommended book.

#17: I had already put that one in the BlackHole when Deborah read it last year. Now I just have to track down a copy!

Great to see you back!!

>17 akeela:: I picked up that book after reading references to it in MacFarquhar's The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday. I'm looking forward to trying it.

#17 - Akeela, I always enjoy reading your reviews.

Hi guys - great to have you stop by! Thank you all for your comments. Seems I have difficulty keeping up with LT these days...

To catch up:
I read two novellas by R.K Narayan from a volume entitled The Grandmother's Tale. The title story is about a young girl who is betrothed, according to the custom, at a tender age. Convention dictates that the young boy and girl don’t live together, and each continues to live with their parents. The boy goes to great lengths to get his wife’s attention and to talk to her; but she will have almost nothing to do with him – again, as convention dictates. But, he definitely gets her attention.

Because she seems so disinterested, he packs up and leaves the village to seek his fortune. The result: she waits around for him to surface as he usually does, and then pines for him, and when she can no longer wait around, she packs her bags and goes in search of him, something unheard of in this very traditional Indian environment. But this is only the beginning of the story! It becomes much more interesting :)

The second novella, “Salt and Sawdust”, is about an aspiring writer, Veena, whose indulgent husband, Swami, adores her and does everything for her so she can concentrate solely on her writing. In spite of all the time and effort he expends in providing for her every comfort and need as a writer, and beyond, she’s not all that productive. The story is quite funny with a lovely twist. It was very entertaining and I really enjoyed Narayan’s writing overall.

Another novella I read was by Buchi Emecheta entitled The Moonlight Bride. I've wanted to read this author for the longest time, so was happy to finally make her acquaintance.

The narrator, a 12-year old girl and her 14-year-old cousin and best friend find out that a new bride will be coming to their village. And it'll happen in the moonlight. There is a shroud of mystery around the event, but they are very excited and plan to make clay pots and lamps for the bride, to welcome her to the family. On the day they go out to dig for clay from the ground, a long way from home, they are confronted by a ginormous python, and this sets a wholes series of events in motion.

This was a lovely visit into a very traditional African village where every person in the society is assigned a hierarchical role, and to deviate is a grave offence. I enjoyed the setting and the deference to the elders and parents, and also the innocent young voice of the protagonist. It was fairly good read, and I think it would probably qualify as a YA book.

I still want to read The Joys of Motherhood by this distinguished author.

Death of an Ex-Minister by Nawal El-Saadawi. Translated by Shirley Eber. This slim book is a collection of short stories, which I read virtually in one sitting, but the contents of which will stay with me for a while. It is an incredible piece of work. The Egyptian El-Saadawi is an activist, feminist writer and medical doctor who specialised in psychiatry and did extensive research into neuroses.

There are seven stories in the collection and each is a monologue of sorts, in which the characters evaluate their circumstances and reveal their state mind in the abnormal, unhealthy, false world they live in, where men reign supreme and women are personae non grata in almost all realms of existence.

Via the extremely personal, cerebral experiences and narratives of the men and women in the stories, El-Saadawi reveals how detrimental and damaging it is to the psyche of both men and women, when people routinely repress their natural emotions and inclinations to play the disingenuous, callous roles imposed on them since childhood. Each of the characters struggle intensely to define themselves in relation to others and feel they’re fighting a losing battle, akin to annihilation and ultimately death.

El-Saadawi’s stories are sympathetic, subtle and powerful, and this book is a searing and audacious indictment of patriarchal Egyptian society. One can see how El-Saadawi would have been dismissed from her post in the Ministry of Health, and imprisoned for her writings and her outspoken opinions, in a country where women were not even allowed to raise their eyes (what still about their voices) to meet that of men.

This is the best work I’ve read by this author and I could appreciate each of the stories.

#22-24: Adding all of them to the BlackHole. Unfortunately, my local library does not have a single title.

Regarding The Joys of Motherhood: I read that one a couple of years ago and heartily recommend it. I hope you get a chance to read it soon, Akeela.

The Joys of Motherhood was one of may favorite books last year. Buchi Emecheta sounds like an amazing woman too.

I'm spending time tonight catching up on threads. I've added The Blinding Absence of Light. It sounds way too good to pass up.

Hi, ladies! Looks like I need to get to The Joys of Motherhood sooner than I'd planned...

Dinaane: Short Stories by South African Women edited by Maggie Davey.
I was excited to come across this set of short stories by South African women especially because it’s part of a series entitled “Short Stories by Women from Around the World”, and because I thought it might serve as introduction to some prominent women writers from my neck of the woods.

In the process, I met one exciting author, Mary Watson, who won the Caine Prize for African writing in 2006 (only five copies of the winning publication Jungfrau and Other Short Stories on LT). She is indeed talented and I thought the story, which included a touch of magical realism was great. Furthermore, there was one Indian woman writer and only one African writer represented in the collection, the rest were from traditionally White South African backgrounds, which thwarted my hopes for representation of a wide cultural experience. Only a couple of the stories had an African flavour; the rest could well have taken place in any western context.

That said, I really enjoyed a couple of stories, but the majority of them were meh. I will be interested in the other titles in the series: Ireland, Lebanon, India, Iran, and the Czech Republic are some of the other countries included.

Also finished The Three Marias by Rachel de Queiroz from Brazil, which I will review for Issue 5 of belletrista.

Too bad about the short story book. Sounds like there was a lot of potential for it.

So did the move get accomplished? I'm sorting things myself right now -- it's a job I hate! Hope your next book is better.

A baby?! how cool is that :) felicitations !

:D Susan, you had me confused there for a moment. But I see how that could have happened! I meant I'd have to try to read it sooner than planned seeing it was so highly recommended by Stasia and Deborah, and others on LT!

No, moving mission's not accomplished yet, believe it or not. We encountered some hurdles along the way, but we are getting there.

LOL I get it. Bon courage on the move.

>32 suslyn: Thanks. To you, too! Hope it goes better for you with the move than has for me :)

Well I hope I'm not moving (if so, the marriage is kaputt), but I'm trying to get my stuff in order just in case! And if we do get back on track, there's a move in May 2011, so I'll be ahead of the game -- I hope!

A Thousand Rooms and Dream and Fear by Atiq Rahimi. Translated from the Dari by Sarah Maguire and Yama Yari.

A young man is completely discombobulated. He doesn’t know whether he is alive or dead; what he does realise is that his body is battered and that he’s in terrible agony over it. The first few pages of this novella are confusing, as the protagonist tries to figure out his situation. And then, light slowly dawns and, as he remembers what happened, the reader comes to learn about it as well. It’s wonderfully done!

Farhad is a university student who seems to just have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. And he paid for it dearly. It is 1979 in Russian-occupied Afghanistan. Farhad and a friend were out drinking and, as a result, he forgot about the imposed curfew time. So finds himself in desperate trouble when the security forces find him on the road. He subsequently endures a cruel beating at their hands. When he is finally left alone, a young woman finds him and with all the strength that she can muster, pulls him into her home where she tends to him as best she can under the harsh conditions in her country at the time.

This is a beautifully written book. Rahimi has a special, poetic way with words that I enjoy. It was a bit grating in parts because of the harsh content, but it was definitely a worthwhile read. I still enjoyed Earth and Ashes more, and look forward to The Patience Stone, hopefully sometime in the near future.

House of Mist by Maria Luisa Bombal A book read for review in the forthcoming, fifth issue of belletrista.

I really enjoyed this book and loved the “character” of the mist. I’ll share and excerpt or two to illustrate Luisa Bombal’s wonderfully descriptive writing:

The protagonist-narrator is 18-year-old Helga:
“The mist was rolling its smoke around the trees, catching in the brambles and dragging itself close to the ground over the dead leaves... And through the mist I walked; I walked until I heard a stamping of horses’ hoofs and the echo of laughter I would have recognized anywhere...”

“It was in the course of my long wanderings through the woods that the voice of temptation would speak to me with the greatest persuasiveness. And I could not help listening to it and following it in all its crazy elaborations, as I went walking, enfolded, isolated, and protected by the mist now no longer my enemy but my silent accomplice.”

Looks like you've had some great reads. I'd have to go looking for them if I were near a good library with books in English!

#35: I already have Rahimi's Earth and Ashes in the BlackHole. May as well add that one too.

#36: Woot! The local college library has that one. I will have to see if I can get my hands on it.

Good to see you back around here, Akeela!

Thanks, Stase. Will wait to hear your thoughts on the House of Mist!

Hi Susan. I certainly have! Where are you at? Do you read another language, besides English?

Bucharest. And, no, not really... enough to (usually) buy the right thing and sorta figure out recipes :)

Oi! Have to catch up, yet again..

Read two poetry collections in April, both by South African-born American-based poetGabeba Baderoon. May favorite was The Dream in the Next Body, which I enjoyed thoroughly.

Two poems I'd like to share from it:

The Dance
Once in a museum I stood
at the entrance to a room looking
at Matisse’s Dance.
A man walked in front of me,
stopped.
He tilted his head, as though
listening more than seeing
and, for a moment ,
I saw the dance pass
through his whole body.

A Season of Modesty
Autumn here is rash. The insistent colours
and the supple light are fine but really, why add
opaque mornings roused to ripeness by the late sun
so the day swells like a purpled plum, or grape?
And the light through the leaves variegates the air.
And the leaves! Do they have to attempt
the butterfly’s design? Everyone delights, I’m sure,
in such immoderate displays, but I find it

unwise, unguarded, extreme. I would take
Autumn’s elbow and show it a more measured pace.
And soon everything will follow. The squirrels
won’t ribbon unnecessarily round trees all day,
and the smell of rain and fruit won’t seem to stem all need.

* This publication won the Daimler-Chrysler Award for South Africa poetry in 2005. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Gabeba - she grew up in the Western Cape, where I live. Many of the poems are set in the Cape, but some extend to the US as well. She currently teaches Women's Studies, and African and African American Studies at Pennsylvania State University. For more info and poems, visit www.gabeba.com

The second collection is entitled A Hundred Silences.

One I enjoyed:
Old photographs

On my desk is a photograph of you
taken by the woman who loved you then.

In some photos her shadow falls
in the foreground. In this one,
her body is not that far from yours.

Did you hold your head that way
because she loved it?

She is not invisible, not
my enemy, nor even the past.
I think I loved the things she loved.

Of all your old photographs, I wanted
this one for its becoming. I think
you were starting to turn your head a little,
your eyes looking slightly to the side.

Was this the beginning of leaving?

Hey Akeela, glad to see you checking back in again!

I just completed a wonderful novella to be reviewed in the forthcoming issue of belletrista called Touch by Adania Shibli from Palestine. She was one of the winners in the Beirut39 competition.

This competition, an initiative of the Hay Festival, was based on its successful predecessor, Bogotá39, which identified 39 outstanding Latin American writers under the age of 39, in 2007.

The Beirut39 festival took place in April 2010 in Beirut to introduce and celebrate the 39 winning Arab writers. I hope to read more of them in the near future. Obviously a lot of their work is in Arabic and isn't accessible to English readers ... yet. A couple of the women who have been translated include Faiza Guene and Randa Jarrar.

#43: Touch looks very good. I will have to look for that one.

It is, Stase! It's hot off the press, so do look out for it!

Having just discovered graphic novels, a friend handed me Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence by Nick Bantock lately and it was great. It’s not quite a graphic novel, but the book takes the form of postcards, and letters in envelopes, enclosed in the book, which one can take out, unfold, read and then replace. It takes all of 10 minutes to get through but it’s a lovely, tactile experience.

The correspondence occurs between two artists, who discover one another, and there is an element of fantasy in the relationship, which adds interest. The postcards are designed by the artists. I think it’s a lovely gift for booklovers. There’s not much to read, but there is a lot to appreciate in the artwork, and the time it must have taken to put the book together. Nice!

Thank you, Princess T.

#45: I have had Griffin & Sabine in the BlackHole forever now. One of these days I will get to it!

Thanks for sharing those lovely poems with us, Akeela. I've added A Hundred Silences: Poems and The Dream in the Next Body to my wish list.

You're most welcome, Darryl :)

Akeela, you managed something I found impossible... got me to read a poem AND enjoy it, appreciate it. May wonders never cease. TY.

(May have to scrap the autumn one :)

Happy to oblige, Susan!

The fifth issue of Belletrista is now available. My reviews of Touch by Adania Shibli, and the two Latin American novels House of Mist and The Three Marias mentioned above, are included :)

A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar, another Beirut39 winner. A bold debut by a young Arab writer, who writes effortlessly. I may review this book for the sixth issue of Belletrista, so won’t say more for now.

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. This was an LT recommendation I thought I would love. It’s a novella and a short story in one bound volume. Both stories are gentle and introspective, and the backdrop is a wintery cold Japan, which I enjoyed. It deals with themes of young love, death, loss, grief and also trans-sexuality, and there are elements of magic interweaved. It was engaging, but lacked a punch. I liked it but was slightly disappointed.

#50: Akeela, I checked the 'Reviews' section of the new issue of Belletrista, but saw only one review listed for you (Touch). Am I looking in the wrong spot?

#51: That enticing comment about A Map of Home and the reviews on the book's LT page are good enough for me; onto the wish list it goes. (Hmm, Stasia didn't add to my wish list, but I wouldn't have guessed that someone else would at this early hour.)

I just saw that the book Beirut 39: New Writing from the Arab World was published in the UK last month; it will be available in the US in early June, so I'll get it then.

Stasia, issue 5 of Belletrista just came out last week, so I would guess that issue 6 won't be available until early July. Akeela did write a wonderful article about Beirut39 for issue 3 of Belletrista:

http://www.belletrista.com/2010/issue3/features_1.php

ETA: A Map of Home is at my local Borders!

#53: Darryl, I was looking for the reviews of House of Mist and The Three Marias in the 5th issue. I am just confused as to where they might be. I thought, reading message 50, that they were in the current issue.

#54: Oops. My bad.

I did find the reviews; they're both on the Latin American Book Reviews page:

http://www.belletrista.com/2010/issue5/features_2.php

Hey, Early Birds! You guys are quick. It's midday in Cape Town already :)

The jury's still out on the Jarrar book, Darryl. It might be more YA... But she's a great writer and I will definitely watch out for more by her.

Oh-oh-oh! I have the Beirut39 anthology! It looks really great - can't wait to get to it.

Stasia, the other two reviews are in the Latin American Feature in the same issue. Follow the prompts from the colorful Guatemalan image on page one of Belle 5. Enjoy!

Have a good day, you two! It's very definitely winter in CT.

...still too slow for the two of you :)

Thanks, Darryl! Also for the link to Beirut39 - hadn't occurred to me...

A Latin American Book Reviews page separate from all the other book reviews? Who knew? Thank you both for pointing me in the right direction.

You're welcome, Stase! At Belle, we aim to please :)

#56: Thanks for the heads up on the Jarrar, Akeela. I'll still check it out, as I'm going to Borders anyway, either today or tomorrow. I "need" to get Black Water Rising by Attica Locke (shortlisted for this year's Orange Prize) and The Vivisector by Patrick White (shortlisted for the Lost Booker Prize).

It's not winter here, but it's definitely nippy this morning (only 50 degrees, with a high of 68 degrees, which is probably 10+ degrees below normal, and 20 degrees colder than it was on Friday). I just stepped outside to get the Sunday New York Times; brr!

#60: I have The Vivisector to read yet too, Darryl. I bought it several months ago. It will be interesting to see what you think of it. You will probably get to it before I do.

It is raining here and about 60 at the moment. We are having a cooler spring than normal as well.

It's raining cats-and-dogs here, with rain forecast for the rest of the week. Brr! Same temperatures, interestingly enough -also 68 degrees. Happy shopping!

Yikes! Have some catching up to do here!

My recent reads include:
A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar, a good debut novel to be reviewed in the forthcoming, seventh issue of Belletrista;
The Story of Maha another debut novel by South African, Sumayya Lee;
Lahore with Love: Growing Up with Girlfriends, Pakistani Style a memoir by Fawzia Afzal-Khan;
All The Living another debut novel, this time a wonderfully inspired one, by American, C.E. Morgan, also to be reviewed in the forthcoming Belletrista;
Irma Stern: A Feast for the Eye by Marion Arnold, an amazing tribute to South African artist extraordinaire, published on the centenary of her birth in 1994;
and last but not least, the wonderful The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa.

ts all co-operating! wow!

Hope to be back with some more thoughts soon...

Looking forward to your reviews, Akeela!

Thanks, Stase! Not sure when I'll get down to it... but I just have to say that The Housekeeper and the Professor was really special. I'm now reading another by Yoko Ogawa entitled The Diving Pool.

I own The Housekeeper and the Professor. I just need to find where I put it so that I can get it read!

> 66 Hope you find it soon, Stasia!

The Diving Pool by Yoko Ogawa. Translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder. I didn’t love this one, unfortunately. It’s a slim volume with three short stories. The writer, and characters, seem obsessed with gooey and yucky things like the following typical snippet of conversation:

“Doesn’t the sauce on the macaroni remind you of digestive juices?” she murmured. I ignored her and took a sip of water. “So warm and slimy? The way it globs together?...” and on and on, in the same vein.

It was a bit icky and creepy, but one has to give Ogawa her due. The last story read like a thriller and I literally found myself holding my breath while reading. I'm amazed at her ability to write something as beautiful as The Housekeeper and The Professor and then this almost-nauseating set of stories, on the other extreme.

No recommendation for this one, but a hearty double recommendation for The Housekeep+!

#67: Umm, I think I will skip that one. Just that conversation turned my stomach. I do not think I could handle an entire book like that!

Ick. It will take me at least a day or two to be able to eat mac & cheese after that description. ;-)

>68 alcottacre: and 69 I swear, that was just a random paragraph I picked out. Sorry, Darryl...

Now, for a book I loved!

Irma Stern: A Feast for the Eye by Marion Arnold. Irma Stern is a name I’ve always known. Her home is now a museum, open to the public. And a stone’s throw from where I work, and live. Yet, I’ve never been. I always imagined her work would constitute paintings of landscapes and fruit bowls, which I have nothing against, but am not particularly drawn to. I did find that in the book, but was I amazed at what I found in addition to it, in this wonderful tribute to an immensely talented artist!

Irma Stern was born in 1894 in South Africa. She went to Germany as a toddler, where she spent her formative years and returned to South Africa 20 years later. By this time, she was already a known artist throughout Europe. Immediately on her return, she started exhibiting locally, and continued to exhibit abroad, in France, Germany, Switzerland, UK, and more.

The book was published on the centenary of Stern’s birth in 1994, and is a wonderful tribute to her work. It includes many well-known works by her, in full color, and also some works previously unseen, because they belong to private collections. She used many different media including oils, pastels, charcoal, graphite (if I remember correctly –I don’t have the book with me) and she’s also made striking wooden African masks, which are featured. Her colors are gorgeously vibrant and I loved many of the portraits of African women that revealed rich cultures from many different parts of Africa, and Europe, where she travelled and found her inspiration. This is a beautiful book that gave me hours of pleasure!

I’ve been inspired to visit the Irma Stern Museum (which is run under the auspices of the University of Cape Town). And will do. Soon!

Glad you found one you could love after the one before it!

Catching up, yet again...

Sabrina Fludde by Paulina Fisk (UK) I read outside my comfort zone this month and ventured into the fantasy and crime genres.

Up first, fantasy: Sabrina Fludde was reasonably enjoyable, at first; but it took me a long time to get through the last bits. The body of a little girl, Abren, is floating down a river as the book opens. She is aware of what’s happening to her, but nobody seems to notices her - not the early morning walkers in the water meadow, as she passes by, not the people on the bridge, not the schoolgirls on the busy playground, even the wildfowl on the water fail to notice her. It’s as if the little girl isn’t on the river at all.

Eventually the strong current sweeps her up on a beach and she swims to the shore where she lies, lacking the energy to do anything but catch her breath and recover from the seemingly endless journey down the river. Then a man passing peers down to look at her, tutting at the antics of the young. She is elated because he has acknowledged her. She is alive and real after all!

Abren has many questions about who she is, where her family is, how she can get back to them... she has no recollection of her past, and as she journeys, she is taken in by a kind family, who embrace and love her, but she doesn’t belong and so takes her leave to go in search of her roots. She meets people along the way, who become dear friends, and others who become arch enemies, and everything occurs in and around the ever-present river, the Sabrina Fludde. She eventually unravels her mysterious past, which is linked to a series of myths around the river.

The book is the first in a trilogy, which I didn’t realise when I first picked up the book. And I didn’t realise there was something amiss at the end of it either. Fisk is an award-winning writer in this genre. She writes YA fiction.

Another fantasy title: Incantation by Alice Hoffman. My first Alice Hoffman, and I was impressed! It's also a YA book. Incantation is set at the time of the Spanish Inquisition and portrays the harsh treatment meted out to Jews at the time. There was a bit of romance and intrigue, as two friends compete for the attention of one man. I enjoyed the setting and the historical perspective. There was an air of magic throughout the text, which I suppose explains the fantasy part of it, but most of it was very real, for me.

My crime fiction read was Shadow by Karin Alvtegen, translated from the Swedish by McKinley Burnett. I don't usually read crime or psychological thrillers, but I really enjoyed this. I may be reviewing it for Belletrista, so won't say more for now.

I also completed The Writing on My Forehead by Nafisa Haji, a very good debut novel, set between Karachi, London and California, to be reviewed in the seventh issue of Belletrista.

AKEELA!!! How are you doing? I am so glad to see you around!

I am very well, thank you, Stasia! :)

I think we have Incantation in the library where I work. I'll look for it when school starts again. Thanks for reminding me about it!

>75 mamzel: Pleasure, mamzel! Hope you enjoy it.

How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer. This is a debut collection of remarkably well-written short stories. The protagonists are mainly children and adolescents dealing with a range of experiences, including friendship, romance, sibling rivalry, grief, drug abuse, and so on. Many of the children are from Jewish backgrounds, so I found it interesting to note the religious, cultural and traditional aspects of Jewish family life. Orringer does a wonderful job of drawing one into the private world of her characters and bringing their deepest fears, joys and desires to life. This genre really works for Orringer!

I'm definitely adding How to Breathe Underwater to my wish list; if you and Rachel liked it, then I'm sure I will too.

#76: I thought I already had that one in the BlackHole, but no. It is there now!

I read your comments this morning and thought it sounded good, then opened today's Financial Times books section and found an excellent review of Orringer's first novel The Invisible Bridge - both are going onto my wishlist. I have a lingering thing about short stories, but whenever I read them I like them. I think it's a hangover from reading mediocre ones in high school.

Hi friends! Seems like ages since I made it here...

My Brother’s Keeper by Jassy Mackenzie. A South African thriller recommended by a colleague. When it was handed to me, I didn’t like the cover at all. It’s not really my usual fare but having thoroughly enjoyed the Swedish Shadow by Karin Alvtegen not too long ago, I decided to give this one a go.

It started off very well as Mackenzie is skilled at drawing good characters and setting. The book is set in Johannesburg and provides a really good sense of place. The story is about two sets of brothers, really. Nick Kenyon, a kind, hardworking paramedic, and his brother, Paul, a brutal murderer and gang leader; and another set of young Black boys, 15-year-old Sipho, who steals in order to send his younger brother, Khani, to school. There’s gang-related theft, murder, brutality and intrigue in abundance with some romance thrown in.

At some point, I stopped randomly to count the number of characters I’d already been introduced to and found more than twenty-four! I finished the book, but from midway started skipping paragraphs, then pages - that’s never a good sign for me. There were too many neat coincidences and really, I didn’t like the ending in the least. Perhaps I should have gone with my gut and should have judged this book by its cover :)

Fortunately my next two reads were really great!

#80: I feel safe in skipping that one! Glad to hear that the next couple of reads made up for that one.

Jamilia by Chingiz Aitmatov. Translated by James Riordan. This beautiful little gem of a book is set on the Kyrgzstan steppe during the war. The narrator is 15-year-old Seit, who has to engage in arduous toil on the farm, as the men and his older brothers are away at war. He is burdened with responsibilities of labor beyond his years, as he is now the jigit – the protector and breadwinner in the family. The women in the village are tasked with harvesting the fields, carrying heavy loads of grain, taking the lambs and calves out to pasture, and so on, work they would not ordinarily be required to do.

Seit spends his days working alongside his young, beautiful jenei (sister-in-law) who is every bit as industrious as the older women in the family. She calls him kichine bala, little boy, as is required by family custom. These are terms of respect; they are not allowed to call each other by name. Seit absolutely adores his graceful, high-spirited, strong jenei, who loves to sing.

Her husband, Sadyk, is in hospital recuperating from wounds sustained in the war and occasionally writes home, but as custom demands, rarely ever mentions Jamilia in his letters. Meanwhile, back home, with her lively and forthright personality, Jamilia attracts a lot of attention from the young men around.

There is one man, though, who spends a lot of time in their company, of necessity, but he remains aloof. Injured at war, Daniyar is now in their midst. But he is the strong and silent type. As time passes, Seit sees Jamilia draw Daniyar out of his shell and a beautiful, but forbidden, relationship evolves between them.

The writing is magnificent, especially the paragraphs describing the depth of the enigmatic Daniyar's character. This book was written way back in 1957, and was only translated into English in 2007 by James Riordan who must be commended for the splendid translation.

The author, Chingiz Aïtmatov, died in July 2008, and I found this obituary interesting and informative: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article4310435.ece

The Last Summer of Reason by Tahar Djaout review/ thoughts to follow.

As promised, The Last Summer of Reason by Tahar Djaout. Translated from the French by Marjolijn de Jager.

Tahar Djaout was an Algerian novelist, poet and journalist and an outspoken critic of the extremism prevalent in his country during the 90s. He was murdered at the age of 39 by Islamist militants. This novel was found amongst his papers after his death.

This is a beautifully written and moving novel about a bookstore owner, Boualem Yekker, who experiences his country at the hands of the Vigilant Brothers, a presence seeking to control all aspects of life according its radical conservative theology.

Djaout observed the intimidation in his country and imagined a place where things were taken to the extreme. The result is a dystopian novel where militants reign, and day-to-day life is watered down to a set of rituals, lacking heart or soul.

Boualem observes as everyone, including his wife and children, succumbs to this new force and become almost robotic “perfect citizens”, without souls. He resists. He sees a city and its people stripped of their personalities and rich heritage. He yearns for times gone by, when he enjoyed the beautiful, rich ambience, where people sought out music, plays, books, and conversation, where education was valued, and people were joyful and compassionate.

Now everything is constrained: “This city, once beautiful and voluptuous in the amber aromas of the evening, has become unlivable. The birds that used to haunt the trees, have emigrated to more inhabitable skies.” He observes a, “City predisposed to joy but from which joy has been banned.”

Boualem is invigorated by books, and there are some amazing passages on books and booklovers. He wonders, for example, “How people could live, without the smell of paper, without turning pages in which metaphors, ideas, and adventures were rustling.”

This is an astonishing little book resonating with a deep sadness about the loss of a once beloved city and its people, to religious fanatics. There are endless quotable passages throughout the book, and the translation is outstanding.

#83: I went to add that one to the BlackHole only to discover it already there. I guess I had better get my hands on a copy soon!

Thanks for the tip on Irma Stern :)

Hi Stasia and Susan!

It was a bit of a challenge for me to stay on top of things on LT this year.

Just back to list my top reads for 2010, roughly in the order in which I read them:

Hunger by Knut Hamsun
This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar ben Jelloun
House of Mist by Maria Luisa Bombal
Touch by Adania Shibli
All the Living by C.E. Morgan
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
Shadow by Karin Alvtegen
Jamilia by Chingiz Aïtmatov
The Last Brother by Nathacha Appanah
The Last Summer of Reason by Tahar Djaout

Two outstanding graphic novels that deserve a mention:
The Rabbi’s Cat by Joann Sfar
Stitches: A Memoir by David Small

Non-fiction titles (all South African) that deserve a mention:
The Cohen Case by Benjamin Bennett
Irma Stern: A Feast for the Eye by Marion Arnold
Fruit of a Poisoned Tree by Antony Altbeker

Nice list, Akeela! Are you going to join us for the 2011 group? It is up and running! http://www.librarything.com/groups/75booksin20111