BOOK: The Rebels by Sandor Marai

The Rebels by Sandor Marai, 278 pages
translated from Hungarian

Orbis Terrarum: Hungary

The Author:
Sandor Marai is better known for his novel Embers, published in English in 2001. His other books have been gradually been translated from Hungarian, including The Rebels in 2007, originally published in 1930. He left Hungary after the communist takeover and died in San Diego in 1989.

The Plot:
It's the story of four boys on the verge of adulthood, during the first world war. They are left in the town to finish school, without the men, all off at war, and are alienated, and rebelling against the establishment before they head off to the front. There is some betrayal amongst the friends.

Things I liked:
The alienation of the young well to do boys has been around for a while, and this book didn't feel like it was written in 1930. The antics of the boys could have been from today, just they rebelled in different ways. But apparently, rich entitled kids have been getting up to no good and always feeling like they are the first invent their particular unhappiness and rebellion.
I liked the feel and atmosphere of the book in Hungary during the first war.

Things I didn't like:
That literature feel, where I wasn't always sure what was going on, in particular, the ending. Huh? Lots of testosterone and overtones of homosexuality, and no real female characters, except of dying mother of one of the boys.

BOOK: Map of the Invisible World by Tash Aw

Map of the Invisible World by Tash Aw, 342 pages

Published in '09; Orbis Terrarum: Malaysia/Indonesia

I don't know enough about the history in Indonesia to comment on what all happened in this book, but this book made me want to look up and read some other books about Indonesia in the 1960s. I know there was a movie called The Year of Living Dangerously, but I didn't realize it was based on a book based on a speech by the president and I wasn't aware that the Dutch 'owned' Indonesia before their independence. Indonesia in this tumultuous period is the setting for this novel, providing a backdrop for some broken lives.

Adam's foster father Karl, has been taken into custody as a part of a repatriation program, and Adam hasn't seen his brother since they were separated at the orphanage ten years earlier. He goes to Margaret, an American who has lived in Indonesia for most of her life and has a connection to Karl from her teenage years, for help in finding Karl. Margaret and her American contacts are in a bad spot as the climate between US and Indonesia are not good. Adam ends up meeting some students from Margaret's university and gets caught up some revolutionary activities.

It sounds a bit complicated, but it is not. The book looks at the growing pains in Indonesia in 1960s through the lives a small number of people. Some interesting questions of what makes a person a citizen of a country - by birth or by choice, as well as families made by birth or by choice are raised. Margaret is white but has Indonesia in her heart and really understands the land, but is considered an outsider. Karl is Dutch by heritage, but has lived a quiet life on an outer island and not part of any ruling class except by his heritage. Adam is Indonesian but doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere. His real brother, living a privileged life in Malaysia, is the biggest outsider within his adopted family.

All in all a good read. The setting and history in Indonesia were very good, and the main character of Margaret was independent and strong. Adam was a smaller character even though it is his life that is the center of the book. With the immigration of people all around the world, it is a good idea to think about what makes a person a citizen of a town or country, and it isn't just being born there. It must get very complicated in countries that were colonies of the European nations, with generations that have lived in and grown up there, but are still considered outsiders.

BOOK: The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, 180 pages
translated by Stephen Snyder

herding cats; What's in a Name? profession; Orbis Terrarum: Japan; published in 2009

A never named housekeeper comes to work for a never named math professor. The professor had a head injury in a car accident many years before and only has eighty minutes of short term memory. The housekeeper and her son, nicknamed Root for his flat headed resemblance to the square root sign, form a little family with the professor.

This was a delightful little novel about families and what makes them, about being educated and life long learning, and a bit about math and baseball. I'm sure not everyone finds math a selling point as a topic, but I loved it. The professor falls back on math when he doesn't know what to do or say as it is the one area of his life that he knows, that he has some control over. Plus, we learn a little bit about prime numbers and perfect numbers and solving problems.

Librarything predicted I would love it, and it was bang on. Keep an eye out, I bought it at Costco, so it must have been mass published recently.

also reviewed by thoughts of joy, 3M at onemorecchapter,

BOOK: December Heat by Luiz Alfredo Garcia- Roza

December Heat by Luiz Alfredo Garcia- Roza, 273 pages

Latin American Challenge: Brazil; Orbis Terrarum Challenge

December in Brazil is hot and the area of Rio de Janeiro called Copacabana is the scene of a murder. A retired cop's hooker girlfriend is found tied up and suffocated in her apartment. The cop, unfortunately, was so drunk he has amnesia and can't remember anything about the night. Inspector Espinoza in his second book, is called in as an old friend of the retired cop to solve the crime. Connected to the crime is a lost wallet, found by a street kid, and the chase to find the missing wallet.

I liked Espinoza as a main character and the local of Brazil was great. I felt I was sitting in a restaurant on the street of Rio at midnight watching the scenery. Espinoza is a educated, literary cop reading Lord Jim to clear his mind. Like most literary cops, he has no family but women are drawn to him despite his dark aura. There are chases and guns and violence and sex - everything a good mystery needs. There are several books in this series, unfortunately I started with the second book. I like to read a series in order, but there was no reference to his first case so it didn't matter that much.

BOOK: Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason

Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason, 344 pages
translated by Bernard Scudder and Victoria Cribb

in the pub '09; Orbis Terrarum: Iceland

continuing mystery series review questions:

Give a brief summary of the book:
A young Thai boy has been found stabbed on the playground. Erlunder, Elinborg and Sigurdur Oli investigate, looking into possible racial motives. Erlunder has another missing person investigation, his personal interest, he is also working on.

Likes?
The mystery was good. We really are a part of the detectives investigation in this book and only get to know what they know, making this a real police procedural. The story moves along pretty quickly as the police follow one clue after another. There was lots of discussion about immigration in Iceland and the attitudes and prejudices that can happen. I think in some ways I can identify with the Icelanders; living on an island really isolates a place and on PEI we deal with some of the same type of issues in terms of culture and 'the Island way of life.' Also, the extreme weather can shape a people. I'm not saying that our weather is as bad but it helps to define culture and people. The weather is lack of sunlight is a real part of the atmosphere in these stories.

I really like the three main characters and their ongoing stories. I can't say much about that, but Erlundur is slowly, oh so slowly, growing and becoming more socially aware of the people around him. There is more development in the possible mystery surrounding his brother's death when they were children.

Dislikes?
Not much to add here. When you get a good mystery series going it's like good times with old friends, so you don't really notice any of their faults.
I dislike that there is only one more book, after Hypothermia which according to Wikipedia, will be published in 2009, left to be translated.

Additional Thoughts:
I noticed the dedication was to Bernard Scudder, the translator who died in 2008, hence the two names for translation. That's really sad, because I would imagine the translator of a series greatly contributes to the atmosphere and tone and overall impression of the books. The fact that Indridason dedicated this newest translation speaks to the respect and appreciation that he must have felt to Scudder for his translations.

BOOK: Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively

Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively, 208 pages

Celebrate the Author; Booker Prize Winner; Orbis Terrarum: Egypt

Penelope Lively was born in Egypt on March 17, 1933 and spent her childhood there before moving to England. She uses some of her experiences for this book, a Man Booker winner from 1987, which covers the life of Claudia Hampton as she remembers her life from her hospital bed.

Claudia was a war reporter stationed in Egypt during the second world war. It's hard to recap her life because Claudia herself tells her story in a nonlinear fashion, as important parts come to her. I liked how Lively did this, and the jumping around in time, and perspective, should be more confusing than it was, but I found it enjoyable. The major theme of the book is that history is all about perspective and point of view. This gets extended to the story and some scenes are told from different characters perspective a very effective technique.

I really liked seeing the scene from different perspectives.
Seeing the scenes from different perspectives gives the reader insights into the characters.

Claudia has a daughter but leaves her with the grandmothers to raise as she hasn't a maternal bone in her body. There are two great loves in Claudia's life and they really shape her future life. I believed this love story like I didn't in Love in the Time of Cholera, even though both are unfulfilled love in some sense. I liked the relationship with her brother, the closeness some siblings must feel. And I shouldn't have liked Claudia, because she is independent, rude, and abrupt, but I loved her rude abrupt behavior at a time when women weren't rewarded for that sort of behavior or expected to be that way.

Writing a book as a character's memoir seems to be a common type of book, allowing an author to have their character look back over a lifetime of history and to comment on how they perceived events, leading to the idea of an unreliable narrator and leaving the reader to judge whether what is being told is true or if it has been misremembered. It doesn't always work for me (Gilead) but I liked seeing Claudia's life, or the parts she let us see.

BOOK: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 348 pages

Orbis Terrarum: Colombia; What's in a Name: medical condition; 1% well read; Latin American Challenge

Fiction or non-fiction? Genre?
fiction; it's described as a romance at Sparknotes which I'm not sure I agree with but I'll discuss that later


What led you to pick up this book?
It's a book I've heard of in many contexts: it's an Oprah pick from a few years ago, it makes many book lists of important books, Marquez is a Nobel winning author, and it seemed like a definitive book to read for the Latin American Challenge. Marquez's other book, One Hundred Years of Solitude has more polarizing reviews and I've seen a few reviews for this one that made me think it would be a better fit for me.

Summarize the plot, but don't give away the ending!
Florentino Ariza falls in love with Fermina Daza when they are teenagers. She ends up rejecting him and marrying a doctor and Florentino Ariza swears his undying love. Fifty-one years and 622 affairs later, he gets his chance to proclaim his love to Fermina Daza again.

What did you like most about the book?

I liked the setting and the time period - turn of the last century in some unknown Caribbean location. I was interested in seeing how the two main characters would end up together at the end.
At times the writing was lyrical and would lull me along with the story, but at other times I would read a paragraph twice to understand what was being described.
I liked Fermina Daza as a character. She seemed very strong, and opinionated in a time when women were not treated very well. She survived on her own terms for the most part and the men in her life dominated her only in the ways she let them.

What did you like least?
I didn't like that the chapters had no breaks within them. Fifty to seventy pages written with no pause, changing from character to character and from one back story to another.

I didn't like the details for minor characters that would appear for several paragraphs and then not appear again, mostly in describing Florentino Ariza's lovers.

The theme of love as a plague, a sickness didn't resonate with me. I thought Florentino wasn't really in love with Fermina, rather he saw her as some ideal that he had to possess. He never really knew her and by the time he got to know her, she wasn't the same person at all that he originally fell in love with. He could better be described as a stalker, watching her from a far, waiting and setting up situations for them to meet.

The depiction of aging as the Worst Thing Ever. The first character in the book, a friend of the doctor's kills himself rather than get too old; Fermina's daughter at one point proclaims that seventy year olds making love is 'disgusting.' The description of Fermina naked when she was seventy was not at all flattering and was used to show that women do not age gracefully, where as the male was not so graphically described - he just couldn't get it up after seeing her.

Have you read any other books by this author? What did you think of those books?
No, and I think I won't need to.

What did you think of the main character?
Florentino Ariza was a nymphomaniac who justified his use of women as 'being true' to his one true love, Fermina Daza. He treated women as objects and kept a record of his conquests. One of his 'lovers' was fourteen and under his care as her guardian. When Humbert Humbert did that in Lolita he was a pedophile, but Florentino is never judged for it.

Any other particularly interesting characters?
Some of Florentino Ariza's lovers were interesting but they began to run into each other in my mind.
I liked Fermina's cousin, Hildebrande, who had her own love problems and tried to provide opportunities to get Florentina and Fermina together when they were young.

Share a quote from the book:
I seldom notice quotes from a book. Random page opening found this example of the writing:

He had to repress the trembling that was almost as old as he was when he saw the beautiful woman of his dreams on her husband's arm, splendid in her maturity, striding like a queen from another time past the honor guard in parade uniform, under the the shower of paper streamers and flower petals tossed at them from the windows.

Share a favorite scene from the book.
I liked the boat ride near the end of the book for it's discussion about how the environment had been destroyed by the progress of various river enterprises, but this little sermon came out of nowhere and seemed like a big idea to discuss that hadn't been mentioned at all.

What about the ending?

It was okay, but the ending happened at the beginning and then the rest of the book shows how we ended up there. It wasn't my type of love story.

Anything else?
The narration was third person omniscient, but a couple of times there was reference to 'us' or 'our' as a citizen of the country, which really threw me. And at another point, the narrator made mention to his/her being a namesake to a character. But there was never anything else mentioned about that. I kept reading partially to find out what that was about and I checked Sparknotes for some reference, but there was nothing there either. Very weird.

Which of your readers are most likely to enjoy this book? Why?

People who like Oprah recommended books. Readers who enjoy Nobel winning author books. Fans of Latin America writing.

Other reviews around the book blogosphere:
Rhinoa,
bybee,
chris at book-a-rama,
susan b evans at well-mannered frivolity,

BOOK: Dancing to Almendra by Mayra Montero

Dancing to Almendra by Mayra Montero, 263 pages
translated by Edith Grossman

Latin American Challenge; Orbis Terrarum: Cuba

Cuba before the Castro revolution must have been an exciting time: nightclubs and casinos, money and romance are all depicted in this novel by Cuban author Mayra Montero. A young reporter looks into the death of a hippopotamus at the zoo and discovers it was meant to be a message to a mobster who was killed in New York City. As Joaquin Porrata looks into the mob scene, he gets embroiled in the dark life and the novel takes off as a hard boiled mystery, which reminded me of Hammett's The Maltese Falcon or Chandler's The Big Sleep. Dames, mobs, film stars, double crosses, dead animals, corpses, guns, leprosy, and a circus. There's something here for everyone.

There is a second story going on, as Yolanda, Porrata's new love interest, tells her life story and a very interesting one it was. I didn't enjoy her part quite as much, in that it didn't move the story along but was a parallel story leading her up to the point in her life when she met Porrata.

Can't you just hear Sam Spade narrating this line?

Two Chinese girls were singing in the film, high Chinese tones that can't be heard by the human ear, but that night I discovered they could be heard in your bones, your eye sockets, that's where they resonate.

I like reading those film-noir, detective stories, but I always feel like I am missing something. I like the feel and atmosphere and the phrasing, but the characters are always doing what I never expect them to and I don't usually understand even what they have done. Fans of Hammett and Chandler would like this book. I know lots of people who go to Cuba every year for the spring break (Canadians are allowed to go there) and if I ever got to go, I would love to see Havana and imagine how it has changed from these glory days of the 1950s in this book.

CHALLENGE: Orbis Terrarum Challenge

Bethany is again hosting the Orbis Terrarum Challenge this year. Here's the rules:

Main Challenge Rules:
*The Orbis Terrarum Challenge begins March 1 2009(you are welcome to join later) through the end of 2009.
*For the challenge each reader is to choose 10 books (for the 10 months).
*Each book must from a different country, I have decided to go by the country of origin of the author, or the country he/she lives in is fine as well.
*You don't have to have a list, that means you can change your mind at any time. As long as there are 10 from 10 different countries, written by 10 different authors: Anything goes

There is so much going on over at the Orbis Terrarum Blog, I can't even begin to explain. Go check it out: Multiple mini challenges involving movies, poems, short stories and anything else you can think of to suggest. It is a very interactive challenge; the map was my favorite part last year. Bethany filled in the countries as each was read. This year she has posted links to all the reviews from last year, by country, beside their flag. It looks awesome! Plus, it is an instant list of suggested books to read.

I'll begin to make a list of possible books as we get closer to the start date.

Possible Books:

1. Egypt: Moon Tiger - Penelope Lively
2. Afghanistan: Kabul Beauty School - Deborah Rodriguez
3. Malaysia: Map of the Invisible World - Tash Aw
4. China: Sky Burial - Xinran
5. Colombia: Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia- Marquez
6. Cuba: Dancing to Almendra - Mayra Montero
7. Iceland: Arctic Chill - Arnaldur Indridason
8. Brazil: December Heat- Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza
9. Italy: Excursion to Tindari - Andrea Camilleri
10. Lebanon: DeNiro's Game - Rawi Hage
11. Japan: The Housekeeper and the Professor - Yoko Ogawa
    
12. Hungary: The Rebels - Sandor Marai
    

Short Story Mini-Challenge:
Katrina is going to host a mini challenge to read ten short stories from ten different countries, during the summer months. I have a book of short stories, each set in a different African country, which will give me half of this challenge. I'll give this mini-challenge a go, because I do like reading short stories.

From Say You're One of Them by Uwen Akpan
1. Kenya: "An Ex-mas Feast"
2. Rwanda: "My Parent's Bedroom"
3. Gabon: "Fattening in Gabon"
4. Nigeria: "Luxurious Hearses"
5. Ethiopia: "What Language is That?"
From The Japanese Wife by Kunal Basu
6. India: "The Japanese Wife"

CHALLENGE: Orbis Terrarum Challenge update

1) What did you like about the challenge?

-I loved the map which kept track of our countries visited.

-I liked that it was country of author's origin which determined the country, not just setting. It added an extra level of difficulty for me.

2) What would you like to see change for next year?

Nothing, it was a blast.

3) About the rules, or the non-existent rules...did you like that?

What are you talking about? There were rules, tons of rules!

Read 9 books, link books, read more books, look up author's nationality, write a meme, whew - you kept me busy!

4) Are you going to join us next year?

'magine.

5) Pretty please give me any suggestions for changes, the betterment of the challenge, or just anything that you would like to see changed for next year.

Honestly Bethany, it was lots of fun, and you don't need to do more. I won a book, I read great books from around the world. Time length was good, I wouldn't want to commit to more books, 9 was plenty for me.

6) Would you like the challenge to be more involved? What if we read books together sometimes? Would that interest you?

It doesn't have to be more involved unless you are looking for more work.

Read together? Depends on the book and the time and if all the planets are aligned for me.

7) Would you be interested in helping somehow next year? How would you like to help?

Possibly, but again, it may depend on planetary alignment...

The list of my books, I added a few that I finished after I 'officially' finished:

1. The Plague - Albert Camus (Algeria)
2. A Case of Exploding Mangoes - Mohammad Hanif (Pakistan)
3. Who Killed Palimino Molero? - Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru)
4. This Blinding Absense of Light - Ben Jelloun, Tahar (Morocco)
5. In the Country of Men - Hisham Matar (Libya)
6. The Secret Scriptures - Sebastian Barry (Ireland)
7. A Fraction of the Whole - Steve Toltz (Australia)
8. Shadow Family - Miyuki Miyabe (Japan)
9. The Snack Thief - Andrea Camilleri (Italy)
10. Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones (New Zealand)
11. Things Fall Apart - Chiua Achebe (Nigeria)
12. Out Stealing Horses - Per Petterson (Norway)
13. Voices - Arnaldur Indridason (Iceland)
    

BOOK: Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

What an Animal!; Orbis Terrarum: Norway; Book Awards II (IMPAC 2007); notable books

I never mean for a book to fit into so many challenges, and I didn't even get this book until a couple weeks ago; it just fit in perfectly and lets me finish two challenges off. I picked it after Laura gave it a rave review, and the chance to read a book from Norway was pretty exciting.

It's a quiet and slow, beautiful book, like I would imagine Norway to be. Sixty-seven year old Trond Sander has moved to a cabin in the woods to be alone. He coincidentally ends up living beside an old neighbour, and memories from a summer when Trond was fifteen and Lars was ten come back. They don't come flooding back though, because that implies a out of controlness that Trond is not capable off. There are a few going backs here, as he remembers the summer of fifteen in 1948, and learning about his father's actions in the war from 1945 when the German's were occupying Norway. I confess I found the different time frames somewhat confusing to keep track of.

I liked Trond and at times it seemed like he was going to be the kind of narrator you don't like, but he was kind and a little sad but not regretful of things in his life. It's a good book, not great, for me. I won't be raving about it, but it was solid. The ending was a little lacking, it was a bit of a let down. I thought there would be more of a connection between what had happened in 1948, but it just ended. It took me longer than it should have to read the last 60 pages, a sign that I wasn't involved enough to race to the end. I like a little more plot in most of my stories, but I appreciated the characters and the story told in this one.

BOOK: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

African Reading Challenge; Orbis Terrarum: Nigeria; 1% Well Read Challenge; decades challenge: 1950s

I've been wanting to read this book for a long time, so I kept putting it on another challenge list, hoping to finally get around to it. It gets scary when one book is on so many challenges, because what if I don't like it? I finally read it, appropriately enough during a wonderful heat spell, helping me get into the mood for a story set in 1890s Nigeria, in the African jungle. It took a while to get into the style of the writing but once I did I felt rewarded with a wonderful look at life in an African village.

The story follows Okonkwo, a leader and warrior in his local village, and his family. For the first third, the plot is just explaining the family and the lifestyle and sets up the pivotal point in the story. This is also about the influx of the British and the effect of the Christian missionaries on the tribes. Achebe does a great job of using a small family and village to see how the clashes occurred between the two groups which sets up the colonial situation in Africa which still has repercussions today. By the time the ending came with the inevitable showdown, I felt so bad for how the situation had deteriorated. As usual, there were good people on both sides but they were never enough.

Okonkwo was a flawed character to focus the book on. Even within his village, he was aggressive and violent and impatient with people he determined were less than him. I found it hard to like him and yet he was determined and smart and a leader. Even though life in the village of Umuofia was so far removed from my own, it helped to show me how that culture conflicted so much with the British who arrived. There is another novel, No Longer At Ease that I will have to look into that follows one of Okonkwo's descendants. I am going to look for it because this was a very good book and I would like to read another one of Achebe's African novels.

BOOK: A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

Orbis Terrarum Challenge: Australia

I first heard of this big ole book when bookfool mentioned it, then kookiejar loved it. It's big in size (531 pages) and ambition. Toltz covers a lot of material here, and I'll try to summarize a bit.

Jasper Dean is writing his family's colourful history in Australia, focusing on his father Martin and uncle Terry. It's about philosophy, fathers and sons, loneliness, hypocrisy, the media, and criminals, among other things, and it is told in a very funny manner. The one liners are thrown out in rapid succession at times. Martin's part in the story is told in his point of view, and at times I had trouble keeping Jasper and Martin's voices separate, but that is part of the story, how similar the two are, and when does the son become the father?

It is set in Australia, but not in a way that is stereotypical, i.e. no kangaroos or koalas, but modern life, and the outlaw history is commented on with all the criminal activity that Terry undertakes. The story starts in the outback, and scenes in front of the Sydney Opera House and activity of the parliament in Canberra are mentioned too, so we are certainly in Australia. The cynicism of the characters leads to their comedic lines and reminded me of Oscar Wilde's type of commentary, or the absurdity of some of John Irving's novels. Sometimes I had trouble reconciling the humorous lines with the situations and attitudes of the characters, but I kept reading. It was as if I wasn't quite getting the tone of the novel. I also didn't connect with the characters enough to race through the book. However, by two thirds of the way through, some great twists of plot started happening that I did not see coming and the book engaged me in other ways.

This book is getting great reviews at Amazon.com and has some great qualities. I didn't love it enough to gush, but I did enjoy it by parts. (ha, A Fraction of the Whole book!) It was pretty funny by times, but also tragic, and some terrible things happen. The plot plodded along for a while, but then started twisting and twirling around in ways that made me want to keep going. There was a lot of philosophizing going on by Jasper and Martin, which is where a lot of the comedy was, but it went on a bit too much for me at times. So it's a mixed review from me, but I think there are lots of readers who will love it.

BOOK: The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri

The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri (translated by Stephen Sartarelli)

Orbis Terrarum: Italy; in a series

I discovered this Italian mystery series at book number four. I hate reading a series out of order, but I found The Voice of the Violin on the marked down table at Indigo before I went on my Mediterranean cruise in 2006. I loved the cover and the idea of reading an Italian book while in Italy. I loved the character of Inspector Montalbano (Valentino wrote a lovely post on the appeal of Montalbano and Camilleri) and so then started at the beginning. The Snack Thief is the third book, the one just before where I started.

Camilleri is getting into the swing of the series by the third book, and I am beginning to keep all the characters straight. I tend to read names in a book like a picture, that is, I don't say the name, those letters just represent that person. When I read books with foreign names that are not as familiar to me, I have a more difficult time assigning the name to a character, because the letters are distinct enough. I'm not sure I've explained that well, but it's how I read. Anyway, the series and characters are developing nicely and I might have to read the next book, which I've already read, to keep the flow of the series. I am remembering things that happened in The Voice of the Violin that this book set up. It all makes sense now.

As I wrote in my Miss Julia review, the plot of a series doesn't really matter so I'll just say that Montalbano is his usual grumpy self, and the food descriptions make my mouth water and make me dream of spending a year on Sicily, drinking wine and eating pasta and fish. I'll just have to read the next book in the series.

BOOK: A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif

A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif

in the pub '08; Orbis Terrarum challenge:Pakistan; randomhouse review book



In 1988, a plane carrying the President of Pakistan crashed, killing the President - military dictator General Zia, some generals, and the American Ambassador, Arnold Raphel. This book looks at what may have caused the crash and the death of the General Zia.

I had to look up at wikipedia to see how much was true. And when I saw this picture of General Zia-ul-Haq, I can see where this story came from, because doesn't this face belongs in an amusing story? The crash of the plane was never explained, so Hanif writes this amusing look at army double-crossing and plots from an assortment of people with motive to assassinate the leader. I imagine leading a military coup and killing your predecessor is somewhat like marrying the man who cheated on his wife with you: eventually it will happen the other way. Cheaters cheat again, and someone will try to assassinate you.

There are many plot threads and characters and as usual I found it somewhat difficult to follow all that wasn't explicitly stated. Espionage stories can be tricky for me - I am that person in the theatre asking 'Who was that? Was that the husband? What just happened?' It doesn't lessen my enjoyment though. I just have a hard time keeping track of characters.

The setting of 1988 means the Afghan-Soviet war is still going on. The roles of the Pakistanis and Americans and the CIA are noted here, and OBL makes a cameo appearance at a party. Nice touch and a part of the absurdity present in the book.

This was a good book to use for the Orbis Terrarum because I feel I have a greater understanding of Pakistan. It was amusing, but when a book is described as 'very funny' it sets up a lot of expectations for the reader. It takes a while for the author to set up all the possible causes of the death, but by the end, it all comes together nicely. The book is mostly narrated by a young soldier, junior officer Shigri, intent on revenge for the death of his father.

(I'm not very good at summaries; my reviews are more impressions. Here's a summary if you like that sort of thing)

BOOK: Shadow Family by Miyuki Miyabe

Shadow Family by Miyuki Miyabe (translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter)

Orbis Terrarum: Japan; novella challenge (188 p)

A great, short detective mystery set in Japan. I usually like a mystery from the police point of view; it comes from all those Ed McBain 87th Precinct books I read. I was a little confused with the names but only because I wasn't careful enough in paying attention and they looked too similar to me but the plot is revealed deliciously slow to make this a terrific little novel.

There have been two murders in the city and the police have eventually connected them. It turns out that one of the murder victims, a middle aged man had a secret online life, including a wife, son and daughter. As the police dig deeper into this 'family', the virtual shadow family come under suspicion.

from the cover: Veteran Desk Sergeant Takegami finds himself unexpectedly in center stage of the investigation after his colleague is hospitalized. Adding to his surprise, he is partnered with his old friend Detective Chikako Ishizu after a break of fifteen years. Working on a hunch, they collaborate to unravel the fine line between fantasy and the harsh reality of murder.

I can't say much more, because the plot and pacing were what made this a great story. Details are thrown out suddenly that make the reader go 'oh' and then it continues. The looking into what is real, and what is role playing, the effect of betrayal and family dynamics made the psychology fascinating.

The author is one of Japan's most popular authors, with a number of best selling mystery and suspence novels, but only two have been translated into English. I'd read another of her books.

MEME: Orbis Terrarum Challenge

The Orbis Terrarum Challenge meme:

1.) What country do you always go back to in your travels (not just while reading for OT)?
England would be my favorite country to read about. I live in Canada, and see so much America that those settings are not that unusual, but England is one of my favorite settings.

2.) If you could visit 4 5 of the countries you have read about in your life (that you haven't been to yet), which would they be and why? (you can include the book that makes you want to visit if you remember)
Thailand (Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding)
Portugal (Alentejo Blue by Monica Ali)
Iceland (Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason)
Ireland (all Maeve Binchy)

I didn't even mention England. I'd love to go to England for all the books I've read.
ex: Neverland to see the subways, Pillars of the Earth for the cathedrals, Bridget Jones for modern London, the countryside for all the novels set during WW2, Bath for Northanger Abbey, the castles and country mansions from the Victorian novels, the monastery from the Brother Cadfael mysteries, and so on.

3.) Have you ever dreamed about a country you have read about, that you have never actually traveled to- except in your dreams?
I seldom remember my dreams, so I can't really answer this one.

4.) In what ways has reading about different countries opened up your perspective about global issues?

The rights of women, or the lack of, in other countries is certainly something I notice when I read novels set in other countries. It makes me not take for granted the options available to me. Also, the rampant consumerism that I live in versus a simpler life depicted in some other countries.

5.) What countries have you felt your judgment was off about-after reading about that nation?

I wouldn't say my judgment was off; it is more a recognition of the assets and beautiful aspects of a country; and an acknowledgement that the human condition is the same everywhere. We are all more alike than different.

6.) Which is your favourite book that you would recommend for this challenge (you don't have to have read it during the challenge)?

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (India)

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spain)

7.) I am thinking about hosting again, for a full year next time starting in January, do you have any constructive criticism, is one book a month about right...more? less? Give me some thoughts.

I am preferring the more random challenges, that start at some point in the year and run for several months, like this one. If it goes to a year, I would rather see less than 1 book per month, maybe 8-9 books.

8.) Anything else that you have been wanting to tell us all about? let us have it!

I am really liking this challenge, and the effort you are putting in to it to make it fun. I like that you put the restriction that the country is the country of the author, and not just the setting. Thank you to wikipedia for sources of information of author nationality.

I think it is neat the concept of 'other country' in this challenge, because for someone else, my country is one to read for the challenge, and I am picking countries that other people live in. It is weird, and egocentric, to see Canada listed as a country on the review lists. It jsut changes my perspecitve a bit.

BOOK: In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar

In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar

Man Booker challenge (shortlist 2006); African Reading challenge (Libya); Orbis Terrarum challenge; notable book challenge

I usually try not to use the same book for too many challenges, but this one took me so long to read I am going to use it where ever I can. It is a well lauded book; the cover lists all sorts of important awards it was nominated for, but it just didn't resonate with me.

Suleiman narrates his story from his nine year old point of view, which is accurate if you think that nine year olds don't really know what is going on, so neither does the reader. His father is away on business, his mother is 'ill' and requires lots of medicine from the pharmacy. Poor Suleiman can only relate from his perspective, but it left me feeling as confused as a nine year old. The writing was good in that sense. There is also a revolution going on in 1979 Libya, and people are disappearing. Is his father going to be next? Did his father betray they neighbour? There is some Oedipal stuff going on with the love for his mother, and he is trying to be a man but he is simply a kid.

I just didn't get it mostly, but I didn't dislike it. It was one of those books where I know there is more going on, but I couldn't see it. It might make a better discussion book, or if it had Spark notes to go with it so I could read about the symbolism and themes. I don't claim to be very good at seeing the levels in a book. It's so, literary. And lots of people like that in their books, so I don't want to put any one off, but it wasn't enough of a page turner for me. I liked the view of Libya and seeing what life was like in that African country.

If you have also reviewed this book, leave me a link in the comments, so others can see another point of view.

BOOK: Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

Orbis Terrarum (New Zealand), Man Booker Challenge (shortlist 2007)

This is my second book this year with many references to Dickens' Great Expectations ( Lost in a Good Book had Mrs Havisham as a major character) and I am feeling like I've read the book with out having to have actually read the book. I am not sure what I expected from this book, but the devastation during war, and the lost of innocence portrayed was a little surprising. My naivete also rose up, as life on the Pacific island of Bourgainville in 1992, was shockingly primitive and the war that raged there was unknown to me.

Matilda narrates her tale during this wartime, her battles with her mother, and her introduction to Great Expectations by Mr Watts, the only white man in their village who acts as a teacher. There are some abrupt changes in mood, necessitated by Matilda's view as an adult looking back at the events as a way to understand them. The rebels and the red faced guerrillas both wreck havoc on the village and the people living there.

This is one of those books where I sense there are big ideas being discussed at a different level, but I am missing them. I still enjoyed the book and the view of a much different life and the connections to Great Expectations. Some classic books seem so important that they lend themselves to other books written around them. That's pretty impressive for Mr Dickens. So far I'd say this was the strongest of the short list contenders for last year's Man Booker, ahead of On Chesil Beach and The Reluctant Fundamentalist, both of which were good, but underwhelming. Next will be the winner - The Gathering, so I'm getting a good taste of the nominated books.

also reviewed by: katrina here and marg here

BOOK: This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun

This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun
translated from the French by Linda Coverdale


novella challenge (190 pages), Orbis Terrarum Challenge, IMPAC Dublin award winner


Although written as a novel, and listed in fiction, this account of life underground in a concentration camp in Morocco is based on interviews Ben Jelloun did with a survivor. This is a harrowing yet beautifully written book. In 1971, an attempted coup was planned against the king of Morocco. The coup failed, and the participants were sentenced to jail, which became for some, a small underground cell, where survival was not possible except for a very few, who lasted twenty years. In 1991 they were released due to international pressure.


The narrator takes us through the thought processes that enabled him to survive. How he erased the images of his family from his mind, how he prayed and was transported away, how he completely separated his body from his mind. He held no thoughts of revenge or hatred and really became a completely pure person, understanding only what is required to survive. And while this is disturbing, watching most of the prisoners die, ultimately it is uplifting, as this one man survives amidst the most horrible conditions. That a person is capable of being that strong and that religious, was quite beautiful.