Author Topic: Read Around The World (Read 49934 times)

pedln · « **Reply #80 on:** February 09, 2009, 12:16:49 PM »

A site where we find books and films
in all the corners of the world,
created by those who have lived there.

IMPAC International Literary Awards

Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2009

Words Without Borders

Best Translated Books 2008

Academy Award Winning International Films

100 Greatest Foreign Films

Discussion Leader: Pedln

Persian · « **Reply #81 on:** February 10, 2009, 09:34:44 PM »

Thanks very much for the link. I forwarded it to one of the local Head Librarians, who scheduled our Books Discussion in March RE Afghan culture. The folks in this area are not very familiar with Central Asia so all the resources which come to their attention will be most helpful.

MarjV · « **Reply #82 on:** February 17, 2009, 09:31:09 AM »

Persian - how interesting your post about Afgh.

I'm currently reading Amagansett by Mark Mills. Lives in London. Set in '47 USA. Has great whaling lore. I like his descriptions of nature.

From Penguin: Conrad Labarde is a first-generation Basque fisherman who casts his nets in the treacherous waters of the Atlantic. He is a working-class man in a region of Long Island sharply divided between those who inhabit this isolated finger of land year-round, and the rich who claim it every summer.

But in postwar America, things are changing quickly. And lives too will change—affecting everyone in the community—when Conrad’s nets pull in the body of a beautiful young woman, seaweed entwined in her hair…

pedln · « **Reply #83 on:** February 17, 2009, 11:12:43 PM »

Amagansett sounds interesting, Marj, and the time period, 1947, that catches my eye. Now that we're reading Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, set in 1946, I've been thinking that I really haven't read much set in that immediate post-war period. I don't know it from an adult standpoint.

MarjV · « **Reply #84 on:** February 24, 2009, 09:30:07 PM »

Oh my, this afternoon I'm half way thru a very "hot" South American novel - set in Lima, Peru. Author: Marie Arana (born & lives in Lima and Washington DC) Title: Lima Nights

Lima Nights - International Herald Trib

hats · « **Reply #85 on:** February 26, 2009, 07:49:31 AM »

Adoannie,

Thank you so much for putting up the painting from "The Audacity of Hope." I thought a lot about that painting after President Barack Obama mentioned it in Dreams from My Father. Never thought I would have the chance to see it.

MarjV · « **Reply #86 on:** February 26, 2009, 11:37:58 AM »

Pedlin - thanks so much for the link to the international award winning films _ is ee some tasty ones.

These were nominated for Golden Globe:

The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
The Country of Germany
(DER BAADER MEINHOF KOMPLEX) Constantin Film Produktion GmbH; Summit Entertainment, LLC

Everlasting Moments (Sweden, Denmark)
The Country of Sweden and The Country of Denmark
(MARIA LARSSONS EVIGA ÖGONBLICK) Final Cut Productions Aps; IFC Films

Gomorrah (Italy)
The Country of Italy
(GOMORRA) Fandango; IFC Films

I've Loved You So Long (France)
The Country of France
(IL Y A LONGTEMPS QUE JE T’AIME) UGC YM/UGC Images/France 3 Cinema/Integral Film; Sony Pictures Classics

Nomated for Oscars"
"Waltz With Bashir "(Israel)
The Country of Israel
Bridgit Folman Film Gang/Les Films D'Ici/Razor Films/Arte France/ITVS International; Sony Pictures Classics

“The Baader Meinhof Complex” A Constantin Film Production, Germany

“The Class” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haut et Court Production, France

* “Departures” (Regent Releasing), A Departures Film Partners Production, Japan

“Revanche” (Janus Films), A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production, Austria

“Waltz with Bashir” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production, Israel

anntex · « **Reply #87 on:** March 02, 2009, 10:58:22 PM »

Hi to everyone,
I have never posted before, but a book I have really enjoyed is from Sweden:
"The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo". It is a mystery and is really well written. Check it out. You might like it. Ann

MarjV · « **Reply #88 on:** March 03, 2009, 08:19:52 AM »

Thanks for your idea, AnnTex.

I think I'll request that from my library. Read the review on Amazon.

Girl with Dragon Tattoo

Frybabe · « **Reply #89 on:** March 03, 2009, 09:07:03 AM »

Oh, I'm hooked The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo is on my buy list.

Babi · « **Reply #90 on:** March 04, 2009, 08:53:46 AM »

Hi, ANNTEX. Always glad to meet a new booklover. Does the 'Tex' indicate you are from Texas? I'm a native myself, from the SE edge of Houston, in a small town called Deer Park. Where are you?

pedln · « **Reply #91 on:** March 04, 2009, 09:52:52 AM »

Welcome, Anntex. We're so glad you found us here, and thanks for recommending The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. It sounds like a very good read. (Thank you, Marj, for the link to the review.)

Marj, thanks for the Golden Globe list of top foreign films. The only name I recognized was the one from Israel -- Walzing with Bashir. Animated, right? Have you seen any of them?

hats · « **Reply #92 on:** March 04, 2009, 01:28:58 PM »

Welcome AnnTex,

You will enjoy being here. Have fun!

MarjV · « **Reply #93 on:** March 05, 2009, 08:40:27 AM »

Pedlin - haven't seen any of the films I listed but have some on my Netlix list.

Yes, "Waltzing...." is animated - I saw the trailer for it. Very dramatic. I don't know that I'll watch that.

MarjV · « **Reply #94 on:** March 07, 2009, 09:23:57 AM »

I don't think you had this link posted, Pedlin.

Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2009

http://www.booklit.com/blog/category/general/prizes-awards/

The longlist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2009 has been announced.

The sixteen titles are:

My Father’s Wives, José Eduardo Agualusa, translated by Daniel Hahn from the Portuguese (Arcadia Books)
The Director, Alexander Ahndoril, translated by Sarah Death from the Swedish (Portobello Books)
Voice Over, Céline Curiol, translated by Sam Richard from the French (Faber)
The White King, György Dragomán, translated by Paul Olchvary from the Hungarian (Doubleday)
Night Work, Thomas Glavinic translated by John Brownjohn from the German (Canongate)
Beijing Coma, Ma Jian, translated by Flora Drew from the Chinese (Chatto & Windus)
The Siege, Ismail Kadare, translated by David Bellos from the French of Jusuf Vrioni (Canongate)
Homesick, Eshkol Nevo, translated by Sondra Silverston from the Hebrew (Chatto & Windus)
The Diving Pool, Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder from the Japanese (Harvill Secker)
The Armies, Evelio Rosero, translated by Anne McLean from the Spanish (Maclehose Press)
The Blue Fox, Sjón, translated by Victoria Cribb from the Icelandic (Telegram)
Novel 11, Book 18, Dag Solstad, translated by Sverre Lyngstad from the Norwegian (Harvill Secker)
How The Soldier Repairs The Gramophone, Saša Stanišić, translated by Anthea Bell from the German, (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
A Blessed Child, Linn Ullmann, translated by Sarah Death from the Norwegian (Picador)
The Informers, Juan Gabriel Vásquez, translated by Anne McLean from the Spanish (Bloomsbury)
Friendly Fire, A.B. Yehoshua, translated by Stuart Schoffman from the Hebrew (Halban)

The judges for this year’s prize are:

Linda Grant, novelist
Kate Griffin, ACE literature officer
Fiona Sampson, editor, Poetry Review
Mark Thwaite, blogger, www.readysteadybook.com
Boyd Tonkin, literary editor, The Independent

There are other lists on the website

pedln · « **Reply #95 on:** March 07, 2009, 11:55:48 AM »

Marj, that's a fantastic link. I've asked our techie Pat if she can squeeze it into the heading. That one's a keeper. And all those links -- what a treasure trove!!! Take a look everyone.

MarjV · « **Reply #96 on:** March 07, 2009, 07:13:16 PM »

Just think, P, how long it would take to read all those books.

I have finished several Read Around books this week.

Right now I mention The Housekeeper and the Professor / Yoko Ogawa, trans by Stephen Snyder. A beautiful read - reminds me of a Japanese painting. Has a math plot background and the professor is has only an 80 minute memory. No one is name - Professor, Housekeeper, her son Root (named for square root) etc. Relationships and living in the present are 2 of the themes explored.

Amazon link: Housekeeper and the Professor

Persian · « **Reply #97 on:** March 07, 2009, 08:02:34 PM »

I haven't posted in a while as I've been getting ready to welcome my son back to the USA with his family later this month as they are transferred to Ft. Stewart's Army base near Savannah, GA. Never been in that area of the American South, but I'll soon have the opportunity to drive down and return my son's car to him.

I've also been working on my notes for my lecture next week to a local book club on Afghan culture to expand their knowledge of the region as they read and discuss Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea. Has anyone here read it? If so, I'd be interested in your impressions.

In the meantime, it's great to see how these new sites have continued to blossom with such interesting suggestions for titles. Enjoy!

Mahlia

JoanK · « **Reply #98 on:** March 10, 2009, 05:11:28 PM »

ANNTEX WELCOME! You might want to mention that book in the Mystery Corner (click on the arrow next to "Go" at the bottom of the page: you will get a list of discussions. Click on "Mystery Corner", then on "Go".

Marg: you got me with the mix of Japanese culture and mathematics: both interests of mine. I ordered it from Amazon.

One of the "If you like this, you'll also like" books was "The Elegance of the Hedgehog", which we're discussing next month.

JoanK · « **Reply #99 on:** March 10, 2009, 05:13:10 PM »

PERSIAN: great to see you again. How I wish I lived near you so I could hear these wonderful lectures of yours!

Persian · « **Reply #100 on:** March 11, 2009, 08:56:06 PM »

JOAN - thanks for your encouragement. Indeed, these two programs on Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea (2 1/2 hours last night and 2 hours this morning) have worn me out. And I was beginning to lose my voice towards the end of this morning's session. But what really interested me was that the audience was filled with people who not only have read Mortenson's book, but several others about the same region - Afghanistan - and posed some really interesting questions, which I was able to enlarge on with more information about Afghan culture than I'd originally planned. And - laughingly - there were two women from New York in the audience who has relocated to the local NC area where I live, as well as a retired professor from Oberlin. So we had a REALLY in-depth series of questions, responses and a sense of broadening our collective thoughts.

Mahlia

Babi · « **Reply #101 on:** March 12, 2009, 08:34:51 AM »

PERSIAN, sounds like you had a highly successful program there. Now you can sit back with satisfaction and soothe your poor throat with a cup of your favorite tea.

lucky · « **Reply #102 on:** March 12, 2009, 09:37:36 AM »

People Of The Book can be considered a historical novel. The writer has an excellent grasp of Jewish history and takes us on an intriguing adventure of Jewish life in Spain, Italy and other places, all the while attempting to locate the origin of the Haggadah that has a secret life of its own. It is beautifully written and the author's historical details are very accurate.

MarjV · « **Reply #103 on:** March 12, 2009, 10:03:06 AM »

Joan K - You'll have fun with the math in the novel.

Persian - what a great experience and discussion you encountered!!!!

pedln · « **Reply #104 on:** March 12, 2009, 11:39:58 AM »

So many great sounding books are listed here. The Housekeeper and Professor sounds very intriguing. How does this type of short-term memory differ or resemble that of what some of us unfortunately see in family members or friends? One of the reviews made reference to a real-life situation where a man had only 15 minutes of short-term memory. Both that and the book bring up all kinds of questions.

Mahlia, it sounds like you have two wonderful presentations for two very informed audiences. I'm glad it was such a good experience for you. Wish I could have been at one of them.

Lucky, I think some folks were talking about People of the Book in a few of the other SeniorLearn sites -- The Library? . . or Fiction? Not sure. There appeared to be a lot of interest.

MarjV · « **Reply #105 on:** March 14, 2009, 06:39:28 PM »

Just finished another of the Henning Mankell /Sweden books. He writes crime and fiction. I really like how he draws his Inspector Wallender and the minor characters in the crime novels. Only have read 2 of the fiction but going to see if I can get more. You can read about him here.

http://www.henningmankell.com/

hats · « **Reply #106 on:** March 15, 2009, 09:55:08 AM »

This book looks like wonderful Historical Fiction. Have any of you read it? I haven't.

http://features.csmonitor.com/books/2009/03/13/the-rose-of-sebastopol/

Babi · « **Reply #107 on:** March 15, 2009, 11:23:00 AM »

Sounds interesting, HATS. The writer is new to me, tho'. How good the book is will, of course, depend on her. Someone else just recommended another book by a woman named McMahon, only that one was 'Jennifer'. Interesting
coincidence...both new authors, too, I believe. Let's see if someone here has read the book and what they think of it.

MarjV · « **Reply #108 on:** March 15, 2009, 02:36:41 PM »

Hats - that does look like an interesting novel.

The Washingnton Post reviews it with positive and negative comments.

Rose of Sebastopol

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #109 on:** March 15, 2009, 09:31:35 PM »

Wheee a NEW DISCUSSION - in fact an whole new area of discussion - we pushed this through quickly - this was ONLY thought about the past Tuesday or Wednesday but here we are - as soon as I have links or know how to use them I will bring the links to this discussion

The discussion is a two for - yep a twin discussion - the main discussion will be to explore Humor Wit and Satire in Literature but to narrow it down we chose the short story -

Each middle of the month there will be a new short story to read ON-LINE that encapsulates either Humor Wit or Satire or all three - lots of great authors like Mark Twain and Wells and Eudora Welty - the list goes on - and so for 10 days each month we will explore one of these short stories while learning how writers make us laugh or get a message across without beating us over the head by using satire or their wits using language.

I am really excited and hope you will look in - WE START TOMORROW - can you believe TOMORROW - and sun comes up tomorrow as the song goes - we strike while the iron is hot around here - and the story is tra la la laaa a P.G.Wodehouse story - do I see a smile already? - one of his early Bertie Wooster and Jeeves tales called Jeeves in the Springtime - P.G. Wodehouse although having lived in the US after WWII wrote as an Brit - not an author from the exotic lands afar but a scintillating comic author - hope to see you tomorrow.

MarjV · « **Reply #110 on:** March 16, 2009, 07:45:40 AM »

Barbara - did you perhaps post in the wrong discussion? this discussion has been happening for quite awhile.

Babi · « **Reply #111 on:** March 16, 2009, 09:46:09 AM »

MARJ, thanks for the review of 'The Rose of Sebastopol'. I'm still undecided, tho'. I very much like the kind of thing the reviewer praises, but I also share his reaction Rose, as he describes her.
Oh, Marj, Barb was not referring to this discussion, but to the new one starting today that she described in her post.

MarjV · « **Reply #112 on:** March 16, 2009, 03:51:17 PM »

Thanks for the clarification, Babi!

hats · « **Reply #113 on:** March 17, 2009, 08:37:33 AM »

I just finished "The Forest Lover" by Susan Vreeland. This book is Historical Fiction. It's the fictionalized life of the Canadian artist, Emily Carr. Emily Carr was passionate about painting the British Columbian tribes and their artifacts, for example, she painted many of their totem poles.

Emily Carr always strived to make contact with the spirit while painting. I don't think she was ever completely satisfied with her forest paintings. I will always remember Sophie, a tribeswoman, and Harold Cook, a white man, both were Emily Carr's friends throughout their lives. Sophie and Harold Cook lead memorable lives as well, although, they were ordinary people not famous people.

This is a beautiful book about a great woman. Unfortunately, I had never heard of her.

http://www.amazon.com/Forest-Lover-Susan-Vreeland/dp/0143034308

http://www.svreeland.com/fl-paintings.html

hats · « **Reply #114 on:** March 17, 2009, 08:43:00 AM »

I have read "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe. Now, I have the other two books in the series, "No Loner at Ease" and "Anthills of the Savannah." All of these novels are in one book. Guess what? The book isn't bulky and hard to carry around. The print is big enough too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/profile/chinua-achebe.shtml

hats · « **Reply #115 on:** March 18, 2009, 06:13:35 AM »

MarjV,

Thanks for the link. I will read it.

lucky · « **Reply #116 on:** March 18, 2009, 09:21:00 PM »

I recently read an extraordinary novel by one of Hungary's greatest writers, Sandor Marai. The books is called "Embers", and it is a classic example of poetry in prose. It is basically a simple story of lost love, broken hearts and pain of old age as one remembers what one has lost. It is the writing that is so beautiful and if you appreciate the beautifully written word as opposed to plot then this book is for you.

lucky · « **Reply #117 on:** March 19, 2009, 06:20:03 PM »

"A Long, Long Way", by the Irish writer Sebastian Barry is a stunning book dealing with the Irish in W.W.1. It essentially deals with a group of young boys who go off to fight for England with the hope that when the war ends there will be self rule for the Irish. The Easter Rebellion, where they are commanded to fire on other Irishmen disturbs them deeply causing them to desert. It is also a story of a father/son whose close relationship is threatened by dissenting views about the war. The book, I believe was short listed for the Man Booker prize.

JoanK · « **Reply #118 on:** March 19, 2009, 07:37:40 PM »

HATS: how did you like "Things Fall Apart"? I hesitate to recommend it, because I've heard some racist whites use it to say "You see, Africans are savages", not at all what the author was trying to say. But I guess if you are a racist, you see everything through racist eyes.

JoanK · « **Reply #119 on:** March 19, 2009, 07:41:38 PM »

Hoorah! We're going to be reading "Three Cups of Tea" in May, if there is enough interest. PERSIAN, I hope, hope, hope you can participate! All of you, come to the proposed discussion and let us know if you're interested here:

http://seniorlearn.org/forum/index.php?board=57.0

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Author Topic: Read Around The World (Read 49934 times)

anntex