Paul's Club Reads in 2017 - Around the World in Eighty Books

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Paul's Club Reads in 2017 - Around the World in Eighty Books

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1PaulCranswick
Déc 27, 2016, 11:28 pm

I am Paul. 50 years old and long a frenetic poster in the 75 Book Challenge. I have noticed over the years a number of my pals coming over to the Club Read group to, erm, relax more with their books.
I have lived in Malaysia (from the frozen North of Yorkshire, England) since 1994 and keep home with my long-suffering wife, Hani and my three children Yasmyne, Kyran and Belle.

One of the things I want to do is to ape Phileas Fogg this year but without bankrupting myself in the process. From my TBR ranks I will read a book from 80 different countries to circumnavigate the globe in a literary not a literal sense.

2PaulCranswick
Modifié : Mar 9, 2017, 9:37 pm

AROUND THE WORLD

I have not included the UK and USA in this as so much of our reading is from those two places but these are my 80 countries. Authors should have been born there, been a citizen of that country or are clearly associated with it.


visited 11 states (4.88%)
Create your own visited map of The World

1 Afghanistan
2 ALBANIA ISMAIL KADARE - Spring Flowers, Spring Frost
3 Algeria
4 Angola
5 Antigua
6 ARGENTINA CESAR AIRA - Varamo
7 AUSTRALIA PETER TEMPLE - The Broken Shore
8 Austria
9 Bangladesh
10 BARBADOS KAMAU BRATHWAITE - Middle Passages
11 Belgium
12 Bosnia
13 Brazil
14 CANADA BRIAN MOORE - The Magician's Wife
15 Chile
16 China
17 Colombia
18 Croatia
19 CZECHIA JAROSLAV SIEFERT - The Poetry of Jaroslav Seifert
20 Denmark
21 Dominica
22 Dominican Republic
23 Egypt
24 Ethiopia
25 Finland
26 France
27 Germany
28 Ghana
29 Greece
30 Haiti
31 HOLLAND HARRY MULISCH - The Assault
32 Hungary
33 Iceland
34 India
35 Indonesia
36 Iran
37 IRELAND ELIZABETH BOWEN - The House in Paris
38 Israel
39 Italy
40 Jamaica
41 Japan
42 Kenya
43 Korea
44 Lebanon
45 Malawi
46 Malaysia
47 Mexico
48 Morocco
49 Mozambique
50 New Zealand
51 Nigeria
52 Norway
53 Pakistan
54 Palestine
55 Peru
56 Philippines
57 Poland
58 Portugal
59 Romania
60 Russia
61 Saudi Arabia
62 Senegal
63 Serbia
64 Sierra Leone
65 Singapore
66 Somalia
67 South Africa
68 Spain
69 Sri Lanka
70 St. Kitts
71 Sudan
72 SWEDEN MONS KALLENTOFT - Midwinter Sacrifice
73 Switzerland
74 Syria
75 Tanzania
76 Trinidad
77 Turkey
78 Uganda
79 Ukraine
80 Zimbabwe

3PaulCranswick
Modifié : Mar 9, 2017, 9:17 pm

Book Read in 2017

1. The Magician's Wife by Brian Moore ATW80 CANADA 1/80
2. Maus I : My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman
3. Midwinter Sacrifice by Mons Kallentoft ATW80 SWEDEN 2/80
4. Out in the Midday Sun : The British in Malaya 1880-1960 by Margaret Shennan
5. Blood Child and Other Stories by Octavia E. Butler
6. The Assault by Harry Mulisch ATW80 HOLLAND 3/80
7. 100 Prized Poems : Twenty-Five Years of the Forward Books
8. The Broken Shore by Peter Temple ATW80 AUSTRALIA 4/80
9. Spring Flowers, Spring Frost by Ismail Kadare ATW80 ALBANIA 5/80
10. The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal
11. Varamo by Cesar Aira ATW80 ARGENTINA 6/80
12. The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen ATW80 IRELAND 7/80
13. The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
14. A Blaze of Autumn Sunshine : The Last Diaries by Tony Benn
15. City of Secrets by Stewart O'Nan
16. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
17. The Poetry of Jaroslav Seifert by Jaroslav Seifert ATW80 CZECHIA 8/80
18. Dogs at the Perimeter by Madeleine Thien
19. Up the Junction by Nell Dunn
20. Middle Passages by Kamau Brathwaite ATW80 BARBADOS 9/80

4PaulCranswick
Déc 27, 2016, 11:29 pm

Currently Reading

5PaulCranswick
Déc 27, 2016, 11:32 pm

For group members currently groaning at seeing my name in the group and worried that I'll be posting here like the proverbial whirlwind, I will start off by saying that I aim to stick more to the books over here than I do over there.

Books?

My likes are literary fiction, poetry, non-fiction (especially history) and the occasional crime series (particularly Scandi).


6The_Hibernator
Modifié : Déc 28, 2016, 5:01 am

Hi Paul! You plan on doing that challenge from your own library? Did you have particular books in mind when you chose the countries? Or are you winging it? There's no way I could do a challenge like that from my own library. That's pretty impressive!

7kidzdoc
Déc 28, 2016, 6:06 am

Welcome to Club Read, Paul! I look forward to following you on your literary journey.

8AnnieMod
Déc 28, 2016, 6:12 am

You will circle around the country I was born in (hitting 4 of the 5 neighbors (although if your Serbian book is from the Yugoslavian times, you will hit all 4 we had at the time)) without getting to it :) Welcome on board - it will be interesting to see what you are reading.

>5 PaulCranswick: "proverbial whirlwind"
Right. You realize that we had to start a Cooking thread last year because of all topics getting a bit sidetracked, right? :) It's your thread, if you want to talk about the color of the clouds you see through the window, someone will keep you company and find something to say ;)

9PaulCranswick
Déc 28, 2016, 6:54 am

>6 The_Hibernator: Rachel as you may remember I have over 4,500 books on my physical TBR and quite a number (uncounted) on Kindle. I would have followed the Book Riot list but there were a few of the countries that I simply didn't have so I tweaked it a bit. I could actually do 93 countries but Around the World in 93 Books has no ring at all!

>7 kidzdoc: It was you and people like Caroline being over here with such similar reading tastes that persuaded me over.

>8 AnnieMod: Nice to see you Annie. I have a few options but it will probably be Encyclopaedia of the Dead by Danilo Kis.
Over at the 75ers I have had the habit of running up threads with over 9,000 posts a year and almost 40 threads a year and I sometimes can't cope with that pace myself. I have an excellent foodie at home with me in my nearest and dearest so I cannot promise not to put up the occasional enticing dish.

10AnnieMod
Déc 28, 2016, 6:56 am

>9 PaulCranswick: Yep, Yugoslavian times - you got all 4 neighbors at the time :) Danilo Kiš is an interesting writer. Happy reading.

11PaulCranswick
Déc 28, 2016, 7:14 am

>10 AnnieMod: Would sort of feel like cheating though Annie. I have selections for Bosnia and for Croatia but will probably not do Slovenia as I only have Zizek on the shelves and I would need to be in the mood for him.

12AnnieMod
Déc 28, 2016, 7:39 am

Ah, not what I meant - sorry for not being clear. Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia and Romania were the 4 neighbors when I was growing up. Now we have 5 - Serbia and Macedonia replaced the old federative republic. You have the other 3 and Serbia in the list (I am originally from Bulgaria - you do not have it on the list but you have the neighbors. :))

13Trifolia
Déc 28, 2016, 9:39 am

Paul, surprised to see you here too. You may or may not know that I've ventured out in the world reading books from every country alphabetically for quite a few years now. So I can imagine, every now and then, our paths will be crossing. Happy reading!

14The_Hibernator
Déc 28, 2016, 9:54 am

My modified Book Riot list is going through some more modifications. I like the sound of "Around the world in 80 Books" but it's missing some very interesting countries. I have both Bosnian Chronicle and Bridge on the Drina on my shelf, and it sems like I should read them - I certainly want to. But the former Yugoslavia isn't represented in that list at all! Seems a rather glaring omission. I might just lengthen my list to more than 80 countries.

15PaulCranswick
Déc 28, 2016, 9:58 am

>12 AnnieMod: Bulgaria was one of the countries I didn't have any writers on the shelves for Annie. Any good suggestions of a Bulgarian author to read?

>13 Trifolia: Of course I go and spoil it by trying to do 80 countries in a year. It will be nice to compare notes from time to time, Monica.

16PaulCranswick
Déc 28, 2016, 10:00 am

>14 The_Hibernator: I juggled mine to get to 80, Rachel. For Bosnia I will be reading Quiet Flows the Una by Faruk Sehic. I have read Bridge Over the Drina.

17Caroline_McElwee
Déc 28, 2016, 11:25 am

The Bridge over the River Drina gave me nightmares.

Nice to see your Club Read project evolving Paul, I shall enjoy reading what you thought of your choices, and what they taught you about their cultures.

Need to think about setting up my 2017 reading thread in the next day or two.

18PaulCranswick
Déc 28, 2016, 1:40 pm

>17 Caroline_McElwee: It was a laboured read for me as I recall, Caroline. Dense, important and sad.

Will be watching for your thread going up.

19VivienneR
Déc 28, 2016, 1:53 pm

Your goal is impressive, Paul. I've been keeping track of countries where my reading has taken me, but only the settings, not the author's country of origin - a much simpler assignment than yours. I'll look forward to following your "travels".

20NanaCC
Déc 28, 2016, 2:14 pm

I agree with Vivienne, Paul. That is quite an impressive goal. I look forward to seeing where your reading takes you.

21AnnieMod
Déc 28, 2016, 6:56 pm

>15 PaulCranswick: Depends on your genre preferences. Let me reserve any recommendations for a few months until I get a bit acquainted with what kind of books you like? :)

22PaulCranswick
Modifié : Déc 28, 2016, 7:05 pm

>19 VivienneR: Vivienne, the goal maybe impressive but oftentimes I am better at ambition than attainment so let's see how I do.

>20 NanaCC: Thanks, Colleen, I am looking forward to the challenge

>21 AnnieMod: That is fair enough, Annie. There is no point you offering a fillet steak to a vegan!

23RidgewayGirl
Déc 30, 2016, 10:57 pm

I like the reading plans and am excited to find out about the books as you read them.

Also, the I have over 4,500 books on my physical TBR. . . comment made me very happy. From now on, I'll respond to any snide comments about my own sizable tbr with an airy, "yes, but have you seen Paul's?"

Welcome to Club Read.

24PaulCranswick
Déc 30, 2016, 11:23 pm

Hahaha Alison. I didn't count the 2,500 or so books loaded onto my kindle either!

Great of you to pop by - I have seen you around the threads and am very much looking forward to meeting/making new friends in the Club Reads Group in 2017. xx

25edwinbcn
Déc 31, 2016, 3:17 am

Hi Paul, I've seen your thread on the 75-challenge group, but with all the chat traffic there it's hard to keep up. I have often noticed our reading interests are quite similar. Here it will be easier to keep up with your reading.

Likewise aged 50, we are in the same corner of the world, I divide my time between Guangzhou and Nanning, although I guess Malaysia is still a bit hotter, aye.

26edwinbcn
Déc 31, 2016, 3:23 am

So far, I have been able to NOT purchase Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (1941), a 1,181-page classic of travel literature, giving an account of Balkan history and ethnography, based in her trip to Yugoslavia in 1937 ...

27PaulCranswick
Déc 31, 2016, 8:33 am

Nice of you to stop by Edwin just as it is great to see that there is someone geographically fairly close to me in the group.

There is a possibility of my being in China next month looking for materials for a project we hope to do in Ghana but I am not sure where in China.

Our reading tastes do seem to coalesce and I look forward to keeping up with your reading this coming year. Funnily enough I almost bought the self-same book by Rebecca West last week in the stores here.

I believe that my thread here will be a tad more serene than the frenzy over at the 75er (for which I am partly to blame!).

28rebeccanyc
Déc 31, 2016, 2:40 pm

Welcome to Club Read, Paul!

29PaulCranswick
Déc 31, 2016, 6:00 pm

>28 rebeccanyc: Thank you, Rebecca. You are of course one of the reasons why I wended my way over here.

30ELiz_M
Jan 1, 2017, 9:47 am

Happy New Year! What a fun project! I was going to suggest a couple of resource books, but then saw the bit about pulling from your owned books. Now I'm impressed that your library is already diverse enough for this project.

31dchaikin
Jan 1, 2017, 10:46 am

Welcome Paul. A few years ago I tried to follow your 75er thread...I think I lasted a week, at about 100 or so posts a day. So, this year maybe I really can follow. Happy New Year!

32AlisonY
Jan 1, 2017, 3:37 pm

Dropping my star here too - sounds like an interesting challenge. Nice to meet you on CR!

33PaulCranswick
Jan 1, 2017, 8:24 pm

>30 ELiz_M: Thank you Liz. I ought to have made it a tad easier and included the USA and the UK but I have never been one for short-cuts. Thanks for stopping by my humble new pied-a-terre.

>31 dchaikin: Dan, I don't conceive that you'll have anywhere near as much trouble keeping up with me over here as I am hoping this will be a slightly more reflective and calm place to hang-out. That is not to say that I don't want to make friends in the group because I most certainly do!

>32 AlisonY: Nice to meet you too Alison. I will go and look you up too shortly.

34PaulCranswick
Jan 1, 2017, 8:27 pm

The friends that I know from over at the 75 book challenge I will largely converse with over there but will chip in on your threads as and when as i have something remotely sensible to say. Salutations, birthday greetings, new year, Thanksgiving, Easter, Christmas etc etc etc will do over at the other shop.

I must say that I am heartened and pleased by the warm and gentle reception I have received in the group and I am looking forward to the company of old pals and new friends throughout the year.

35Simone2
Jan 1, 2017, 10:59 pm

Nice to meet you, Paul, and what a great world tour you are about to make. I drop my star and look forward to reading along.

36PaulCranswick
Jan 2, 2017, 2:52 am

Likewise Barbara. Amsterdam is one of our favourite cities and I hope to be able to visit again sometime in 2017.

37rachbxl
Jan 2, 2017, 5:13 am

Nice project. I'm in the process of resuscitating my own read-around-the-world project, so I look forward to getting some inspiration here.

38baswood
Jan 2, 2017, 6:44 pm

Welcome to the more laid back feel of Club Read.

39arubabookwoman
Jan 2, 2017, 8:13 pm

Hi Paul--Good to see you over here in Club Read. I have more of a chance of keeping up with you here! Will be interested in following your Around the World Challenge.

40Linda92007
Jan 3, 2017, 11:38 am

Oh my. Welcome to Club Read, Paul! I second Deborah's comment - I might be able to keep up with you over here!

41PaulCranswick
Jan 4, 2017, 5:12 am

>37 rachbxl: Hello Rachel. Lovely to see another group member from Belgium! I have managed my first read of the year and will put up my review shortly. It is possibly one of the most familiar of countries in my odyssey - Canada.

>38 baswood: Thank you, Barry. I am trying to ease myself into "laid-back" mode as it doesn't come to me overly naturally as those who know me from the 75ers will doubtless attest. I am looking forward to meeting new friends here and reacquainting with one or two of my old friends who have moved across to this group's calmer waters!

>39 arubabookwoman: Thanks Deborah. As you know, I have assiduously followed your reading over the last few years and it will be good to communicate here in a slughtly less febrile atmosphere. I am still posting a wee bit over at the 75ers too as you have noticed. xx

>40 Linda92007: I had a beam on my face t'other day when I saw you had set up a thread here Linda. I starred it and will be over shortly. xx

42PaulCranswick
Jan 4, 2017, 8:03 am

1. The Magician's Wife by Brian Moore



Date of Publication : 1997
Pages : 229

Around the World in 80 Books : Canada - 1/80

This was Brian Moore's last novel and whilst it was not on a par with his very best work (Colour of Blood) for example, it is still an admirable and eminently readable novel to start 2017 with.

The idea of a Mahdi has often been a galvanising force in the Arab and particularly North African heartlands of Islam. One who as a messenger from God/Allah will deliver the faithful from the infidel via a Holy Jihad.

In the aftermath of the Crimean War, Napoleon III is keen to consolidate his hold on Algeria but is aware of the need to counteract the likelihood of an islamic miracle worker coming forward. To do so he sends France's most celebrated magician into the fray to demonstrate that Christian sorcery is more powerful than any they can dish out. Accompanying him to North Africa is his unhappy and neglected wife, Emmeline, who soon becomes enchanted by the country and sympathetic to the locals.

It is a novel with resonance today in highlighting the basic misunderstandings between peoples of different cultures and faiths. It also demonstrates the Wests culpability for the turmoil that still exists in the region.

A good start to 2017.

43PaulCranswick
Jan 4, 2017, 8:05 am

2. Maus I : My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman



Date of Publication : 1986
Pages : 159
Guardian 1000 Books : 318/998

I have never read or reviewed a Graphic Novel before. As a boy I was never into comics or cartoon strips; I always favoured the written word over the image as I preferred to paint the scene with my mind's eye.

At first take this shouldn't work - The Holocaust as a cartoon. Humanities greatest collective failure and the crystallisation of evil as an expression of hatred and barbarity towards a race of people caricatured in clumsy symbolism where the Jews are verminous mice, the Poles are parodied as pigs and the Nazis are cats playing with their mice. The drawings look at first glance sloppy and the language used to tell the tale when skimmed with the eye seems clunky and clumsy.

That this is therefore an undoubted triumph is testament to the honesty of Spiegelman's story and the brilliant immediacy of its recalling. It is the story of the creating of a comic strip - this self same comic strip, as Art questions his father about his experiences in the period leading up to the war and during it until his parents' transportation to Auschwitz.

What I mean by honesty, is that Spiegelman doesn't glorify his father. Nay, he paints him over and over as a difficult and flawed and prejudiced human being. A miser. A skinflint. A send-up himself of the characteristics of the Jewish race depicted by those who despised and mistreated them. There is though a will and a nascent nobility in the man that he almost seeks to hide in the memoirs as his struggles to survive and evade the Nazis is portrayed. Despite his flaws and they are serious flaws we end up liking him all the more in spite or in truth a little because of them. He survived and earned the right to look at the world through shit-stained spectacles.

Spiegelman clearly adored his mother and her death by her own hand and Art's need to understand what lead her there haunts much of the book and gives a very signal ending to it. His father's relationship with his second wife is used more to show father and sons longing for the wife and mother than to draw her as a character with her own story.

Shouldn't work. Boy does it.

44dchaikin
Jan 4, 2017, 8:38 am

>43 PaulCranswick: I believe you started with the best. Spiegelman was programmed just to make this work. I read Metamaus somewhat recently, which was good, if a bit of work. One of the things that comes out of it is how much he did to make this work - his struggles and rethinking, trials and retrials and perfectionism and how much is there that we overlook. I thought it read effortlessly, (even if his heart is all in, not to mention opened up for display) so that was fascinating to me.

45PaulCranswick
Jan 4, 2017, 10:06 am

>44 dchaikin: It was definitely a labour of love for him, Dan and it transmits.

46AnnieMod
Jan 5, 2017, 12:29 am

>43 PaulCranswick:

And here starts your amazing journey through graphic stories that are as powerful as any written ones. It's a different media - but as powerful and as full of opportunities as the written word. I loved your review and your reaction to the style and your own reaction to the fact that you actually liked it.

47NanaCC
Jan 5, 2017, 10:25 am

I haven't actually read a graphic novel. I've seen a couple of my grandchildren reading them, but have never been interested. The comments here make me think I should try one.

48PaulCranswick
Jan 5, 2017, 11:42 am

>47 NanaCC: Well Colleen I have to say that we were of a like minded disposition until I was drawn into Maus.

49AnnieMod
Jan 5, 2017, 1:51 pm

>47 NanaCC: Try Maus. Or Persepolis. Or John Lewis's March. Or Boxers (and its companion "Saints"). Or something else depending on what you feel like reading about. Or if you like journalism, there are a few people that do that in graphic format (and do it very well).

Graphic novels are not just superheros or just for children - had not been for years. There are still ones for children and for YA of course - but there is enough material for grown ups as well :)

50PaulCranswick
Jan 5, 2017, 7:31 pm

>49 AnnieMod: Annie is right, Colleen.

51NanaCC
Jan 5, 2017, 8:41 pm

I think I'm convinced. :)

52AlisonY
Jan 6, 2017, 4:40 pm

>43 PaulCranswick: I checked out the 'look inside' for Maus on Amazon. Curious indeed. I can imagine getting sucked into that pretty quickly.

53VivienneR
Jan 10, 2017, 11:15 am

>42 PaulCranswick: I haven't read a Brian Moore book for a long time. Your review makes The Magician's Wife very tempting.

>47 NanaCC: Graphic novels are not my reading choice either. I read a couple for part of last year's category challenge but found I was reading the text and not paying any attention to the graphics. Even when I checked this, I still got little out of them.

54PaulCranswick
Jan 19, 2017, 1:58 am

>51 NanaCC: Colleen, I was as skeptical about GN as anyone could be.

>52 AlisonY: I have to be honest Alson that I didn't think I would get sucked in but I did.

>53 VivienneR: I won't make a great habit out of reading GNs, Vivienne, but the occasional foray may be a welcome diversion now and then.

55arubabookwoman
Jan 25, 2017, 5:12 pm

Paul are you going to be posting the rest of your reviews over here? I know you've done several on your 75 thread.

56RidgewayGirl
Fév 10, 2017, 6:15 pm

Have you deserted us, Paul? Were we not vivacious and entertaining enough to hold the attention of someone used to the glittering lights and exotic cocktails of the 75 Group?

57PaulCranswick
Fév 27, 2017, 10:48 pm

>55 arubabookwoman: Deborah, I will be posting my reviews over here, I just need ten minutes to catch my breath with RL and the 75ers.

>56 RidgewayGirl: NOT AT ALL, Alison! I will be back full swing in March, it is just that life has been a little, erm, strenuous, lately!

58PaulCranswick
Mar 9, 2017, 9:08 pm

CURRENTLY READING

59PaulCranswick
Mar 9, 2017, 9:09 pm

I will try to get my reviews and housekeeping up to date over the weekend............................

60Caroline_McElwee
Mar 10, 2017, 8:47 am

About time too :-)

61SassyLassy
Modifié : Mar 10, 2017, 10:36 am

>58 PaulCranswick: That's quite a variety.
It will be interesting to see what someone from "away" thinks of No Great Mischief. To me it is just about a perfect book from the point of view of telling the story of Cape Bretoners. While I greatly prefer reading books to audio books, this is one of the few books I think should be listened to as well, read by the author, who had such a wonderful voice and the perfect suggestion of Cape Breton accent.

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62SassyLassy
Modifié : Mar 10, 2017, 10:34 am

Ce message a été supprimé par son auteur

63PaulCranswick
Mar 13, 2017, 12:07 am

>60 Caroline_McElwee: Housekeeping done pretty much but I need to send the reviews over. xx

>61 SassyLassy: & 62 That has me intrigued to go and find clips of him speaking as I haven't the foggiest what a Cape Breton accent would sound like and it would be good to put the book into context.