Two books
Like everyone else, I think, I tried to start Museum of Innocence but just couldn't bear it.
I generally read at least one non-western book every month. In April I read The Wedding Song by Naguib Mahfouz and All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu.
Wedding Song by Naguib Mahfouz
This is an multi-point-of-view somewhat stream of consciousness novel. It's told in largely conversations. It's fast-paced and a quick read, with a mystery and the examination of the way we can see situations so differently from those around us. It's very different than his longer works, and not so much to my taste. It's Mahfouz though, and I don't think he's written anything bad. I wouldn't make this your first by Mahfouz, though.
All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu
I received this audiobook through an early reviewer program. The readers were good (Saskia Maarleveld and Korey Jackson), one for each of the main characters, reading their various sections, but I wonder if there wasn't a more appropriate choice for Helen's sections. The reader is a woman raised in New Zealand and France, known for her ability with accents. I will always prefer that readers naturally have the accent the book demands or have some connection to that accent, rather than just be good at mimicking it. I could not find a profile of Korey Jackson. They were both good readers, though.
The book follows two young men involved in the revolution in Uganda during the 1970s, who take different paths, and a young woman in Kansas. One becoming a more and more ardent revolutionary and the other seeking asylum in the guise of an exchange student in the American midwest. There he and his social worker Helen form a passionate but rocky relationship amid racism and ignorance of the other's true self.
It was an excellent book, one about the world and our lives and interactions with others, without a huge climax or firm conclusion. Our lives so rarely give us neat plot arcs, and I enjoys books without them. Both characters were written so well and felt completely real. It is neither a book that you will want to race through, eager to see the conclusion nor a book that you will need to take slowly. A good medium read to make you think.
Oh, if you guys like bookmarks, I ordered these audio cassette tape magnetic bookmarks and they are the cutest things ever and really nicely made. Plus they're quite cheap for the awesome factor. I think they took a month or so to arrive, but I didn't really keep track.
I generally read at least one non-western book every month. In April I read The Wedding Song by Naguib Mahfouz and All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu.
Wedding Song by Naguib Mahfouz
This is an multi-point-of-view somewhat stream of consciousness novel. It's told in largely conversations. It's fast-paced and a quick read, with a mystery and the examination of the way we can see situations so differently from those around us. It's very different than his longer works, and not so much to my taste. It's Mahfouz though, and I don't think he's written anything bad. I wouldn't make this your first by Mahfouz, though.
All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu
I received this audiobook through an early reviewer program. The readers were good (Saskia Maarleveld and Korey Jackson), one for each of the main characters, reading their various sections, but I wonder if there wasn't a more appropriate choice for Helen's sections. The reader is a woman raised in New Zealand and France, known for her ability with accents. I will always prefer that readers naturally have the accent the book demands or have some connection to that accent, rather than just be good at mimicking it. I could not find a profile of Korey Jackson. They were both good readers, though.
The book follows two young men involved in the revolution in Uganda during the 1970s, who take different paths, and a young woman in Kansas. One becoming a more and more ardent revolutionary and the other seeking asylum in the guise of an exchange student in the American midwest. There he and his social worker Helen form a passionate but rocky relationship amid racism and ignorance of the other's true self.
It was an excellent book, one about the world and our lives and interactions with others, without a huge climax or firm conclusion. Our lives so rarely give us neat plot arcs, and I enjoys books without them. Both characters were written so well and felt completely real. It is neither a book that you will want to race through, eager to see the conclusion nor a book that you will need to take slowly. A good medium read to make you think.
Oh, if you guys like bookmarks, I ordered these audio cassette tape magnetic bookmarks and they are the cutest things ever and really nicely made. Plus they're quite cheap for the awesome factor. I think they took a month or so to arrive, but I didn't really keep track.