Saturday, June 19, 2010

In that vein...

Janet, thanks so much for that. I am reminded that we live in a bigger world. That there are more voices than our own. And what a relief really.

Some time last year, NPR ran a story about how many foreign authors Americans are missing out on. The list was as follows. I've read some of these, other not. And obviously it's not a complete list by any means; just an idea of where to start scratching the tip of the iceberg. Mind blowing, really, that the world is not as flat as we tend to think. I can highly recommend The Yacoubian Building whose author is now vying, according to an Egyptian friend of mother for office in Egypt and who has the establishment quite "bothered." And nothing can beat that title: What Can I Do When Everything's On Fire." I share them with you now.

Russia

Victor Pelevin, The Sacred Book of Werewolf and Buddha's Little Finger.

Boris Akunin, The Winter Queen

Ludmila Ulitskaya, The Funeral Party


Albania

Ismail Kadare, The Three-Arched Bridge and

Spring Flowers, Spring Frost (Read Excerpt)


Hungary

Imre Kertesz, Fateless, The Pathseeker (Read Excerpt).


Portugal

Antonio Lobo Antunes, What Can I Do When Everything's on Fire?


Norway

Per Petterson, Out Stealing Horses


Egypt

Naguib Mahfouz, The Thief and the Dogs, (Read Excerpt)

Muhammad Yusuf Quayd, War in the Land of Egypt

Alaa Al Aswany, The Yacoubian Building


Japan

Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle


Mexico

Carlos Fuentes, The Death of Artemio Cruz

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:34 PM

    so ladies. i cannot express my gratitude for your expression. i got to personally tell janet that the other day and what a sweet day that was. i currently am living in a little bubble but have luckily been exposed and thus awakened by you. thank you for your thoughts, intentions, expressions, inspirations, and time. a long time ago i traveled far away. at that time i brought something home with me so that i might remember how much i realized the world was. then i forgot. then i decided i wanted to try to remember again. it isn't as easy to do as to say, but this post will help me. i will read at least one on this list. AND i will continue on my path of expansion because i see the beauty in it. did i say thank you for the inspiration? best to you all, a grateful friend of a friend.

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  2. Anonymous, thank you so so much for this vote of support. I'm glad this meant something to you. I have to make a correction though: I wrote "Jacoubian" in the blog, and it should read "Yacoubian." I've since fixed it, but should you go into a bookstore to find the book make sure you are looking for correct spelling. Thanks again! --Charlotte

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