The Monthly International Culture Challenge - part one. The whole challenge was each month to watch a foreign language film and to read a book by an international author in translation. Mostly worked out this way. For the books, I somehow ended up specifically reading books written by women from various different coutnries. I also mostly read books which have been translated, though The Bone People which is a New Zealand book was mostly in English but does have a lot of Maori influence. And, since I was covering so much of the world I wanted to include Australasia.
So, what did I read. In quick form, these are the books I chose:
April: The Hen who Dreamed She Could Fly - Sun Mi Hwang - South Korea
May: Butterflies in November - Audur Ava Olafsdottir - Iceland
June: Like Water For Chocolate - Laura Esquival - Mexico
July: Suite Francaise - Irene Nemirovsky - France
August: Mayas Notebook - Isabelle Allende - Chile
September: Persepolis - Marjane Satrape - Iran
October: Girls of Riyadh - Rajaa Alsanea - Saudi Arabia
November: Amerikanah - Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie - Nigeria
December: So Long A Letter - Mariama Ba - Senegal
January: Home Going - Yaa Gyasi - Ghana
February: The Bone People - Keri Hulme - New Zealand
March: Hour of the Star - Clarice Lispector - Brazil
April: Island of A Thousand Mirrors - Nayomi Munaweera - Sri Lanka
What can I say? I don't know whether I just chose well but there was not one dud book in this list of thirteen. I've been transported all over the world, into every continent with so many different ways, and eras of life being described. The fact they were all womens voices was actually inadvertent, I think. I pretty much loved every book and got something different out of each.
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky was written during the Second World War and was about France in the Second World War. This was an amazingly stunning book. I cried, I gasped, I was interested, and I cried again.
Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea - pretty much an ordinary chick lit book but happens to be the only Saudi Arabian chick lit book round so gave a glimpse into the lives of women in a country which we pretty much don't normally get to hear about. I've passed this book around quite a lot as friends were so interested.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi was a graphic autobiographical novel about growing up before and after the Iranian revolution. Again, not something I would ordinarily know much about
The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun Mi Hwang what initially seemed like it was going to be a really sweet and innocent novel about a chicken but in actual fact was dark and bloody.
And then the rest, some by established women authors like Isabel Allende and Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie. Each book was a revelation and completely transported me into different lives.
I freaking LOVED the success of this challenge. I've already started compiling a list of books by women authors from every different country and I can't wait to keep going. So, this one carries on...
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