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I have now finished this book, which is the fourth book of our book club. The previous books took us to Africa, Europe and North America and this one landed us in the South America of the early 20th century.
When I started reading I knew nothing about the book, it was suggested by D and all I did was order it and then opened it to start reading. I got stuck right on the first page as I needed to google to see whether Sofia Salvador was a real person (The Water Dancer is to blame for that…). Few more pages in and I got stuck again, this time with the Portuguese words - how do you pronounce them and what do they mean? Here, I’d like to thank Google Translate for help. Finally, I had to research all the various instruments that get a mention cuíca, reco-reco, cavaquinho, agogô, pandeiro. Now, with that out of the way I could get lost in the story.
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This book came recommended as it is set in south-east London – the area I moved into a year ago now. When asked where we live I reply saying ‘where Stormzy went to school’.
I bought the book in a charity shop and wondered whether the cover design reflected the ‘exoticising’ white publishing houses administer to pre-warn their readers about non-white characters or topics. I am unable to comment on that as I did not pick the book for its cover. I would have bought it regardless.
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I bought this book 14 years ago while on an Erasmus programme studies at Trinity College Dublin where I was finishing up my MA thesis on four contemporary Irish novels with child narrators. I was planning to continue at a PhD programme back in Prague at my alma mater and my focus was going to be the bildungsroman in Irish contemporary literature. This book was part of my reading list for the dissertation. My PhD studies ended after one year due to a cold realisation that I am not the right type to do a full-time job and study in my spare time. I am still dreaming of winning a lottery and going back to school…
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This is the third of our book club books and I only have thirteen pages to the end. Spoiler alert: I am not sure I will get the answers to all my questions in the last thirteen pages, I think most probably not and that makes me wonder whether I am missing something in the way I am reading the book or in the way I understand it. I have been struggling from the very start to follow the narrative, I had to re-read paragraphs and check back pages for names and events. It took me maybe half the book to recognise the supernatural part as ‘real’. But that is where I think the problem may be with me rather than the text…
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January caught me hungry for alternate realities and so I quickly submerged myself in books, dipping into one after the other with no breaks in between - Anna Cima: Probudím se na Šibuji (I will wake up in Shibuya), Donal Ryan: Strange Flowers and Leo Tolstoy: The Kreutzer Sonata
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I have found Lolita again. Predictably, she was on the shelf I searched multiple times in August after I lost her to our house sprite. And since she was contemptuously staring me down, knowing only too well she had won the game of hide and seek, I decided to give her a try.
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The Guardian: On the brink of a Booker: 2020's shortlisted authors on the stories behind their novels
As the winner of the Booker Prize 2020 is to be announced on Thursday 19 November, let us have a closer look at the finalists. I have only read one of the shortlisted books but I have another one waiting on my shelf and two more that I would like to purchase. Watching The Guardian Live Booker Prize shortlist readings (embedded in the article) I found myself quietly and distantly smiling throughout the evening spent with writers, yet again.
'It had been on my shelf for years': Guardian readers share their lockdown reads
Now that the weekly "Tips, Links and Suggestions" column has ended, I will keep looking for fellow-readers' recommendations as I often find them enticing. The first ones I came across were of the "classics" in multiple sense of the word.
"Tips, links and suggestions" by The Guardian readers, week of 26 October 2020
This was my favourite weekly column for inspiration about what to read next. I enjoy the mix of the latest bestsellers and obscure works from centuries ago, as well as, original comments by the readers.
Where to start if you want to get into black young adult fiction by Leah Cowan
I know very little, read nothing, about Young Adult fiction since I have been looking down on it for some reason. I think it is the genre name that confuses me. I have not been aware of it until I moved to the US four years ago and, thinking about it, I am sure it has its purpose but for me the only age division in books was children's and the rest. I am sure by now it is also being used on the Czech and Slovak book market but it was not something I came across growing up.
Thanks to Where to start if you want to get into black young adult fiction by Leah Cowan I will certainly be looking up some of the books mentioned. I believe the narratives of quest and overcoming obstacles might be just what we all need right now.
"Rethinking ‘Diversity’ in Publishing" Report
First, I came across an article in The Guardian: “'I stuck my foot in the door': what it is like to be black in UK publishing” and that led me to the report on diversity in publishing called “Rethinking ‘Diversity’ in Publishing”
The report then made me wonder about the books by non-white authors I have read and whether and/or to what extent they are conforming to the white, middle-class readers’ supposed perception of what a non-white author should be writing about.
Bestsellers
UK
- Richard Osman: The Thursday Murder Club
- Joe Wicks: Joe’s Family Food
- E. L. James: Freed
Week ending 18 June (Direct from trade sales)
USA
- James Patterson, Bill Clinton: The President’s Daughter
- Elin Hildebrand: Golden Girl
- Dav Pilkey: Dog Man: Mothering Heights
Through 12 June (Publishers Weekly)
Ireland
- Trisha Lewis: Trisha’s 21-Day-Reset
- Sinéad O’Connor: Rememberings
- Jane Casey: The Killing Kind
Week ending 12 June (Based on Nielsen BookScan for Irish Consumer Market)
France
- Dubu Chugong: Solo leveling
- Zep: Titeuf; la grande aventure
- Riad Sattouf: Les cahiers d’esther; histoires de mes 15 ans
Week ending 13 June (Based on Edistat)
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