Thanks for all the nominations for books from places and peoples not on my main list. After 376 votes, the winner of the Rest of the World poll is The Man in Blue Pyjamas by Jalal Barzanji from Kurdistan. See below for the full results.
Results
- 34.57% Kurdistan Jalal Barzanji The Man in Blue Pyjamas – a literary memoir by a journalist imprisoned and tortured under Saddam Hussein’s regime
- 30.05% Catalonia Jaume Cabré Winter Journey – a collection of interlinked short stories (first published in 2001) based on the structure of a Schubert song cycle
- 13.3% Faroe Islands Heðin Brú The Old Man and His Sons – a novel depicting the transformation of the fishing industry, voted ‘Book of the 20th Century’ by the Faroese
- 10.9% Native America Louise Erdrich The Round House – a novel about racial injustice, which won the US National Book Award in November 2012
- 7.98% Basque Country Bernardo Atxaga Seven Houses in France – a historical novel (first published in 2009) about a French army captain who sets out to make his fortune in the jungles of Congo
- 3.2% Bermuda Brian Burland The Sailor and the Fox – a 1973 novel about the island’s first ever mixed-race prizefight by one of Bermuda’s most notable and controversial writers
Longlist
- Antarctic Captain Robert Falcon Scott / Ernest Shackleton South / Apsley Cherry-Garrard The Worst Journey in the World
- Basque Country Bernardo Atxaga Seven Houses in France
- Bermuda Brian Burland The Sailor and the Fox
- British Virgin Islands Jennie Wheatley Pass it On! A Treasury of Virgin Island Tales
- Canary Islands Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa Tuareg
- Catalonia Jaume Cabré Winter Journey
- Faroe Islands Heðin Brú The Old Man and His Sons
- Guam Evelyn Flores Dolphin Day
- Indigenous Aboriginal Australia Doris Pilkington Follow the Rabbit-proof Fence
- Kurdistan Ava Homa Echoes from the Other Land / Jalal Barzanji The Man in Blue Pyjamas
- Martinique Mayotte Capecia I am a Martinican Woman; The White Negress
- Mayan Culture Anon Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Maya
- Native America Louise Erdrich The Round House / David Treuer Rez Life
- No Country ed Paul Gubbins Star in a Night Sky: an anthology of Esperanto literature
- Niue John Pule Burn my Head in Heaven
- Pitcairn Islands Rowan Metcalfe Transit of Venus
- Puerto Rico Ana Lydia Vega / Edgardo Rodríguez Julia The Renunciation; Cortijo’s Wake; San Juan: Memoir of a City
- Saint Martin Lasana M Sekou Love Songs Make You Cry; Brotherhood of the Spurs
- Somaliland Nadifa Mohammed Black Mamba Boy
The wildcard’s for anything? Maybe something Basque? Will ask my Basque friends for recommendations.
Yes, I’d say so. Come one, come all. Hit me with your Basque tips!
Bernardo Atxaga, ‘Seven Houses in France’
Thanks Tony – will add that to the list. The number of pre-vote votes for ‘The Old Man and His Sons’ makes it sound like a strong contender for the short list…
My vote goes for ‘The Old Man And His Sons’ – a fantastic book. What about St Kilda – Karin Altenberg’s Orange-longlisted ‘Island Of Wings’ is worth a read…
Thanks Mark. ‘Island Of Wings’ is a bit of a puzzler for me as although it’s set in St Kilda Karin Altenberg herself seems to be Swedish, which would file it under Swedish literature in my book. What do you reckon?
Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe is a great Nigerian book, and I really want to read Let the Right one in by John Ajvide Lindqvist (Swedish) It’s supposed to be great!
Thanks Rebecca. I love the Achebe too. I’ll add the Lidqvist to the main list – this one’s for places not represented on that.
Anything by Chimamanda Adichie? She’s a Nigerian author too, but massively under-read when compared to Achebe. It’s quite easy to find her, and she has three titles to her name.
I was looking at the Pakistani authors, and I’d say Kamila Shamsie (Kartography, Broken Verses) and Farooqi’s latest (Between Clay and Dust) are immensely better and fairly under-read when compared to Mohsin Hamid and Mueenuddin perhaps. But that’s just my opinion
Thanks Sharanya. Yes I’ve read Adichie in the past, which is why she’s not on the main list at the moment. I’ll add your Pakistani suggestions to the other list, although I have just read my Pakistani choice – post coming soon.
Thanks very much for stopping by – and if you have any ‘Rest of the World’ suggestions, do let me know…
Does this extend to Antarctica, which has no native or permanent inhabitants? If so, South (by Ernest Shackleton) and The Worst Journey in the World (by Apsley Cherry-Garrard) are two of the best polar books I’ve ever read.
Very interesting. I think that’s one to throw out to the crowd. Is it possible to have literature from a country where there are no native or permanent inhabitants? Would love to know what others think…
I wonder about emptied islands – like Diego Garcia. If there’s any lit that can be found from places where the people have been thrown out or have had to leave due to disaster, that would be fascinating!
Another fascinating point. Well, if anyone can suggestion a book from Diego Garcia I’d be delighted to consider it…
A possibility for Diego Garcia, although it’s not written by a local:
- Freedom Next Time by John Pilger (an investigative account of the Chagos Islands scandal).
Thanks. I like John Pilger, but I think I would find it difficult to claim his work was ‘from’ Diego Garcia. Others may feel differently though…
My vote goes to Somaliland, though I don’t have a book suggestion for you! But I did find this interesting piece about the Hargeisa literary festival: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/16/somaliland-book-festival-fifth-year
Nice – thanks very much. I’ll look into it.
I second ‘The Old Man and His Sons’ – not that I’ve read it yet, but I’ll be doing so very soon
For Reunion Island there are very few books about Reunion written in English.
Books I haven’t read myself:
- Reunion: An Island in Search of an Identify by Laurent Medea
- Monsters and Revolutionaries: Colonial Family Romance and Metissage by Françoise Verges
(both the above are Social Science books, not novels, but are written by locals).
- Island Awakening by Lynne Martin (romance).
- Bourbon Island by Appollo & Lewis Trondheim (graphic novel)
- ISLAND BORN of FIRE: Volcano Piton de la Fournaise by Dr Robert B. Trombley
Books I’ve read myself:
- Crags and Craters: Rambles in the Island of Reunion by William Dudley Olivier (this is my favourite of the three).
- The Last Colony: An Experience of Reunion Island by Michael Steane (an e-book but full of inaccuracies)
- Six Months in Reunion: A Clergyman’s Holiday, and How He Passed it by Patrick Beaton (didn’t like this much).
I’ve written reviews of the above 3 books: http://travelssmart.blogspot.com/search/label/book%20review
Unfortunately as far as I know there’s no English translations of books that are well-known on Reunion from authors like Daniel Vaxelaire or Axel Gauvin, although the latter’s books have been translated into German.
Thanks very much Catharine – what would your top pick (ideally novel, short story or narrative non-fiction written by a native author) be? I’ll add it to the list.
[...] countries as she can, sampling one book from every nation. (She’s also recently included a Rest of The World wildcard section, hence our exchange about Reunion Island). However as she asked herself: what [...]
For capturing that feeling of “world literature” in a single book, how about considering “Star in a Night Sky – an Anthology of Esperanto Literature” by Paul Gubbins? It contains a little bit of everything, from poetry and short stories to extracts from novels, contributions from authors spanning the globe.
There’s more information including interviews with the author here.
Thanks Tim – beat you to it. It’s already on the list! All the best, Ann
Blimey – I totally missed that! I evidently shouldn’t be posting things so early in the morning
No worries – good to have another nomination for it. Have a good day.
Try and get a hold of: Half of A Yellow Sun, There Was A Country, Things Fall Apart and Like Water For Chocolate, they are amazing to read…will nominate more soon…if it is allowed.
Thanks very much – yes I’ve read all these except for ‘There Was A Country’ before. They are good. However this list is for countries not on my main list – it is for countries that are disputed territories or associated states, things like that (see above). If you have recommendations for those countries, I’d love to hear them
What about Diego Marani’s Last of the Vostyachs or Las Adventures des Inspector Cabillot? Both placeless and unofficial/unreal languages.
Excellent suggestions – thank you. Maybe next year!
A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khalid Hosseini (fiction); takes place in Afghanistan
Border Passage – Leila Ahmed (non-fiction); takes place in Egypt
The Shoemaker’s Wife – Adriana Trigiani (fiction); takes place in the Italian Alps
Thanks Carol. These sound like good suggestions for the main list of 196 countries I’m reading books from this year. I particularly like the sound of The Shoemaker’s Wife…
Discover an old new world with Mr Jalal Barzanji and his book: The Man in Blue Pajamas to know how Kurdistan people were patient under the Saddam’s regime.
Patrick Chamoiseau is an extraordinary writer from Martinique. He is one of the most original and unique writers in the French language. His novels Texaco and Solibo magnifique paint a vivid picture of his native island. Worth reading even if they are not on The List.
Great stuff – thanks for this. I’ll add Chamoiseau to my post-world reading list!