Reading the World - Spain - The SHadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

 

An excellent novel by a Spanish author, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, who died too young.

I rarely rate a book 5 stars these days but this is one that I did.  The setting is Spain in the first half of the 20th Century (with a little bit of Paris tossed in) and revolves around a young boy / young man and his quests - one is for love and the other is for information.  The cast of characters are superbly created and the storyline is unique yet authentic.  

The pace of the book will vary - fast, slow, medium as the stage is set, the back story is established and by then you are hooked.   

I enjoy books about books but this isn’t exactly that.  If you like books about books then you should read John Dunning’s Cliff Janeway books.  This is a book however that involves a bookseller and a book and author.  But it is more of a good versus evil plot and a “consequences” of actions.

This isn’t a novel you will probably read in a day.  It is one you will probably read a little and then more.  At least that is what I did.  Then you will reach the point of no return and read it to its conclusion.

For the life philosopher, there are a lot of “quotes” worthy of thought.  I highlighted a lot of phrases, sentences, and thoughts as I read it on my Kindle.  “Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare.”  as Harriet Martineau said.  This is a novel that will at times make you think.

I mistakenly thought it was on the BBC "Big Read" Top 200 list which is why originally picked it up to read.  I've been reading my way through both the Modern Library Best Novels of the 20th Century and the BBC 200.  However it was published after the BBC list was compiled.  It was listed on a list circulated on Social media as being part of the BBC 100 but that list had several books listed that were not in fact on the BBC list. It's a mistake I'm glad I made.  It's a book worth reading and  it just so happens to fit into my latest reading the world project since the author was from Spain.

Book Review: Black Leopard, Red Wolf - Marlon James

 Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

It wasn’t my cup of tea.

It’s the first book I’ve read by Marlon James but, for me, it was just passable.  A friend of mine loved it so perhaps you will.

For me, the story seemed to be amiss - more of a shock novel with gratuitous use of vulgar language and sex similar to some other novels I read but never felt a connection with such as Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller although the plot of Tropic of Cancer was easier to follow.
  

I have always seen Vulgarity as unnecessary - an intelligent person can express his or her ideas without resorting to vulgar language.  At the same time, I understand that what is vulgar, obscene or taboo varies by culture and indeed by person.  

For me, the book didn’t tell a compelling story - it just wasn’t there for me.  If I removed the overuse of vulgar language, the story still doesn’t engage me.  I don't like to "ruin" a book by revealing too much but the story in essence follows the life of a man who finds people using paranormal ability and his trips which are always violent - lots of killing.   

Anyway, this was my first novel by an author originally from Jamaica although Marlon James now resides in the US.   

Currently reading Mexican Gothic by Canadian-Mexican author Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis (1925 Pulitzer Award), The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spanish author who died in 2020 from cancer) and A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth of India.  Also just started The Girl who wrote Loneliness by South Korean Author Kyung-Sook Shin - the only book I'm reading now to expand my diversity of world authors although as you can see my other selections are diverse also.

I have now read books written by Authors from 29 different countries (at least).  I'm still cataloging.

2020 Final Tally

 Not a lot of foreign authors in my 2020 final tally but more diverse than the first posting.

My final tally for 2020 included 52 authors from 9 jurisdictions -

US = 31

UK = 12

Australia = 2

Ireland = 2

Canada, Iceland, Russia, Poland and Cyrus all had 1 each (Cyprus was actually a Dual Nationality - UK / Cyprus born in Cyprus and that was author Alex Michaelides).

One author, Patrick Ness, is a dual US / UK citizen born in the US but lives in London.  I included him as UK since he wrote the books from the UK.

So 59.6% were by American Authors while 90% were by Native English speakers.

What about gender?  I was surprised by the dominance of male authors.  There are 36 male authors represented and just 16 females.   So 69% were male authors.

I say surprised because many of my favorite authors are female.  But my reading list from 2020 (and indeed 2019 and 2018) came from "Best Book" lists as I am trying to finish reading books from the two lists - BBC Big Reads and Modern Libraries 20th Century with other books mixed in from Goodread lists or books I heard of from elsewhere.  

I will be interested to see how 2019 and 2018 compare.  

So far in 2021 I have completed 26 books but I haven't looked at those stats yet either as to nationality of the author nor whether they were male or female.  I will be making an effort in 2021 to read more "non-native English" authors so books written by authors NOT from one of the 6 native English speaking countries.

This morning I completed my own spreadsheet of world jurisdictions  with the authors / books compiled by https://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/thelist/.  I will try to add to that list and then start selecting books written by authors from jurisdictions from which I haven't yet read anything.

My reading in 2020

 I have started reviewing the 100 books I read in 2020 to see which authors I read and information about them. It appears I read books written by 52 different authors.  I alphabetized the list and started looking at where they were from and their gender.

The first 28 authors broke down as:

19 authors from the United States with 13 different States represented.  A couple of the authors were actually born abroad and one, Cassandra Clare appears to have moved around the world with her parents so I don't have a state assigned to her.  One of the 19 was Native American belonging to one of the Lakota Tribes (Sioux).

4 Authors were British, 2 were Irish, 2 were Irish and one was born in Cyprus but one parent is British.  I tentatively have them listed as being from Cyprus.  

Of those first 28, 20 were male and 8 female.

My mix of reading material in 2020 came from the BBC Big Read Top 200 list, Modern Library Best Novels of the 20th Century List, Goodread Best Authors and miscellaneous.

I plan to finish the statistics on 2020 but also look at 2019 and of course 2021.  

Who is your favorite Author that isn't British or American?

 I read a lot of books.  I am a verified bookworm.  How much of a bookworm?  I have an account at Goodreads .  It shows that in 2019, I read 106 books totalling 37,681 pages.  In 2020, the number of books completed fell to 100 but the pages increased to 40,583.  So far in 2021, I've read 26 books and 11,173 pages.  So in the past 25 1/2 months, I have completed 232 books and 89,437 pages.  Note - Covid19 has been responsible for me having time to read in 2020 and so far in 2021.

I largely read books today using my Kindle.  I'm one of those people who may have several books that I am reading switching between them.  Currently I think I have 9 books ongoing.  Let's face it, some books are easier to read than others.  And some times we are in the mood where we can read a book that requires thought and sometimes we just want to read something exciting even if it doesn't make sense logically.

My goal for 2021 is to finish reading the BBC The Big Read Top 100 or the Modern Library's Best 100 Novels of the 20th Century READERS List    or both.  I've read 93 of the Modern Library 100 and 90 of the BBC 100.

I have a Google Drive page that has my book lists.  Here is the link: Tim's Best Book Lists

BUT for now, I am interested in expanding my foreign author reading.  Since I am from the USA, I have probably read mostly American Authors.  A couple of years ago, I discovered a blog - A Year of Reading the World  and I am now in the process of taking their blog and seeing if I can read a book from every country as well - no idea how long that will take.

So I will try to review the books I have read recently (past few years) to identify which countries the authors are from for which I have already read books.  Currently I know I have read books by authors from:

Afghanistan
Australia
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Denmark
Dominica
Egypt
France 
Germany
Iceland
Ireland
Jamaica  in progress
Japan
Mexico
Nigeria
Russia
Sweden 
Trinidad and Tobago
UK and 
USA

That is 25 Countries that I am aware of that I have read at least 1 book written by an author from that nation or locality. 

So any recommended Non-US, Non-UK, Non-Canadian authors?  Books that are written in or translated into English?

My goodreads account is https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/22491910-tim-new