The Next Four Books
(in my trip around the world)
No, not 84 days, 84 books!!
I’ve been equally thrilled by people who are joining me in reading my way around the world in honor of my late father, and people who join for the occasional book, and those who are just cheering me on. And there’s a fourth category, one I’m bemused by: People who go, “That’s amazing, but I could never read 84 books in 84 days.”
Whoa there.
I’m… flattered? That anyone thinks I could read that fast? I’m averaging about 3 weeks per book. This is going to take me a few years.
These are the next ones on my list, if you feel like joining:
Greece:
The Murderess, Alexandros Papadiamantis, translated by Peter Levi
From New York Review Books: “The Murderess is a bone-chilling tale of crime and punishment with the dark beauty of a backwoods ballad…”
This one is SHORT, so I’m hoping to post about it around 1/1. Slight hiccup: I seem to have lost the book.
Turkey:
Madonna in a Fur Coat, Sabahattin Ali, translated by Maureen Freely and Alexander Dawe
I’m excited about this one. It was published in 1943, didn’t become a bestseller in Turkey till 2013, and was finally published in English in 2017.
“A shy young man leaves his home in rural Turkey to learn a trade and discover life in 1920s Berlin. There, amidst the city’s bustling streets, elegant museums, passionate politics, and infamous cabarets, a chance meeting with a beautiful half-Jewish artist transforms him forever.”
I might finish this mid-January… (It’s readily available on audio, if that’s your jam!)
Syria:
No Knives in the Kitchens of this City, Khaled Khalifa, translated by Leri Price
This one and the next are on the recommendation of the brilliant author Rabih Alameddine, who knows Arabic literature better than just about anyone.
Set in Khalifa’s native Aleppo, the novel toggles between the 1960s and 2000s. This one’s also available on audio… Hoping to wrap this up by the end of January, but who knows.
Lebanon:
The Stone of Laughter, Hoda Barakat, translated by Sophie Bennett
Okay listen, this is a terrible cover. This is definitely the cover of an anthropology text I forgot to read sophomore year of college.
But but but! “The Stone of Laughter… brings forth the contradictory history of a city under fire through the life and dilemmas of a gay man. It is a bold and radical novel, full of black humor and cynical observations about life in war-torn Beirut. [It] shook Arab readers' preconceptions about women's writing and questioned the necessity of political affiliation for Arab authors.”
Right??? You in?
Where Next?
We’re heading west and then south… I already have my books picked out for Palestine, Yemen, and Egypt.
But after that, I need some help. I’m planning (roughly) on Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, and Kenya. If you have suggestions for poetry, plays, memoir, or fiction, I’d LOVE to hear them.