I m propsing to start the readalong of Don Quixote on 19th July and have first chat about it on 26th July ,and then every monday after that ,on my blog stats mondays always seem a little quieter than rest of week ,I ll do the first Monday and then if people want volunter to host a chat via comments every week .
time – 10 weeks reading 92 pages a week and 94 the final week
inspiration – i ask carlos ruiz zafon if he had any advice for reading Don Quixote on a twitter chat he was doing he said –
Answer: #crzafon Bring chairs and vitamins – it’s a long book. Seriously – It’s a much more modern book than you would expect…
look forward to loads of chats about this great book .
Now suppose the first place to start is with Haruki Murkami ,he is the most well-known contemporary Japanese writer ,I ve read a number of his books the novel south of the border west of the sun i really enjoyed ,also his non fiction collection of writing about running what i talk about when i talk about running with its Raymond Carver inspired title ,Gave a wonderful insight into the modern Japanese Psyche and the man himself ,other writers i ve read include Yukio Mishna’s the sailor who fell from grace with the sea which i didn’t enjoy so much but has stuck in my mind for a time after i read it .the female writer banana Yoshimoto whose kitchen I read years ago ,a family drama set in nineties Tokyo ,she is a firm favourite of a twitter friend and writer Dan Holloway one of the year zero collective .i also have a collection of short stories which featured 25 story’s from early to mid twentieth century japanese writers ,there are a lot of new writers appear from japan that i shall be reading future and people like endo .
short japanese story collection
World cup memories –
they have played last three world cup with 2002 being the only time they progress ,they had a wonderfully talented midfielder called hidetoshi Nakata he was dubbed the David beckam of japan and supported a very jazzy haircut ,they pull a big victory over russia in 2002 which was a mild shock as they were thought to be the outsiders in their group .
A conversation earlier inspired by Amy reads visit to the US book blogger conference ,lead to some laments that us uk blogger appear not to have such a wonderful event with panels and chance to flesh out so to speak who we are ,now I m not volunteering myself to organise this but would help if people are interested ,If some one has experience in organizing events for people or companies would be great ,any ideas welcome also borrowing post for your blog get people interested in it also where and time of year ,this is post get interest up and hopefully start a ball rolling to lead to bigger things ,all the best stu .
i know some publishers have blogger meet ups ,so why can’t us bloggers
This installation from 1969 by the great german artist Joseph Beuys sums up my reading I think fairly well ,adventurous ,different mainly post second world war .Beuys like to push the boundaries of the art world ,asking for berlin wall to be raised ,to give berlin better prospective was on thing he asked for ,he used lumps of butter in exhibits just thrown to ground ,he was a gunner in bombers in the second world war ,he lived in Kleve in Germany for a long time which is the same town I lived in ,he also did a number of pieces for the 4 yearly documenta city-wide art event in Kassel that i also have seen .So like Beuys I m always searching for new voices to express my reading .
this is a meme from Simon at stuck in books i ve just found his blog recently
Jenny is the daughter of a german philosopher and arab translator ,she has written a number of novels and plays .She has also won several german book prizes ,this book in its english translation was on the Independent foreign fiction long list in 2007 .she also took over Nicola Krauss fortnightly pieces in the german paper Frankfurter allgemaine zeitung . this book was here first ,german title Geschichte vom alten kind (story from old child ).This book was also a bedside read of Johnathan safran Foer on the book show .
The book –
We meet an unnamed small girl who is wandering round bemused in the bombed out shell of Dresden ,she is taken to a school where she is given new clothes and feed ,as the book starts to unwind we find out bit by bit ,a little more about the girl as she starts to remember who and where she came from ,at first she seems a little backwards in classes copying what other pupils do and not being a individual just sitting in the group ,she is also a target of the boys who take her to a quiet place and do what young boys do from time to time ,as the tale unfolds every thing isn’t as it at first appeared .may be this girl isn’t as young and naive as she at first appeared .
The girl has a wide blotchy face that looks like a moon with shadows on it ,she has broad shoulders like a swimmer ‘s , and from the shoulders downward appears to have been hewn from a single block of wood ,there is neither a swelling where the breasts should be nor an indentation at the waists .The legs are sturdy ,the hands as well ,and nonetheless the girl does not make a convincing impression …
a description of the girl from the old child .
MY VIEW –
The writing is wonderfully descriptive from Erpenbeck ,you can picture this girl as she enters the school and her true story starts to unfold ,the book is only just over a hundred pages long and can be read in a day very easily .the story is a parable on the fall of the wall and german unification the child is the embodiment of east germany lacking a individual personality and unuse to freedom ,as the story progresses we see how the child blossoms after she is given the right to be free .This story stands in the grand german tradition of parables and you can see her fathers influence as a philosopher .
the score –
owl moth
The owl moth at distance can appear an owl and close up a moth ,bit like the double edge of this story and moths fly quickly ,like this book when you read it .
