I read more textbooks than fiction in September but I am nonetheless closing in on completing the 2011 Global Reading Challenge.
And I would be a even closer if Alan Carter hadn't been born in Sunderland.
I decided to interpret the Three Books from Seven Continents Challenge as 21 novels from 21 countries, and to only include native authors. And where possible to avoid easy countries like the US, Sweden, France.
This seemed fine, until I realised the "must be born here rule" made the "here you can either choose Antarctica or your own seventh setting, eg the sea, space..." category a little challenging.
I decided to be flexible, and revisit science fiction and not examine the fine print on birth certificates, so re-reading William Gibson's Neuromancer to see how good he really was at anticipating cyberspace seemed OK.
But I can't get round the fact that Prime Cut, a purchase inspired by some strong reviews which I clearly didn't read very carefully, simply didn't count. The purpose of accepting the challenge was to boldy go where I had not gone before ... so an opening page dateline of Saturday, May 5th, 1973. Late afternoon. Sunderland, England" was a little disorientating.
"Maud Street: redbrick two-storey houses, thirty either side of the road. Huddled toether like ill-fitting dentures..."
Ah. Maud Street is a five minute walk from where I work.
Happily, most of the action takes place on the other side of the world, around Hopetoun in Western Australia. Not a bad read, but definitely not elegible.
But very much within the spirit of my challenge was They Who Do Not Grieve, by Sia Figiel, one of the very few published novelists from Samoa.
My name is Malu (chicken shit girl/dog-girl/rotten pig-girl/ rat-child/horse-face/ piglet, depending on grandma Lalolagi's mood), granddaughter of Lalogali herself (the lower heaven, the world).
Mother: dead
Father: not recorded on borth certificate.
"Because your ma was a slut. A whore. A w-h-o-r-e! cry the village children, women, dogs. Cries Lalogali sometimes when she's angry, which is most of the time.
OK, Prime Cut begins with a savage twist. A family is watching Sunderland win the 1973 FA cup Final, and Ian Porterfied has scored a goal that will go down in football history
"Did you see that pet? Eh son? Brilliant!
Chrissy's hand rests lightly on her pregnant bump. Little Stevie is leaning into his mum.
No, Chrissy and Stevie didn't see the goal. By that time they've already been dead at least two hours. The black and tan yorkshire terrier licks uncertainly at the blood on the cheap paisley patterned carpet.
But this is nowhere near as shocking or disturbing as Malu's story. They Who Do Not Grieve is a difficult, sometimes brutal novel which presents a world view that will be very different from that of most British readers.
I also read The She-Devil in the Mirror, by a Honduran writer Horacio Castellanos Moya (trans. Katherine Silver) , who grew up in San Salvador. Ostensibly it is a first person narrative, told conevrsationally to a friend, about the events following a brutal murder. You begin by feeling sorry for Laura, but her personality because less and less attractive, and a suspicion begins to grow that her version of events of events is not entirely reliable...
For the European challenge, I read The Investigation, by Stanislaw Lem, which was intriguing if not gripping, and on a recommendation from Crime Watch, Nobody Dies, written by "the best thriller writer in New Zealand," Namibian-born Zirk Van Den Berg. Set in South Africa, the premise is good - a woman police officer in charge of a witness protection scheme has a very effective way of making sure no-one ever finds her clients - she kills them. It's a good idea, the locale is intriguing, but the delivery had a few too many rough edges.
I feel a bit grumpy giving all of them just three stars...
Anyway, I am getting a great deal of enjoyment from the Global Challenge, and am fairly sure I will complete in 2011. All lined up on my TBR pile I have the third book I need from North America, the third from Asia, and the second from Australia; something from New Zealand will complete the set.
