Around the World in Books

Rebekah Ellerby: Petals of Blood – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

Upon publication, Ngugi was imprisoned without charges by the Kenyan government for the controversy Petals of Blood sparked in addressing the dialectic in the presentation of Africa today: between a place of increasing democracy and valuable investment and one of electoral corruption and human rights issues. Framing the neo-colonial experience of Kenya is a detective story, whose four main suspects for a spectacular triple murder are ambiguously sympathetic, whilst Ngugi explores the contrast between a rural town suffering drought and a modern city embodying both progress and neo-colonial corruption.

 

Anna Laycock: Nervous Conditions – Tsitsi Dangarembga

Boldy opening with “I was not sorry when my brother died”, Dangarembga’s debut novel is the first person narrative of Tambu, a teenage girl growing up in 1960’s pre-independence Zimbabwe. Tambu is a feisty, strong-willed protagonist who does not let her position as a female in a patriarchal society deter her dream of going to school. This is a story of the struggle for emancipation and independence from patriarchy and colonial authorities. Tambu watches her rebellious anglicised cousin, Nyasha, decline through anorexia and suffers from psychological difficulties herself. Nervous Conditions grips from the first page.

 

Sam Hopps: Life of Pi – Yann Martel

The harrowing story of a teenage boy orphaned by the sudden sinking of the cargo ship taking him across the Atlantic, Pi soon realises that he is not alone in the lifeboat and must share it with a Bengal Tiger. He learns to endure the unforgiving ocean, struggling to retain his sanity in the search for land and experiencing incredible things along the way. Martel elegantly articulates a commentary on zoo-keeping, religion, and the battle for survival against nature, whilst illustrating the rich, warm climate of a small Indian town as a striking contrast to the cold but homely Canada: two very opposed civilizations that act as book-ends to Pi’s great adventure.

 

James Barnes: The Elephant Vanishes – Haruki Murukami

The prevalence of crudely-sketched characters in popular fiction betrays a poetry that exists within humanity; a romance that Murukami unerringly seems to capture in his beautifully-painted warped realities. ‘Sleep’ is a fascinating examination of the duality of the soul, and the blurred lines between the existential and the abstract. Whilst ‘On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning’ is an achingly bittersweet tale that we can all empathise with. As always with Murukami, brevity is paramount, as he savours the artistic capacity in every drop of ink. Spellbinding.

 

Lillian Hingley: Peer Gynt – Henrik Ibsen

After becoming enraptured by the prose of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, I was prevailed to look at his earlier, poetic works. _Peer Gynt_ is an epic adventure of trolls, witches and paternity denial, a play of the outdoors that is the spatial antithesis to the claustrophobia of Nora’s marital home. Even to an ear unversed in classical music, Edvard Grieg’s ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ and ‘Morning Mood’ are two recognisable pieces that were created for the play’s original score. If Macbeth is to be known as the “Scottish play”, _Peer Gynt_ is quite possibly the Norwegian play.

 

Rachel Meehan: Burnt Shadows – Kamila Shamsie

Ambitious is the only word to sum up a novel that spans more years and countries than many others of greater length. It begins with the death of Hiroko Tanaka’s fiancé, Konrad Weiss, in the atomic bombing of Nagasaki and her decision to leave Japan to track down his sister in Dehli. Following the intertwined lives of their two families from the partition of India to post-9/11 Afghanistan and New York, Shamsie presents human-made tragedies through their impact on relationships.The horrors of war, imperialism and terrorism inform a story that promises to challenge your preconceptions.

 

Rozina Sabur: Lazarillo de Tormes – anonymous

Lazarillo de Tormes is a 500 year old early Spanish novel, but reading Michael Alpert’s Penguin translation you would never guess. Its colloquial style makes this an easy read, recounting the mischievous young protagonist’s adventures as he tries to make his way in the harsh world of a poverty-stricken Spain as a beggar. Turned out on the streets, the son of a prostitute has to rough it working for several masters, each treating him worse than the last, but Lazarillo soon learns a few tricks to get his own back.

Thought to be the first picaresque novel ever written, _Lazarillo_ has inspired some of the greatest works of literature, and quite possibly influenced the rise of the novel in English literature. Worth a look, surely?

 

Editor’s Pick – Nicole Davis: Nineteen Minutes – Jodi Picoult

Perhaps more relevant than ever given the recent Newtown shootings at Sandy Hook elementary school, Picoult’s searing account of 17 year-old Peter Houghton’s vengeful rampage on school bullies will resonate with you long after the last page has been turned.

Picoult’s narrative is both insightful and objective, moving from different character’s perspective to reconstruct both the event itself and the lives of those affected by it before and after. It falls into contrivances at times and the formula of Picoult’s storytelling remains similar to her previous novels. However by delving into the minds of both the victim’s and the perpetrator’s families, Picoult asks difficult questions and never fails to compel whilst doing so.