I don't have a fancy map for this, I'm afraid, but I have completed my self-assigned twelve country challenge. And, I'm pretty sure I'm going to hit the 15 country mark, so, a pat on the back, from me to me. So, without much further ado, here's my final list (if I do read more, I'll add it on!) :
- Orhan Pamuk – The White Castle (Turkey)
- Mohsin Hamid – Moth Smoke (Pakistan)
- Rohinton Mistry – Such A Long Journey (India)
- Haruki Murakami – Norwegian Wood (Japan)
- Gyorgy Dragoman – The White King (Hungary)
- Milan Kundera – The Book of Laughter & Forgetting (Czechoslovakia)
- Bernhard Schlink – Homecoming (Germany)
- Ann Holm – I Am David (Denmark)
- Carlos Ruiz Zafón – The Shadow of the Wind (Spain)
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez – News Of A Kidnapping (Columbia)
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Half of a Yellow Sun (Nigeria)
- Lloyd Jones – The Book Of Fame (New Zealand)
- Gabriel Garcia Marquez – News Of A Kidnapping (Columbia)
- Haruki Murakami – Norwegian Wood (Japan)
- Carlos Ruiz Zafón – The Shadow of the Wind (Spain)
I know some of you would have put Half Of A Yellow Sun on it, and I almost did. However, I think The Shadow of the Wind just edges ahead of it by less than a quarter of an inch. It was a really tough call.
And the ones I didn't really enjoy:
- Bernhard Schlink – Homecoming (Germany)
- Lloyd Jones – The Book Of Fame (New Zealand)
The one thing that stands out in my reading, for this challenge is, there are two Nobel Prize winners (Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Orhan Pamuk), and it is rumored that Milan Kundera was considered for it as well. Other than that, there are no 'famous' prize winners (books, not authors) in the above list!
Have you read any of the above books? Which ones did you like?
Also, can you recommend any other "international" books that you think is a must read? I got some suggestions in the Weekly Geeks from a couple of weeks back, so, thanks to everyone who threw recommendations my way there.