WOW 2016 has flown by- and I have to say, I can't believe it's over! It's truly been a year of thick and thin but it has completely been worth it...and I just wanted to capture these 366 days in a blog post :)
Zimbabwe: Nervous Conditions Review
Author: Tsitsi Dangarembga
Genre: Historical Fiction
Blurb: This stunning first novel, set in colonial Rhodesia during the 1960s, centers on the coming of age of a teenage girl, Tambu, and her relationship with her British-educated cousin Nyasha. Tambu, who yearns to be free of the constraints of her rural village, especially the circumscribed lives of the women, thinks her dreams have come true when her wealthy uncle offers to sponsor her education. But she soon learns that the education she receives at his mission school comes with a price. At the school she meets the worldly and rebellious Nyasha, who is chafing under her father's authority. Raised in England, Nyasha is so much a stranger among her own people that she can no longer speak her native language. Tambu can only watch as her cousin, caught between two cultures, pays the full cost of alienation.
Me: Such an interesting look on women in colonized Africa, and on two girl's journeys in coming to terms with themselves and the worlds they live in.
Croatia: Trieste Review
Author: Daša Drndić
Genre: Historical Fiction
Blurb: Haya Tedeschi waits to be reunited after sixty-two years with her son, fathered by an S.S. officer and stolen from her by the German authorities during the War as part of Himmler's clandestine 'Lebensborn' project, which strove for a 'racially pure' Germany. Her obsessive search for her son leads her to photographs, maps and fragments of verse, to testimonies from the Nuremberg trials and interviews with second-generation Jews, as well as witness accounts of atrocities that took place on her doorstep. A broad collage of material is assembled, and the lesser-known horror of Nazi occupation in northern Italy is gradually unveiled. Written in immensely powerful language, and employing a range of astonishing conceptual devices, Trieste is a novel like no other. Dasa Drndic has produced a shattering contribution to the literature of our twentieth-century history.
Me: I am a huge WWII geek. As in I will read practically anything under the sun if it has to do with WWII. I've read a lot of war novels before, but this one blew everything else out of the water. It is truly a war novel like no other.
December Classics Pt. 1: Plays
Hey everyone! I hope you had a great Christmas :) Starting in November 2016, I decided to categorize my reading of classic literature into themes per month. November was war novels, and December is plays! So here are some mini reviews of three plays I've read this month- more will be on the way! (Don't worry, none of them are like Othello/Oedipus Classic-y, more modern classics!)
South Korea: Please Look After Mom Review
Author: Kyung-Sook Shin
Genre: Contemporary
Blurb: A million-plus-copy best seller in Korea — a magnificent English-language debut poised to become an international sensation — this is the stunning, deeply moving story of a family’s search for their mother, who goes missing one afternoon amid the crowds of the Seoul Station subway.
Told through the piercing voices and urgent perspectives of a daughter, son, husband, and mother, Please Look After Mom is at once an authentic picture of contemporary life in Korea and a universal story of family love.
You will never think of your mother the same way again after you read this book.
Me: An interesting read, because I am South Korean myself. It created a much more personal connection with the text.
Ghana: Homegoing Review
Author: Yaa Gyasi
Genre: Historical Fiction
Blurb: The unforgettable New York Times best seller begins with the story of two half-sisters, separated by forces beyond their control: one sold into slavery, the other married to a British slaver. Written with tremendous sweep and power, Homegoing traces the generations of family who follow, as their destinies lead them through two continents and three hundred years of history, each life indeliably drawn, as the legacy of slavery is fully revealed in light of the present day.
Me: This book had 84 holds on it at my public library. Now I understand why.
Mini-Reviews: Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist, Without You, There is No Us, and A Thousand Splendid Suns
So I've been pretty inactive recently, and I apologize :( School really is a burden, and I have such respect for bloggers who somehow manage to do both at the same time. The good news is, I have been reading A TON lately.
So to give you short snippets of my thoughts on these three INCREDIBLE novels, I have started this Mini Reviews series to make sure I get straight to the point.
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