Jessie and I are gearing up for our massive six-month trip to the far reaches of South America. And I'm figuring out what I'm going to cram into my 1.5 backpacks that will keep me warm, well-dressed, and entertained for that time.
So, I'm soliciting book suggestions from all y'all. Here are the stipulations:
(1) It needs to be on the longer side (a couple hundred pages is ideal)
(2) It needs to be printed in paperback (hardcover takes up too much space)
(3) It should be at least mildly entertaining
(4) I prefer fiction but will read just about anything
So far, I'm already bringing Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and probably a translation of Don Quixote, but that's as far as I made it. I think Jessie might be packing The Brothers Karamazov and some Gogol, but I can't say for sure.
Tell me what to read. Do it.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
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5 comments:
i want to bring 100 Years of Solitude.
my short-list includes The Corrections, The Brothers Karamazov, The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts, and El Código DaVinci.
Lies of Locke Lamora. Seriously entertaining, 500+pages and available in paperback.
Highlights of my prelims list so far: Chris Abani's Graceland; Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide (I think this would be a good "traveling" read); Lessing's The Grass is Singing (although this one might make you want to kill yourself); Dinaw Mengestu's The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears and Achebe's Anthills of the Savannah (in my personal top ten).
I hear Joseph O'Neill's Netherland is great too. What about some Roberto Bolano? (2666 is about 900pgs long) Or The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao? Or The White Tiger by Adiga?
Ok, I'll stop making my own reading list here and I'll go do it somewhere else...
Wild Swans by Jung Chang
Winds of War Herman Wouk
entertaining, fascinating, non fiction. sorry hope non-fiction is okay.
i like how 200 pages is "on the longer side." i've forgotten that novels with fewer than 800 pages even exist.
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