Reading in Peru

I finished reading "Parrot and Olivier in America" some time ago and it's another minor masterpiece from Carey. The main chareacters are unforgettable narrators of their respective stories, and provide a brilliant account of postrevolutionary France and America. Great stuff, very funny, brilliant imagination, huge amount of research and knowledge, as always with Carey. Just a terrific read and well worth the effort. Not sure which I prefer, this one or "The True History of the Kelly Gang", so why not go for both.

Since then I've finished reading "The Reader" by Bernhard Schlink, which has been on my agenda for some time now, so I guess it was about time I got round to it. It's also a great piece of writing, which sure makes you think. I just did not expect that ending. It was quite troubling I thought as he plays with your emotions something rotten. I will have to watch the movie now, see what they make of it, but doubt it can be a match for the book itself.

I recently read "Fateless" by Imre Kertesz, which also deals with the holocaust but from a totally different perspective. More like Primo Levi's books, but better I think, if one is allowed to say such a thing. I have the DVD of the movie at home and keep meaning to watch it, but never quite got round to it. It's a suberb piece of writing, incredibly moving and based on his own expeiences of life in Auschwitz and Buchenwald, where he grew up and became a man. Kertesz was awarded the Nobel Prize a few years back for his work, and well deserved it was too.

I've also read "The Yacoubian Building" by Alaa al Aswany, which is set in Cairo and taught me a lot about life there. " when your house has collapsed and the government has left you sitting with your children in a tent on the street , when the police officer has insulted you and beaten you .......... then you will know why we hate Egypt". I also read "The Siege" by Helen Dunmore, and thoroughly enjoyed it, thanks Gayle for the recommendation. Not quite as unforgettable as that other Anna, but well worth the effort. But you need to read Anna K. I hope Iain has got round to reading the copy I gave him this summer. Well have you Iain?

I gift all my books, well most of them, but not Roth, whose  book "The Humbling" I've also read, in fact I think I read it on the flight over here, to my pal Daniel in Cusco. He loves his books and his English is first rate, so he is able to read all my stuff. He's a teacher of English in one of the local schools here. In return he has given me "Love in the Time of Cholera" to read. It's even better than "One Hundred Years of Solitude" though it's many years since I read it and maybe a reread is due.

All for now.