However, I found some absolute gems during my month traveling the world. Off to France I journeyed with Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky and Bonjour Tristesse by Francaise Sagan. In Brazil, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho was one of my favorite reads. Italy offered The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrant and Norway told me to go Out Stealing Horses with Per Petterson. Finally, Russia took me on a journey beyond my imagination with a rather unique fantasy novel called The Stranger by Max Frei. A world wind of sorts, I positively adored being able to settle into each of these novels, get a glimpse into cultures that I've been around but never taken the opportunity to read what their cultures had to offer.
Suite Francaise, Bonjour Tristesse, and The Alchemist were definitely my favorites and The Stranger also came in at close second. Suite Francaise offered a very Parisian view of the world. Set during World War II, the story followed several different groups of people during the exodus out of Paris when Germany had marched on the city. The thing that I loved about this book was the different characters the author created; the pretentious Catholic family, the stuck up artist, the couple who had a son fighting in the war, all very different from one another yet all equally French in their views and lifestyle. The first part of the book focuses on several different families who are traveling out of the city. By the end of the first part, a lot of those characters wind up dead and most of them in ways befitting their character whereas the second part of the book focuses mainly on two families who live in the country and are forced to share their home with German soldiers. That was an interesting part of the plot. Hearing so much about how the war affected the United States or England, I hadn't ever really delved into how other countries, occupied countries who had dealt with the Germans and Hitler's "take over" had spent the war. The picture that was painted, especially in the second half, had the characters wrestling with the humanity of the Nazis and whether they were to be hated or pitied as merely humans following orders. I found the second half of the book as equally pretentiously French as the first but I really liked how the author allowed her characters to wrestle and work out their ambivalence toward the soldiers who were forced to occupy their town.
This book was well written and flowed really well which was interesting in that the author, who wrote it during World War II, was never able to finish the book. Even though she was French, she was also a Jew and was arrested, sent to Auschwitz and died in the concentration camp. The book was then edited and translated after her death. Despite the fact that it was technically still a draft, it was brilliant and really good.
After Suite Francaise, I have been on a bit of French kick, so initially a lot of the books that I was trying to find were French. When I first found Bonjour Tristesse, the book sounded like it would be the French version of Meg Cabot. It wasn't. It was really good, albeit slightly depressing. Around 150 pages, the main character is a 17 year old girl, Cecile, who lives her father who is incessantly shallow and, for the most part, only spends time with "beautiful" people who have nothing going on between the ears but are popular and successful in this until he decides to marry Anne, who is refined, intelligent, and has a greater understanding of how the world works then Cecile and her dad. At this, Cecile creates an elaborate plan to break up her father and Anne to protect their current way of life. She concocts a plan involving her boyfriend and her father's old girlfriend. It could be seen as a typical coming of age story yet the interesting thing is at the end of the book, Cecile and her father are almost as vapid and shallow as they were at the beginning. Yet I did enjoy this book. The writing was succinct and to the point but interesting at the same time. Again, it was a book that really showed the culture of an upper class French family. The book was told from the point of view of Cecile, who had times was a bit too bratty but yet somehow the reader is still sympathetic toward her. It was definitely a book that I would recommend. However, with the ending, I had a sense of "huh" when I finished it. I wasn't quite sure what to do with it, yet I still liked it.
The last stand out for me was The Alchemist. I had heard that it was a good book but I didn't realize how much I would enjoy it until I read it. It followed a young shepherd boy who is approached by Melchizedek and is told to go in search of his treasure in the pyramids of Egypt. As the shepherd boy sets out, he meets people who are looking for their destiny and searching for meaning in what they are called to do. The boy begins to learn that although many people have been called to more, they settle for the safe life and the boy does not want to do that. He learns to listen to the language of the world and the language of the heart as he travels from Spain to Egypt to try to find his treasure.
There was so much truth in this book about how the world operates and how we are called to more. Sometimes we can begin on the path, taking one step at a time, only knowing one piece to the puzzle but as we step, God reveals more of what he's called us to do if we are willing to listen. At one point, the boy feels like he is off track and fears that he cannot hear the language of the world. The alchemist's response is for him to quiet his thoughts and listen to his heart or his conscious because his heart is in tune with the language of the world. It was an image that I could relate to in that when things are going crazy, we forget to stop and allow the craziness and the noise to completely engulf us. But it's in the quiet that we find rest, solitude and guidance. The book is beautifully written and well worth a read. I would certainly read it again.
The last book that I do recommend is The Stranger. I don't dare try to explain everything that happened within the 544 pages because most of it just has to be read to make sense. In it's most basic form, the book follows Max, a loner and loser in our world, who finds himself in the Unified Kingdom, a world of his own imagination, with a purpose and a new found sense of popularity. It's endearingly quirky, uber creative, and absolutely insane all at the same time. There's so much randomness that only make sense within the confines of the book which adds to it's brilliance. Despite the length, the book never feels like it's too long which is certainly saying something. There's also heaps of American references which is really interesting coming from a Russian author. This book is recommended just know that you were duly warned that it is not a straightforward book. Give in to the world and the crazy and you will enjoy it.
The other two novels, The Days of Abandonment and Out Stealing Horses were both good, depressing, and super heavy reads. Recommended but with The Days of Abandonment, be warned that it is super explicit in places.
As my plane pulls back into the United States, my tour of France, Italy, Brazil, Norway, and Russia quickly comes to a close. Perhaps a more substantial month in the types of books I read, I did thoroughly enjoy the well written imaginatorium of the authors. The one thing that struck me was the vocabulary in each of these novels. Perhaps it has something to do with the books being translated that their word choice is given to a broader vocabulary and better words usage than some American novels. After all, there are so many fabulous words in the English language, why not use the best of them?
Indulging in new cultures, learning how others think, what they believe and how they view the world, has always been an interest to me. There are so many other books and countries that I want to read but alas, the month ends and ergo my month of translated works must to. Now what? After a month of heavy reads, I've decided to return to my roots. Had you asked me when I was 10 what my favorite genre was to read, I would have quickly answered mystery. As I've grown up, Jane Austen and fantasy novels have overtaken my life. It's time to rekindle my first love of mysteries. But for now, find a book from another country, indulge in their truths and their world of dusky imaginatorium. Meanwhile, I will be off solving murder mysteries and remembering that not everything written has been CSI'd to death!
Suite Francaise- Irene Nemirovsky
The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho
Bonjour Tristesse- Francaise Sagan
The Days of Abandonment- Elena Ferrant
Out Stealing Horses- Per Petterson
The Days of Abandonment- Elena Ferrant
Out Stealing Horses- Per Petterson
The Stranger- Max Frei
