Around the World in my Chair

Yes...I finally succumbed to the temptation of yet another challenge. But since I have most of these books on my list for my Around the World in 80 Books reading group, I figured this one would be an easy challenge to complete. Besides, I just like to sign up for challenges!! Whether I complete all the reading or not, I seem to meet some of the nicest people!! The Armchair Traveler Reading Challenge is hosted by A Life in Books. The trick is to read books that will take you around the world without ever leaving the comfort of your own home. It runs from July to December of this year. Should be fun!!

Here is a list of books that I am going to try to read for this challenge:

• Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson - England



• In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson - Australia



• The Zahir by Paulo Coelho - Paris, Madrid and Kazakstan



• The City of Fallen Angels by John Berendt - Venice, Italy



• Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa by Karin Muller - Japan



• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini - Afghanistan



• Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert Massie - Russia (this one is an extra that I really hope to get through!)

That should take me around the world to places I may never see in person!

Later!

An African Childhood

Don't Let's Go the the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller (336 pgs, Random House) is my first non-fiction book of the year. I choose to read it because the Around the World in 80 Books book club chose it as a selection.

Mum says, "Don't come creeping into our room at night."

They sleep with a loaded guns beside them on the bedside rugs. She says, "Don't startle us when we are sleeping."

"Why not?"

"We might shoot you".

"Oh."

"By mistake."

"Okay." As it is, there seems a good chance of getting shot on purpose. "Okay, I won't".

And from the first paragraphs of this memoir you can get just a taste of what it was like growing up in the war-ravaged country of Rhodesia. Alexandra "Bobo" Fuller moved to Rhodesia (which eventually became Zimbabwe) when she was just a toddler. Bobo, her sister Vanessa, and her parents moved to a farm on the edge of the country. Both her mother and father join the police reservists and join the war, fighting to keep Rhodesia controlled by the British. The kids are always on the lookout for "terrorists" whom they fear will "cut off their eyelids". They deal with curfews and war, always on the lookout for landmines.

But when the war is over and the Fullers are on the losing side, they have to come to terms with drastic changes. Their farm is auctioned off for "redistribution" to the black families and they are forced to move. From Zimbabwe to Malawi and eventually to Zambia, the Fullers stick together through good times and bad.

This is the story of life seen through the eyes of a child. A life that is tough with many obstacles to overcome. Her parent's racism, war, brutal countryside, and the loss of several siblings makes Bobo into the person she is today. Her mother, after losing 3 children, becomes manic depressive and spends more time drunk than sober. She seems to be more affectionate to her dogs than her daughters. Her father works hard on the farm, trying to keep them afloat. But even he has a hard time dealing the losses that they are faced with. And Bobo herself feels responsible for the death of her sister, Olivia. But through it all, Fuller does a great job of projecting her love for her family and for Africa, her home. It's a wonderfully written book, with lots of anecdotes and pictures from her time in Africa. 4/5

A Very Compelling, but Very Depressing Book

The Cigar Roller (192 pgs) by Pablo Medina is the story of a Amadeo Terra, a Cuban-born Cigar Roller that has been paralyzed by a stroke. Amadeo is housed in a nursing home in Florida, isolated from the world. His children pay the bills, but never visit. He is unable to move or talk. And to the outside world, he is no more responsive than a vegetable. One day, as the nurse was feeding Amadeo his lunch of baby food, his memories are sparked by the taste of mango. He is immediately transported back to his childhood in Cuba.

This novel is very well-written, although it does follow the stream of consciousness writing that I'm not particularly fond of reading. Amadeo is a man that has ill-spent almost his entire life and has many deep regrets. He alternates from the present time through many episodes of his past life, some good and some bad. You see snippets of his marriage to Julia, a Cuban woman that immigrated to Florida with him and their three sons. You see bits of life as a Master Cigar Roller. Images of his many mistresses and infidelities are also abound. And the death of his young son that haunts him. But you are also drawn into his life as an invalid, trying desperately to make someone, anyone, realize he CAN understand. You are also drawn into the incredibly inadequate treatment the infirmed receive in this nursing home.

Even though the book was well-written, it probably won't be making my Top lists anytime soon! It was a short book for me, but I found it incredibly difficult to read. It's hard to have a lot of empathy for a man that really, truly was so detestable. And I'm not a fan of stream of consciousness writing. I find it very hard to enjoy. I was hoping for more about Amadeo's life as a Cigar Roller and culture of Cuba, and less of the clinical side of the stroke. 3.5/5