Read Women discussion

My list of books I hope to read in 2020 by women in translation:
As I read them I'll link my reviews in the threads beneath the list.

The Shackle by Colette (France)(French)
The Red Sofa by Michèle Lesbre (France) (French)
The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar (Iran) (Farsi)
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa (Japan) (Japanese)
The Adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (Argentina) (Spanish)
Spectres by Radwa Ashour (Egypt) (Arabic)
Granada by Radwa Ashour (Egypt) (Arabic)
The Wind that Lays Waste by Selva Almada (Argentina) (Spanish)
Loop by Brenda Lozano (Mexico) (Spanish)
A Nail, A Rose by Madeleine Bourdouxhe (Belgium) (French)

Looks like a great list Claire. I’ve read The Memory Policeand enjoyed it. Happy Reading📚🌷📚

〰️Beth〰️ wrote: "Looks like a great list Claire. I’ve read The Memory Policeand enjoyed it. Happy Reading📚🌷📚"

Hi Beth, I enjoyed it too, I've now read four books by Yoko Ogawa and admire how different they all are, she is such a confident writer, you never know what to expect, except that it's going to be thought provoking. The Memory Police got me thinking about how our society in general treats people with memory loss and this book made me consider what it would be like if that was the norm.

My review of Yoko Ogawa's The Memory Police:
A 5 star read for me.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My review of Shokoofeh Azar's The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree:
A 4 star read for me.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My review of Gabriela Cabezón Cámara's The Adventures of China Iron and my favourite of the three books I read on the Booker International 2020 shortlist:
A 5 star read for me. Totally out there, unique, funny, loved it.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Claire wrote: "My review of Gabriela Cabezón Cámara's The Adventures of China Iron and my favourite of the three books I read on the Booker International 2020 shortlist:
A 5 star read for me. Totally out there, u..."

I'm really excited about this one!

Story❤ wrote: "Claire wrote: "My review of Gabriela Cabezón Cámara's The Adventures of China Iron and my favourite of the three books I read on the Booker International 2020 shortlist:
A 5 star read for me. Total..."

I am as well. So many good books, so little time.

Story❤ wrote: "Claire wrote: "My review of Gabriela Cabezón Cámara's The Adventures of China Iron and my favourite of the three books I read on the Booker International 2020 shortlist:
A 5 star read for me. Total..."

This was a total surprise read for me, I'd had it on my shelf a while and it was the last of the 3 I read and I was blown away by it, laughed out loud, loved how it retells an old 'gaucho' classic from a feminist perspective with a nod to the naturalist WH Hudson's Far Away and Long Ago and ends up a kind of utopia. I hope it wins the prize!

Claire wrote: "The Bridge of Beyond is one of my all time favourites, the best novel I read in 2016, and Guadeloupe is also home of another of my favourite authors Maryse Condé.."

Thank you for sharing your love for The Bridge of Beyond, which I enjoyed tremendously.
And now that I've found your WiT list, I hope to enrich my own.
A friend and I are "globetrotting" all of 2020 and I have yet to find a book set in Egypt.

oshizu wrote: "Claire wrote: "The Bridge of Beyond is one of my all time favourites, the best novel I read in 2016, and Guadeloupe is also home of another of my favourite authors Maryse Condé.."

Thank you for sh..."
Thank you, I'm looking forward too to adding more to my list from this group.

I've read a couple of other Egyptian authors, I can recommend Nawal El Saadawi's Woman at Point Zero,
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
and Latifa Al Zayyat's The Open Door:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Thanks for the recommendations Claire

Thanks for the recommendations everyone there's a few here new to me I'm excited to chase up :)

I very much appreciate your recommendations for Egypt, Claire!
After reading your wonderful reviews, I have added Women at Point zero to my summer 2020 reads.
Thank you!

〰️Beth〰️ wrote: "Thanks for the recommendations Claire"

Happy to find a community reading WIT all year round Beth, thank you.

oshizu wrote: "I very much appreciate your recommendations for Egypt, Claire!
After reading your wonderful reviews, I have added Women at Point zero to my summer 2020 reads.
Thank you!"
It's a powerful story Oshizu and an author I want to read more of.

Since I live in France, I try to read a little in French but also French translations to help make these authors more well-known in the English-reading world. Tamara asked me about French women writers in translation so I'm going to link the titles I have read below, if you follow me you'll see my reviews. I haven't included authors from other countries who write in French, e.g. Maryse Condé from Guadeloupe though I highly recommend her too.

Colette - The Complete Claudine - my intro to Colette 4 star
Sandrine Collette - Nothing But Dust - 5 star
Maylis de Kerengal - Mend the Living - 5 star
Delphine de Vigan - Nothing Holds Back the Night 4 star (autofiction)
Marie NDiaye - Ladivine - 3 star
Françoise Sagan - Bonjour Tristesse - 5 stars (the Irene Ash translation)
Véronique Olmi - Beside the Sea - 3 stars
Irène Némirovsky - Fire in the Blood - 3 stars
Hélène Gestern (Swiss) - The People in the Photo - 4 star

Thanks, Claire!

I've saved the list and will check these out as soon as my library opens up, again.

Thank you Claire. I have only read part of Ladivine I need to go back and finish it. I also have several Maryse Condé books on my TBR. Definitely checking out the rest on your list.

Tamara wrote: "Thanks, Claire!

I've saved the list and will check these out as soon as my library opens up, again."

Great, I was inspired to share the list here thanks to your request.

〰️Beth〰️ wrote: "Thank you Claire. I have only read part of Ladivine I need to go back and finish it. I also have several Maryse Condé books on my TBR. Definitely checking out the res..."

I was really looking forward to reading Marie NDiaye but Ladivine wasn't for me, though I would like to try her earlier book Three Strong Women.

Thanks again for another great list Claire! I really liked Ladivine but struggled with Three Strong Women - I thought the first story was great but the second one lost me...twice! Perhaps I should try it again. I also liked Mend the Living but all the others are new to me

Hannah wrote: "Thanks again for another great list Claire! I really liked Ladivine but struggled with Three Strong Women - I thought the first story was great but the second one lo..."

I find with authors like this I appreciate them more with time and after reading more about them and their work, their stories are an invitation to delve deeper, there is a depth to some French literature where the round table literary discussion (seen often on TV) is worthwhile.

A while ago the English writer Jonathan Coe remarked that he has to refamiliarise himself with all his own novels before visiting France, because there will often be readers in the audience who have read everything he's ever written and question him at a deeper level than he gets elsewhere. It's fascinating and humbling to listen to.

That is so interesting!

I was going to read Spectres by Radwa Adjourned but decided to join in and read The Woman From Tantoura instead. I may still try and read another of hers in August for #WITMonth