Reading with Style discussion

Ask any questions you have about playing Backpacking through Europe here.

I'm not sure what you meant by "time periods" in the part of the Task description about how points can be earned.

I need to get some books off my shelf, so I probably won't get through this one. (Darn it!) Anyway, would you accept

Ursula Hegi as German (or US)? and
Michael Ondaatje as Dutch, Portuguese, or not European?

Rebekah wrote: "I'm not sure what you meant by "time periods" in the part of the Task description about how points can be earned."

The description has been fixed...new sea routes have also been added.

What are the general guidelines to determine which country an author is associated with, if they have lived many places, or if there works were written & published in a country that no longer exists?

Kazuo Ishiguro born in Japan, most of his works written & published in the UK
Rudyard Kipling born in British India, most works set in India.
Franz Kafka born in Prague, Austria-Hungary, wrote his books in German, died in Vienna.
Marguerite Yourcenar born in Brussles, of French nationality, spent much of her life in Maine & was a US citizen.

which itenaries are by land and Sea and which are by Air?

Jayme, in the second post for Backpacking through Europe, Sam has a guide for how you get from one country to another if you want to be a Land and Sea traveler.

Sweden -> Denmark
Sweden -> Germany
Sweden -> Russia

So, after reading a Swedish author, you would next to read an author from either Denmark, Germany, or Russia.

This task requires a lot of planning if you don't want to get "dead-ended".

Could we go back to a country we already been or no? Like could we go go from Ireland to the UK if we already been to the UK previously in our travels?

Your goal is to “travel” to ten different European countries by reading books by ten different European authors.

I think the key word here is "different."

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "which itenaries are by land and Sea and which are by Air?"

Hi Jayme: I've you're traveling by "Air" then you don't need to post an itinerary and you don't have to visit contiguous countries. But you do get fewer points for traveling this way.

Liz M wrote: "What are the general guidelines to determine which country an author is associated with, if they have lived many places, or if there works were written & published in a country that no longer exist..."

The general rule is that the author's birthplace should be used when considering destinations. In the case of someone who was born in a part of the British Empire like Kipling, the U.K. is fine. For someone who was born outside of Europe but has become a citizen of a European country like Ishiguro, you can use that author for that European country.

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Could we go back to a country we already been or no? Like could we go go from Ireland to the UK if we already been to the UK previously in our travels?"

Your route should be designed so that there isn't any backtracking.

Do the "Backpacking through Europe" tasks need to be done consecutively or may we intersperse reading books from task sets 10 and 20 as we were allowed to do with "reading through time" in the current challenge?
(Sorry if this question is answered somewhere and I am just missing it.)

Thanks!

The Europe trip needs to be read in order within itself to score the extra points, but yes, you can intersperse the 10 and 20 point tasks in while you're doing that. Note, also, that the 10 and 20 point tasks can be repeated as many times as you like, with the exception of the Winter's 10.2.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "The Europe trip needs to be read in order within itself to score the extra points, but yes, you can intersperse the 10 and 20 point tasks in while you're doing that. Note, also, that the 10 and 20 ..."

Thanks Elizabeth. Now I need to plan my itinerary!

I was looking for Polish authors and found these on my tbr. Can you tell me which country (Poland, Ukraine, either/or) they would work for? The information listed comes directly from their GR author pages:

Bruno Schulz - Born: July 12, 1892 in Drohobycz (formerly Poland), Ukraine

Tadeusz Borowski - Born: November 12, 1922 in Zhytomyr (formerly Poland), Ukraine

Thanks!

Cait wrote: "I was looking for Polish authors and found these on my tbr. Can you tell me which country (Poland, Ukraine, either/or) they would work for? The information listed comes directly from their GR aut..."

Oh shoot. I didn't notice Borowski was born in the Ukraine. His wiki page refers to him as a Polish writer & his nationality is Polish.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "The Europe trip needs to be read in order within itself to score the extra points, but yes, you can intersperse the 10 and 20 point tasks in while you're doing that. Note, also, that the 10 and 20 ..."

How is reading order determined? Is it based on when you start a book or when you finish it or what? Or does it just regulate the order in which you can claim points for the books read?

I'm thinking of reading War & Peace in January, but it'll probably take me into February before I finish it. So I'm trying to figure out if Russia needs to be essentially at the end of my travels or in the middle or what.

Liz M wrote: "Oh shoot. I didn't notice Borowski was born in the Ukraine. His wiki page refers to him as a Polish writer & his nationality is Polish."

I'm really hoping we can use him. I've been wanting to read
This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen for a long time.

Joanna wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "The Europe trip needs to be read in order within itself to score the extra points, but yes, you can intersperse the 10 and 20 point tasks in while you're doing that. Note..."

Hi Joanna: For the Backpacking challenge, if you are a "Land and Sea" traveller, you should read the books in the order that you laid out the countries on your Itinerary.

You can intersperse RwS tasks between Backpacking countries if you like, but when working through the Backpacking tasks, they must be read in the order you committed to before beginning your journey.

I hope that answers your question. If not, feel free to ask again and we'll give it another shot. :-)

Krista wrote: "Joanna wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "The Europe trip needs to be read in order within itself to score the extra points, but yes, you can intersperse the 10 and 20 point tasks in while you're d..."

Right, but what does it mean to read in order? Is it judged by when you start a book or by when you finish it?

So, for example, let's say I start reading War and Peace on January 1. That book is far too long and dense for it to be the only book I'm reading. I'd expect that around Jan. 9, I'll need a break and will read something else. Say I start a book by a Ukrainian author. I finish the Ukrainian book, then start a Hungarian one. Meanwhile, I'm still plugging away at W&P. Around Feb. 10, I finish W&P.

For this example, is my reading order:

(based on start dates)
Russia
Ukraine
Hungary

Or

(based on finish dates)
Ukraine
Hungary
Russia

Or can I not use all three because of the overlap?

Sorry if I'm being dense -- I'm just trying to plot my travels and I'm thinking of doing W&P for Russia, but a fair bit of poetry for some of the other countries.

I think what Krista is saying is that you should read and finish one book then do another. If you're going to need a break for War and Peace, perhaps you should read books for the 10 and 20 point tasks.

Joanna, I believe you have to finish the first book in order to progress to the next book, meaning no overlap. That's exactly why War and Peace won't be my Russian book. That baby's going to take me a while. :o)

Got it. Thanks for helping me catch on ;)

Another question:
I'm thinking of doing a poetry tour. But it's hard to find translations for some of the poets that I'd like to read. If a poetry book is less than 100 pages, could I read two poets from the same country to count as one stop? For example, I'd really like to read The Slovak Poet Milan Rufus: And That's the Truth! since he won the Nobel prize and is the poet laureate of Slovakia, but the book is only 144 pages with both the Slovak and English. Could I combine that with another Slovakian poetry book to be my Slovakia stop? Or will you approve that book even though it's short?

Nevermind...I decided to leave Slovakia off my itinerary.

Would Italo Calvino count for Italy? He was born in Cuba but grew up in Italy and I've always seen him categorized as an Italian author.

Christy wrote: "Would Italo Calvino count for Italy? He was born in Cuba but grew up in Italy and I've always seen him categorized as an Italian author."

I believe Calvino would fall under the Ishiguro rule (see msg 11). He was born outside of Europe, but the family moved to Italy when he was 2 years old & wiki lists his nationality as Italian.

Cait wrote: "I was looking for Polish authors and found these on my tbr. Can you tell me which country (Poland, Ukraine, either/or) they would work for? The information listed comes directly from their GR aut..."

Schulz was born in a part of the Ukraine that was returned to Poland after WWI. I would take the Ukraine or Poland in his case.

Borowski was born in a Polish-minority area of USSR-Ukraine, so he'd qualify for the Ukraine only.

Thanks so much, Sam! That actually works well for me; I'll use Schulz for Poland and Borowski for the Ukraine.

Sam wrote: "Borowski was born in a Polish-minority area of USSR-Ukraine, so he'd qualify for the Ukraine only."

Ooops, just like the subway ride home today, I've been re-routed. Must go revise the itinerary.

I'm considering Sigrid Undset to be a Norwegian author. She was born in Denmark, but moved to Norway at the age of 2. She travelled quite a bit as an adult, but used Norway as her home base. She had to flee Norway during WWII because of her outspoken criticism of Hitler before the war.

She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (1928).

Undset = Norway ---- OKAY?

Just as a side note, on Barnes and Noble website you can look at bestsellers from other countries including tons from European countries. Here's the link for world lit if anyone is stuck (countries on side bar).

http://browse.barnesandnoble.com/brow...

Jackie wrote: "Just as a side note, on Barnes and Noble website you can look at bestsellers from other countries including tons from European countries. Here's the link for world lit if anyone is stuck (countrie..."

Thank you!

I want to start in the UK and end up in Sweden, with stops in Germany and Russia. Is this possible?

Melissa W wrote: "I want to start in the UK and end up in Sweden, with stops in Germany and Russia. Is this possible?"

Yes it is. Look at the itineraries created by Jayme (msg 9), Cait, & Tobey. Reverse the order used by Jayme or Cait & do a little rearranging or rearrange Tobey's a bit & you should be good to go.

Can I use European countries not listed?

Melissa W wrote: "Can I use European countries not listed?"

You can go to any European country. The countries listed are those countries where you may need to cross some water to get to the next country.

If you're a "Land and Sea" traveller, (not Air) you can go to any country in Europe. You have to move through Europe travelling from one country to another country. The when moving through Europe, the next country you move to must share a border with your current country. When you're at the coastline and want to visit a new country across the sea then you have to use one of the official routes posted by Sam.

I have to admit that I was slow to get the land boundaries part and looked just at Sam's "cruise line" routes. But no matter, the 7 countries I'll visit is what was on my shelf and I can get from one to the other quite easily.

I just looked at the cruise lines too and got derailed. :)

Will Czeslaw Milosz count for Poland?
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czes%C5%...

He was born in what is now Lithuania, but was formerly part of Poland and seems to be generally thought of as Polish. That said, he seems to have refused to say whether he was Polish or Lithuanian.

Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "I just looked at the cruise lines too and got derailed. :)"

That's because you were on a train! haha

Joanna wrote: "Will Czeslaw Milosz count for Poland?
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czes%C5%...

He was born in what is now Lithuania, but ..."

Yes.

I hate to belabor the point, but this multi-national writers confuse me too. If the parents were ex-pats and just happened to give birth at their duty station, do we count the parents' nationality. For instance Doris lessing was born in Persia when her British father was there with the military.

Joseph Conrad I can't figure out. I have a source saying he was born in Ukraine but another that says he is a "Polish British Novelist". His parents were Polish. he became a british citizen in his 20's.

Do we just need to submit the confusing authors to you on a case by case basis?

This might be awfully optimistic of me, but once you go through your backpacking trip, can you go again? If you can, would it be alright to hit some of the countries that you hit last time again?
I wanted to do a "Children's Trip" with books I can read to my kids.
ex.,
Italy - the "Real" Pinnochio
Austria - the "real" Bambi
UK - a Narnia book
Sweden - Pippi Longstocking etc..

But I also want to read adult books using some different countries too.

Do I have to pick one or another?

Rebekah wrote: "I hate to belabor the point, but this multi-national writers confuse me too. If the parents were ex-pats and just happened to give birth at their duty station, do we count the parents' nationality...."

That's the easiest way to proceed.

Lessing would qualify as British. Based on other decisions I've made so far, Conrad will go to the Polish.

Rebekah wrote: "This might be awfully optimistic of me, but once you go through your backpacking trip, can you go again? If you can, would it be alright to hit some of the countries that you hit last time again?
..."

Wasn't sure if my question was overlooked. Not in a big hurry, though. There is plenty more to work on.

Rebekah wrote: "This might be awfully optimistic of me, but once you go through your backpacking trip, can you go again? If you can, would it be alright to hit some of the countries that you hit last time again?
..."

You can mix children/adult books if you need to.

Sam wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "This might be awfully optimistic of me, but once you go through your backpacking trip, can you go again? If you can, would it be alright to hit some of the countries that you hit la..."

But you are allowed to do this challenge twice, right. After you completed it the first time?
Thanks. I will be doing all children's books.
Austria Bambi: A Life in the Woods by Felix Salten
Italy - Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
France - The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Ireland - Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer (most likely)
Uk - I'm giving the several choices to pick from like Lion, witch Wardrobe, or peter Pan, of 5 children and it etc...
Netherlands - Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates - Mary Mapes Dodge
Germany - Grimm's Fairytales Children's Storytime Treasury - (most likely)
Denmark - The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales (most likely)
Sweden - Pippi Goes On Board by Astrid Lindgren or another book by this author
Norway - Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan
We recently did heidi in Switzerland so I thought this would be a good way to continue to explore European childrens' literature

A related question: If I get through my 10 countries on my current itinerary, can I start a new itinerary (with different countries)? Or starting from where I ended? Or do I start over with my country #1?

It's all theoretical really, since I probably will take the full three months to get through my scheduled trip. But I like the fun of planning.

And, I've been doing a poetry tour so far and have been really enjoying it (even though I ended up hating the Ukrainian poet I chose).

Joanna wrote: "A related question: If I get through my 10 countries on my current itinerary, can I start a new itinerary (with different countries)? Or starting from where I ended? Or do I start over with my co..."

You can work through the sub-challenge more than once. If you wanted to do make a new itinerary that would be fine, or you could do the "Air" option the second time and dispense with a set itinerary.

Does Michel Faber count for The Netherlands? He was born there but later moved to Australia then Scotland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_F...