From Marlo

Here's a book list I happened to run into on the Net. (I love the focus on books -- we can get in English -- from other countries.)

Around the World in 80 Books
Summer Reading 2002

This summer, join us for a trip of the imagination with some of these books chosen for your enjoyment by the Wilton Library staff. Unless otherwise noted, books are shelved in fiction under the author's last name.

Europe
Camilleri, Andrea. The Shape of Water. (Sicily, Italy)
De Bernieres, Louis. [Captain] Corelli's Mandolin. (Greece)
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. (London, England)
Durrell, Lawrence. The Greek Islands. (Greece) [914.958]
Fermor, Patrick Leigh. Between the Woods and the Water. (much of Europe) [914.7]
Gabaldon, Diana. Outlander. (Scotland)
Gainham, Sarah. Night Falls on the City. (Vienna, Austria)
Gill, Bartholomew. Death of a Joyce Scholar. (Ireland) [Mystery]
Hoeg, Peter. Smilla's Sense of Snow. (Denmark)
Isherwood, Christopher. Berlin Stories. (Berlin, Germany)
Leon, Donna. Acqua Alta. (Venice, Italy) [Mystery]
Llewellyn, Richard. How Green Was My Valley. (Wales)
Perez-Reverte, Arturo. Seville Communion. (Spain)
Rankin, Ian. Dead Souls. (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Sagan, Francoise. A Reluctant Hero. (France)
Sienkiewicz, Henryk. With Fire and Sword. (Poland)
Undset, Sigrid. Kristin Lavransdatter. (Norway)
Unsworth, Barry. Umbrian Music. (Italy)
Africa
Bowles, Paul. The Sheltering Sky. (Sahara Desert)
Dinesen, Isak. Out of Africa. (Kenya) [916.7]
Huxley, Elspeth. The Flame Trees of Thika. (Kenya) [916.762]
Keneally, Thomas. To Asmara. (Eritrea)
Kingsolver, Barbara. The Poisonwood Bible. (Congo)
Paton, Alan. Cry the Beloved Country. (South Africa)
Rush, Norman. Whites. (Botswana)
Rushby, Kevin. Eating the Flowers of Paradise. (Ethiopia) [916.3]
The Middle East
Kaplan, Robert. The Arabists: Romance of an American Elite. (Middle East) [327.73056]
King, Laurie R. O, Jerusalem. (Jerusalem) [Mystery]
Mahfouz, Nagib. Palace Walk. (Egypt)
Uris, Leon. Exodus. (Middle East, Europe)
Wallach, Janet. Desert Queen: the Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell. (Arabia) [B Bell]
Asia
Buck, Pearl. The Good Earth. (China)
Clavell, James. Tai-Pan. (Hong Kong)
DeMille, Nelson. Up Country. (Vietnam)
Fraser, George MacDonald. Flashman. (Afghanistan)
Gilman, Dorothy. Incident at Badamya. (Burma)
Godden, Rumer. The Peacock Spring. (India)
Golden, Arthur. Memoirs of a Geisha. (Japan)
Harrer, Heinrich. Seven Year in Tibet. (Tibet) [951.3]
Higginbotham, Jay. Fast Train Russia. (Russia) [914.7044853]
Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies. (India)
Mishima, Yukio. The Sound of Waves. (Japan)
Newby, Eric. Slowly Down the Ganges. (India) [915.41]
Pasternak, Boris. Doctor Zhivago. (Russia/Soviet Union)
Oceania/Antarctica
Bryson, Bill. In a Sunburned Country. (Australia) [919.4]
Conway, Jill Ker. The Road from Coorain. (Australia) [B Conway]
Franklin, Miles. My Brilliant Career. (Australia)
Hulme, Keri. The Bone People. (New Zealand)
Marriott, Edward. The Lost Tribe. (New Guinea) [919.53]
Melville, Herman. Typee. (Polynesia)
Shute, Nevil. A Town Like Alice. (Australia)
Wheeler, Sarah. Terra Incognita. (Antarctica) [919.89]
South America
Allende, Isabel. The House of the Spirits. (Chile)
Banks, Vic. The Pantanal. (Brazil) [918.172]
Chatwin, Bruce. In Patagonia. (Patagonia) [918.27]
France, Miranda. Bad Time in Buenos Aires. (Argentina) [918.211]
Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. The General in his Labyrinth. (Columbia)
Mueller, Marnie. Green Fires: Assault on Eden. (Ecuador)
Theroux, Paul. Mosquito Coast. (Belize)
Vargas Llosa, Mario. The War of the End of the World. (Brazil)
North America/Caribbean
Berendt, John. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. (Savannah, Georgia) [975.8724]
Burke, James Lee. Heaven's Prisoners. (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Davies, Pete. Storm Country: a Journey Through the Heart of America. (American Heartland) [917.8]
Esquivel, Laura. Like Water for Chocolate. (Mexico)
Evanovich, Janet. One for the Money. (New Jersey)
Guterson, David. Snow Falling on Cedars. (Washington)
Hamill, Pete. Snow in August. (Brooklyn, New York)
Hassler, John. North of Hope. (Minnesota)
Hillerman, Tony. The Fallen Man. (American Southwest) [Mystery]
Innes, Hammond. High Stand. (Klondike)
Jenkins, Peter. Looking for Alaska. (Alaska) [917.98]
Jewett, Sarah Orne. The Country of the Pointed Firs. (Maine)
Kincaid, Jamaica. Annie John. (Antigua)
Kinsella, WP. Box Socials. (Alberta)
Norman, Howard. The Bird Artist. (Newfoundland)
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. (Jamaica)
Richler, Mordecai. Solomon Gursky Was Here. (Ontario)
Smith, Martin Cruz. Havana Bay. (Cuba)
Waller, Robert James. The Bridges of Madison County. (Iowa)
And finally...
Tyler, Anne. The Accidental Tourist. (Baltimore and beyond from the comfort of an armchair)

Prayer for Animals

Note to Bishop-Elect Smith: We understand that at St.John the Divine back East, dogs receive communion. That even gives us animal lovers pause (no pun intended). Marlo

Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends the animals,
especially for animals who are suffering;
for animals that are overworked, underfed and cruelly treated;
for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat their wings against bars;
for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened or hungry;
for all that must be put death.
We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity,
and for those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion
and gentle hands and kindly words.
Make us, ourselves, to be true friends to animals,
and so to share the blessings of the merciful.

-- Albert Schweitzer

Niggling details

Straight from Marlo:

The Encyclopedia Britannica says that John Calvin was born in France (and died in Switzerland).


Developments after Calvin: While Lutheranism was largely confined to parts of Germany and to SCANDINAVIA, Calvinism spread into ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, the English-speaking colonies in NORTH AMERICA, France, the Netherlands, much of Germany, and parts of central EUROPE.


No wonder it's confusing!


He was a RC who gradually became a Protestant. His book Institutes of the Christian Religion, his masterwork, became the single most important statement of Protestant belief.

Shall we add it to our book list? (Kidding.)

Note: during our discussion on The Artist by Jan de Hartog, a question came up regarding Calvinism, where Calvinism flourished, what influence it had on the Dutch, so on. Marlo followed up with the above from the Encyclopedia Brittanica.

Our April book

Next will by The Moviegoer by Walker Percy. Again, if anyone has anything interesting about it, please post or send to me by email so I can post it for everyone's enjoyment.

Another top 100 booklist

From Marlo: here is the list.

The Book Quiz

Follow the link to take the Book Quiz.