Reading the World - Blog

2018 - A New Year's spring clean

12/30/2017

I mentioned a while back that I was planned a New Year’s spring clean of the website, and with 2018 looming this seems like a good time…

This will consist of mainly updating the reformatting the past, present and future destinations lists – a laborious task but a necessary one! I have started with the 2017-2018 page as we head into the 9th (!) year of my literary global journey but will be updating and reviewing all pages.

Notably I will be looking at the Future Destinations to ensure that books are still relevant or to see if more contemporary works have been published since the list was first drafted in 2009. For instance, the next book on my journey – the teen novel Guantanamo Boy published in 2009 – has been replaced by the 2017 unredacted edition of Guantanamo Diary written by ‘gitmo’ inmate Mohamedou Ould Slahi during his incarceration, a first person of the horrors of life in the camp of which more soon.

Meanwhile you can view the updated 2017-2018 page at the link on the tab above – any comments or problems viewing let me know. And finally have a fantastic 2018!! I hope you can join me on my travels as they continue into North America and beyond….

Island Life Above and Below the Waves in the Cayman Islands

12/29/2017

Well, finished 'So You Want to Live on an Island' by Gay Morse, an ex-pat diving instructor now living on the Cayman Islands (Little Cayman to be precise). Whilst Morse makes no pretentions to being a literary giant, this is a bright and breezy book with an entertaining mix of anecdotes - largely centring around the often eccentric tourists and wannabe divers straight off the cruise ships (one classic question Gay has often been asked 'So do you live here?' (clue: she doesn't commute from the US every day!). Morse also captures the equally eccentric side of expat like on the islands as well as the native islanders - with interesting details of the restriction of foods and necessities due to Little Cayman's remoteness and reliance on supply chains from neighbouring Grand Cayman - an irritation for the various resorts there, but a serious issue for the locals, with the one main grocery store often sitting with empty shelves. Morse also touches upon the history of the Caymans and the current and future prospects of this delicate ecosystem - acknowledging that tourist activity inevitably affect the surrounding environment through fish feeding, coral damage etc., whilst arguing the case for better preservation and education around such issues... I'm now midway through my trip to Cuba with 'The King of Cuba' by, Cristina Garcia an account of the aging and ailing 'El Comandante' (a thinly disguised Fidel Castro) in Havana, reminiscing over past 'glories' and fretting over the future of his revolution and Cuban-in-exile - and equally aging and ailing - Goyo Herrera; whose last wish is to kill 'the tyrant' before he himself dies. You might notice that this is a change from my previously listed choice for Cuba - as the original list was created up to 9 years ago when my journey started, I am taking the opportunity to update books to more contemporary and relevant works that may have been published in the meantime - so expect more surprises along the way!

Killing Time in the Belize Jungle: The Five Lost Days...

12/29/2017

In ‘The Five Lost Days’ by William Petrick, we first meet producer Michael Burns as he is traveling through the mountains of Belize with his film crew to shoot of documentary on the last living Maya healer. While Burns' crew complains about the weather and their accommodations, Burns is completely in his element. From the very start, the motley team meets some quirky natives who help guide them to the house where two Americans live. Frank and Kelly, are a married couple who moved to Belize years ago for work. Kelly works for a pharmaceutical company, trying to find new herbs that can be used in medicines, while Frank, is caught up in the violent war that is spilling into Belize from Guatemala.

When Burns arrives with his cameras and lights, Kelly is more than willing to help while Frank is suspicious of the crew's intentions. Problems arise when the crew arrives at Kelly and Frank's only to find that they lost their film somewhere along the way. One of Burns' crew members breaks off from the group to go find the footage only to discover that the country is riddled with much more violence than anyone thought. It is not long before Burns and his remaining crew members find themselves at odds with the people and the unforgiving jungle. Suddenly, what began as a five-day film shoot for a documentary becomes a fight for their lives.

Overall the writing and plot development is excellent here, with interesting beginnings to each chapter formed by a sketch of an herb, its name, and its healing power. I also loved Petrick's description of the jungle and overall landscape. It felt as if it was its own character that had a back story, feelings, desires, and complicated relationships. There are few novels that I have read that have made me feel so connected to the jungle. Finally, I thought that Petrick did a very good job in establishing these characters. – here, Petrick has SEVEN main characters all of whom were well-crafted and distinct from each other.

Though I thought that Petrick did a very good job, I did have some concerns about the novel. At times, I felt as if the book was pulling me in too many directions. In one chapter, I would be introduced to a possible love triangle between Burns, Frank, and Kelly only to be thrown into a violent confrontation between a boy soldier and one of Burns' crew members. When I had come to grips with that situation, I would be hurled into the mind of the Maya healer and his loneliness only to be shot into Burns' struggle with commitment to his current girlfriend. Each of these stories were interesting, but at times they were a distraction and I completed the book without really knowing what the purpose was. Sometimes it seems like a book about the hardships of producing a film, only to shift and be about the atrocities of war or how a marriage can change over a period of time without anyone noticing.

Yet, my major concern was over the ending of the novel and the fact that it didn't have one. All of these great plot points keep barrelling at the reader only to have the novel just stop without truly ending. The book literally stops mid-sentence in a key scene – obviously intentional it was a bit baffling nevertheless. Perhaps it was Petrick’s intention to demonstrate how – unlike movies, documentaries and indeed books – the narrative of life’s complexities cannot be neatly tied up into a neat beginning, middle and end. I’m not sure. Either way I’m unconvinced that Petrick pulls this off at the conclusion. Either way, however, a recommended read. Next stop – Mexico; from the verdant jungle of Belize to the urban jungle of Mexico City with ‘Mexico City Noir’…

Sun, surf and sinister goings-on in El Salvador

11/19/2017

I am now just disembarking from Honduras (review soon!) in neighbouring El Salvador and what sounds like a highly intriguing novel:Malia needs to leave El Salvador. A surfer and aspiring engineer, she came to Central America as a Peace Corps volunteer and fell in love with Ben. Malia's past year has been perfect: her weeks spent... building a much-needed aqueduct in the countryside, and her weekends spent with Ben, surfing point-breaks in the nearby port city of La Libertad. Suddenly, a major earthquake devastates the country and brings an abrupt end to her work. Ben and Malia decide to move on.

Now free of obligations, they have an old car, a wad of cash, surfboards, and rough plans for an epic trip through South America. Just as they're about to say goodbye to their gritty and beloved Salvadoran beach town, a mysterious American surfer known only as Pelochucho shows up—spouting grandiose plans and persuading them to stay.

Days become weeks; documents go missing; money gets tight. Suddenly, Ben and Malia can't leave. Caught between bizarre real estate offers, suspect drug deals, and internal jealousies, this unlikely band of surfers, aid-workers, and opportunists all struggle to find their way through a fallen world, in Kilometer 99 by Tyler McMahon.

Finally leaving Nicaragua - and on to Honduras

11/18/2017

Well after a lengthy sojourn in Nicaragua due to ill health, I am glad to say my literary travels are now once more underway :) I spent my time mainly in the company of Anne, an American mother-of-two who comes to volunteer in Nicaragua and finds both a personal and political awakening by what she sees there, and Evelyn - also American but now a long term resident of the country.

Evelyn has lived through the Contra wars in the 80s, losing her husband and daughter in the process, yet still manages to balance her jaded experiences with an optimistic and humane approach to her fellow countrymen as she considers herself a naturalised Nicaraguan. This is seen most effectively in her charitable work - notably setting up a children's orphanage, and her highly cynical view of the US and its interventions in the country.

I said in a previous post I liked this book despite myself, and I should briefly explain (a fuller review will be posted later). My key niggle was, aside from the two central female protagonists, there is a bewildering array of secondary characters who come and go, sometimes without warning, and I did find myself having to flip back on occasions thinking = who is Camilo, who is Harry Abbett, who is Olga, Dr Manuela, Patricia, Ernesto etc? Also, author Sandra George often has the tendency to put current and historical political analysis of the country into the dialogue of her characters; which occasionally come across and stilted and artificial, as well as rather didactic.

But what finally won me over was the description of Nicaragua itself - in a way a character in itself. I loved the juxtaposition of the turmoil of the past (and the present; the Recontras are an ongoing threat, as one scene graphically shows), the poverty, the political frustrations of its citizens, the lack of resources - with the descriptions of a lush, beautiful verdant landscape populated by diverse flora and fauna - and the occasional volcano... in a way this encapsulates the paradoxical cynicism, yet optimism, of Everlyn, Anne and the Nicaraguan people; living with a legacy that has left a country devastated by war, yet with a love and belief and a will to make their country proud and beautiful once more.

And so, finally I am moving on to neighbouring Honduras, with 'Island Hummingbird' an autobiographcal tale of Faye, a young girl growing up in the idyllic white beach island of Utila. Honduras however, much like Nicaragua, is a country with two sides to it and once senses that as Faye matures into adulthood her perfect existence may not last...

Below is a picture of Honduras. More soon!

November 14th, 2017

11/14/2017

Apologies for lack of posts and updates for the past few months, you all must have think I'd fallen off the edge of the world! Fortunately that's not the case but I have had some health issues which have sadly needed to take priority. I thank you for your understanding and am now continuing my literary trek...

Meantime, this global traveller is convalescing in beautiful Nicaragua with 'The Good Adventurers' - a book which I am enjoying despite myself! More on that soon...

'Where You Can Find Me'.... in Costa Rica

5/4/2017

'Where You Can Find Me' by US author Sheri Joseph is a disturbing, yet engrossing, novel dealing with the difficult subject of child abduction and abuse. However, despite the subject matter the book is never sensationalist, exploitative or didactic; indeed the author handles the matter with an objectivity which strips away the reader's instinctive emotional response and portrays a world, and its inhabitants, where moral compasses are ambiguous.

That is not to say that the core issue is not taken seriously - indeed there are definite 'bad guys' here, but the novel acknowledges that there is not always a clear-cut definition of hero and villain, depending on perspective. This is encapsulated in the character of 'Jolly' aka 'Charles Lundy' a doctor who 'rescues' the young protagonist, Caleb (or Nicky as he is known in captivity) from a brutal and depraved paedophile ring, having been abducted at the age of 11. However, despite this seemingly altruistic act, Jolly tells Caleb that his parents are no longer looking for him and keeps him at his own house for a further 18 months before the FBI trace him. Jolly’s motives - and how exactly he obtained Caleb from the ring - are never made clear. The character of Jolly is mainly seen in flashback, through the prism of Caleb's memories - and Caleb's own perspective is never clear-cut; is he suffering from a form of Stockholm Syndrome in insisting that Jolly 'saved' him? Was he also abused by Jolly? Difficult questions.

The book opens with Caleb, now 14, returned to his parents and younger sister Lark by the FBI after being rescued. What should be an ecstatic reunion is, inevitably, a confused and difficult process for all concerned. Caleb is not the boy who disappeared 3 years before and the family and Caleb struggle to work through this. Caleb's father Jeff, especially struggles to connect having given Caleb up for dead - a fact that has led to a deep rift between him and Caleb's mother, Marlene. Caleb himself is unsettled and self-conscious being, as he sees it, ripped from the protective bubble that Jolly had kept him in and still traumatised by his previous experiences.

What impressed me most about this work is how the core plot of Caleb’s return is used, through the various characters, to explore issues of identity in various ways. This is most obviously seen in Caleb, who was not only known as ‘Nicky’ during his captivity, but inhabited Nicky as an alter-ego as a sort of defence mechanism – a persona he finds it hard to let go of. Marlene has also undergone a change in moving on from drug and alcohol addiction during Caleb’s disappearance to a decisive role in moving the family to Costa Rica to avoid the US media glare. Jeff’s identity is as a husband and father is challenged by Caleb’s return in less positive ways – Marlene cannot forgive him for giving Caleb up for dead and Jeff himself fails to connect with the newly-returned Caleb as a father; a role that falls to his wayward brother in Costa Rica, Lowell, whilst Jeff remains in the US.

Costa Rica itself is portrayed as a challenging place of extreme beauty (the main setting is the 'Cloud Forest’ nature reserve of Monteverde), occasional tedium (the place is shrouded in damp cloud and rain for long periods) and flashes of danger (Lowell’s mysterious and possibly illegal ‘business’, escaped jaguars, and the ever-present active volcano). The descriptions of the scenery draw the reader into the landscape and mood of Costa Rica and emphasise that here Costa Rica is more than just a backdrop; it is a catalyst that changes all who arrive there.

A challenging read then due to its unflinching treatment of a difficult subject (much of which is hinted at rather than overtly described, and is all the more effective for that), but ultimately one that draws you into the lives of ordinary, flawed, individuals dealing with an extraordinary situation. That such dark subject matter forms the basis of an ultimately redemptive story is testament to the quality of writing here. A profoundly moving book and one of the stand-out novels of my journey.

My next stop is a Nicaragua still reeling from the after effects of civil war and the disastrous intervention of the Reagan administration and the CIA, with ‘The Good Adventurers’ by Sandra George…

The Doorway to Life... and on to Costa Rica

4/23/2017

Very proud of my niece Lily Jones, who has just published her first book of poetry - at the age of 6! It's on Amazon now and selling well.
Meanwhile on my own travels I have just journeyed from Panama and the controversial US controlled Canal Zone to Costa Rica. Panama's book was, aptly, named 'Panama' - an excellent book by Carlos Ledson Miller, spanning centuries but mainly focussing on the recent turbulent history from 1964 to the turn of the millennium, focussing on an American-Panamanian writer who returns to his home country to write a travel guide but gets caught up in the country's political machinations; including a plot to overthrow General Noriega... I have a bit more time available now so will look to do more regular updates on my books in the future...

'The Doorway To Life' on Amazon

2017: New year, New web page!

1/9/2017

Well, as 2016 draws to a close so does my website list for 2015-2016! A new page has been created on my website www.readingtheworld.co.uk for 2017 and already has 2 books on it!

I'm currently working my way through the West indies and following the tribulation of the volcanic explosion on Montserrat am presently luxuriating in St Kitts & Nevis courtesy of 'Live de Life' by expat Joan Harrington. those of you who have pointed out I've missed Antigua & Barbuda out don't worry - I'm just island hopping as the book for that ('My Brother' by Jamaica Kincaid) is currently being shipped from Fiji where i have spent the last 6 months.

One outcome of this reshuffling is that there is now only one page of 'Future destinations' left whereas before there were four!! A sign that I am nearer to the end of my travels than the beginning.... still a way to go yet though - especially with the whole of North America yet to tackle ;) More soon...

Meet a fellow world explorer of books

12/17/2016

Check out this Facebook page and list from a fellow literary traveller, Aisha Arif Esbhani, a 13 year old from Karachi. She already has some great books on her list but still needs help filling the gaps!

https://web.facebook.com/reading197countries