Sidenote: Reading around the world

Before starting my travels, I had the idea that I'd like to read a book from each country I visit. I thought it would be fun to read the book while present in the country, and that it'd be a nice way to connect at a deeper level with each place. It would be a chance to be exposed to different writing perspectives and styles, perhaps different from my previous reading. I started searching for good book suggestions for the countries I planned to visit and came across Ann Morgan's awesome website about her Year of Reading the World. Her List has become my go-to source for finding my book for each country – if I'm not able to find a book on Ann's list it's at least a good starting point. As I've met more people from different countries during my travels I've been asking them for their suggestions too! Like Ann, I like to pick books that were written in the country by an author from that country (i.e. the author was residing in their home country at the time of writing). A lot of times that means the books are originally written in their native language and I am reading the English translation. I much prefer to have the physical book with me rather than reading on an electronic device.

Below is the list of countries I have visited in chronological order with my book selection for each country. I've included some details about where I bought each book and a short write-up with some of the thoughts I had during or after reading. I plan to keep updating this list as I go.

1. Thailand
Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap
image

I bought this book at the Kinokuniya bookstore in the Siam Paragon shopping mall in Bangkok (thanks to my friend Noot for the bookstore recommendation!). I was searching for the book Time by Chart Korbjitti but couldn’t find it, but was happy to select this one! I really enjoyed this book which was a collection of short stories primarily about life in Bangkok. I feel each story gave me a sense of important historical events and daily life experiences that partly shape Bangkok and Thai culture. I finished this book while on the second leg of the slow boat journey along the Mekong River from Pak Beng to Luang Prabang, Laos.

image I loved this quote which I saw in the library at Chiang Mai University.

2. Laos
Mother’s Beloved: Stories from Laos by Outhine Bounyavong
image

I bought this book at Book-CafĆ© Vientiane for 90,000 Laotian Kip ($4.19 USD). I was thrilled to find this book at a little used bookstore in Vientiane after not finding a single open bookstore in Luang Prabang or Vang Vieng. This book is made up of 20 short stories, about 3–4 pages each and is printed in both Lao and English. I felt like Outhine was my personal tour guide of Laos through reading his stories. He introduced me to Lao foods, traditional dance, and ways of life. I felt a connection and understanding of Lao culture through reading this wonderful book. Each story was filled with love and kindness, and the characters also endured many great hardships. After I finished reading this book I sent it to my mom!

3. Vietnam
The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh
image

I bought this book at The Traveller’s Bookshop in Hanoi, the first bookstore I checked in Vietnam! I had to take my shoes off to enter. I paid 350,000 Vietnamese Dong ($14.27 USD). I finished this book while on the bus from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A common theme I seem to be following is finishing books while in transit! It's a good time to read.

Interestingly, this book is written as a single, continuous narrative, rather than being broken up into chapters. This book did not follow chronological order, it drifted in and out of reality, memory, and visions of the past – past, present, and future were all mixed together in one narrative. I thought it flowed well. I felt connected with the narrator of the story, and could understand his feelings and emotions, and his experiences and feelings about writing. I felt like it could be me even. I feel it is impossible to really grasp war as those who experience it do. We can see appalling pictures of war (like the images I saw in the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City), but it’s not the same as living it. I liked how the narrator said that he would ā€œpin thoughts down by writing themā€ and that he was writing to write, and process the pain and emotions of his war experience, not for the sake of publishing – which I think is a true reflection of the real author. Reading this book and learning more about the Vietnam War has made me think more about war in general, for example what are the reasons for war at the most basic level? And how can humans carry out such brutality against one another? And haven’t we evolved enough to stop war and focus on preserving the human race and the planet we live on?

I had some interesting discussions about these topics with fellow travelers in the hostel I was staying at while in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon Authentic Hostel). I also had a nice chat with Duy, one of the managers of the hostel who was born and raised in Ho Chi Minh City. He recommended I watch The Vietnam War documentary by Ken Burns because he thought it did a good job telling the full story of the war from many different perspectives. This is now on my to-watch list!

Shortly after finishing The Sorrow of War I discovered Bao Ninh was born on October 18th, 1952. After learning this (my birthday is October 19th) I felt an even stronger connection with the author and the book.

4. Cambodia
Still Alive! by Srey Chanthy (real name Meas Srey Veasna)
image

I bought this book at Monument Books in Phnom Penh for 29,000 Cambodian Riel ($7.10 USD). I finished reading it on 14 March 2024 in my dorm room in Zostel Kochi in Kerala, India. This book is an autobiographical account in which Meas Srey Veasna shares his experiences as a young boy during the horrific years of the Khmer Rouge regime and the Cambodian genocide from 1975 to 1979. I read this book after visiting the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (Security Prison 21) and Choeung Ek (the Killing Fields) in Phnom Penh. It was a somber day visiting these sites but I'm glad I had the chance to learn about this period in recent history. Between 1975 and 1979, up to 3 million people of the approximate 8 million total population of Cambodia were killed by members of the Khmer Rouge government under the leadership of Pol Pot. After coming to power, the Khmer Rouge sought to create a communist agragrian society, made up of farmers working on common lands to produce rice to feed and support the country. "Old People" was the classification given to the farmers and uneducated peasant people, whom the Khmer Rouge sought to create an entire population of. "New People" were the intellectuals or any educated person who expressed original thinking or ideas, these were the people the Khmer Rouge sought to eradicate. Any professional person, for example doctors, lawyers, or teachers, or any religious person, including monks, were all executed during this time. If someone wore glasses it was seen as a sign of an intellectual person and they were executed. If someone was found to have soft hands, not roughened by farm labor, they were assumed to be an intellectual and they were killed. Any form of original thinking or expression was punished by execution. Men, women, and children were killed.

It was very saddening to learn about these atrocities, I don’t understand how humans can become so inhuman. While visiting Tuol Sleng and Choeung Ek it was hard to imagine I was in the same place where so many terrible things happened not too long ago. It made me think – are horrific acts like this still occurring in the world and how can they be stopped, and prevented from occurring in the future?

Reading Still Alive! gave me Meas Srey Veasna's personal account of his and his family's experiences during these years. They were constantly in a state of unrest and uncertainty, at first trying to move to safer areas as a family, then being forcibly transported to work camps, separated from one another and unaware of each other's whereabouts, or if they were still alive. I think Meas Srey Veasna is incredibly courageous for telling his story. The hardships he and his family, and the millions of other Cambodians, went through are unimaginable, and yet they happened in recent times.

In relation to my question earlier, Veasna includes an afterword to his book where he poses several important questions, and provides some answers based on his life experiences.

How can the world be more proactive, not reactive, so that human misery and suffering does not continue?

For my part, I believe it is essential to put the value-of-human-life principle before everything. If human life is threatened the following things must be set aside: (a) ideologies, (b) faiths and religions, (c) beliefs and philosophies, (d) theories, and (f) interests. The world has to be united and proactive when human crisis is visible (take the example of the current situation in Syria) or invisibly eminent (take the example of the former Taliban-Afghanistan or North Korea). When the world is reactive it only learns lessons.

Man is not perfect, but when he becomes mad for power he can hurt not only himself but also everybody else around him possibly badly. A government or a group is run by people, and thus is prone to imperfection, which is not a problem. But, if the imperfection is a gross error, the result is always unimaginable. When a country is run by a network of power-hungry or power-mad men or women, the result is disastrous.

If you could influence policy- or decision-makers of your country or of the world, in any way, please ask yourself what you could do to make sure that the world is a good, if not a better, place for everybody regardless of where each and everyone is geographically born or living.

This is something I will continue to think about.

5. India
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
image

I bought this book at Crossword bookstore in Kochi, Kerala for 599 Indian Rupees ($7.20 USD). I was searching for the book Kaalam by M.T. Vasudevan Nair but couldn’t find it. A Fine Balance was recommended to me by my friend Soumo who I met in Dharamshala where we attended the India versus England Test cricket match together. This book doesn’t strictly follow my rule of being written in India, as it was written in English in Canada I believe, but the author is originally from Bombay (Mumbai), Maharashtra, emigrating to Canada at the age of 23. The book is about India, and portrays Indian life, so I was happy to choose it as my book for India. It is the longest book I have chosen so far, and I am yet to finish it! I will have to pick up where I left off (on Page 95 at the beginning of Chapter 3: In a Village by a River) when I get the chance. I have enjoyed what I have read so far.

6. Nepal
Under the Sleepless Mountain by Parijat
image

I bought this book at Pilgrims Book House in the Thamel area of Kathmandu for 290 Nepalese Rupees ($2.17 USD). I finished this book on 23 May 2024 while on my flight from Doha, Qatar to Cape Town, South Africa. This historical novel was about the political uprising primarily organized by the student community of Nepal around 1979 against the Panchayat system of governance, pushing for multiparty democracy and a better life for the people of Nepal. The story includes characters from different areas of Nepalese society, from small villages to the capital city of Kathmandu. I enjoyed reading this book, particularly the inner monologues of each character describing their thoughts and emotions during these transitional and turbulent times, and the relationships between the different characters. The young students were profoundly dedicated to their cause, they drew strength from each other, but they also had to have incredible individual strength and resolve, giving all of their energy and themselves to the movement, risking their lives on a daily basis. They inspired the whole population of Nepal and it shows what it takes for change to be brought about. My understanding is that this period represents one of several pushes for democracy in the history of Nepal, including events in more recent times.

7. South Africa
The Promise by Damon Galgut

image

I bought this book at Wordsworth Books in the Sea Point area of Cape Town for 330 South African Rand ($17.87 USD). I was looking for African Delights by Siphiwo Mahala but couldn’t find it. A woman in the store was very helpful and selected several alternative options that she thought would be good selections for me. I was excited to read this book, especially because Damon Galgut lives and works in Cape Town. I finished reading this book on 13 June 2024 during my last day in Arusha, Tanzania after returning from the safari.

The Promise is divided into four parts, each telling the story of the death and funeral of a member of the Swart family, a white South African family who own a farm located outside Pretoria. The book spans several decades, covering the deaths of Ma in 1986, Pa in 1995, Astrid in 2004, and Anton in 2018. The incorporation of this timeline into the story was interesting as it provided a view into the changing sociopolitical landscape of South Africa across these different years. The Promise itself refers to a last wish that Ma (Rachel Swart) says to Pa (Manie Swart) before she passes away, requesting to transfer ownership of the house where their housemaid Salome, a Black woman, lives with her family, to her. Pa makes the promise that he will, and Amor, the youngest daughter, hears this. Despite this promise, the ownership is never transferred until the end of the story when Amor finally does so, after trying to get her other family members to do so throughout the story.

I enjoyed reading this book. The writing style was unique, not following grammatical conventions in many cases, but more like flow of consciousness writing, with different sections told through the eyes of different members of the family. I didn't feel that this book was overly depressing, but it did not have a lightness to it. It felt that the family members always had a shadow around them, life was never light and happy. Maybe this shadow is partly the lasting effects of Apartheid on South African society.

I often read a sentence or short passage that I wish to remember or that resonates with me, but didn't have a quick or easy way to save these. While reading this book I started taking photos of particular pages, pointing with my finger to the specific sentence or passage so I can keep a record of it. Here is a short passage that resonated with while reading this book:

She can hear him walking away up the passage. His footsteps sound hesitant, but he doesn't turn back. Nor will the moment return, which is true of all moments, though not equally.

This makes me think of moments in time where I may hold back from saying or doing something, and an opportunity could be missed. So much can be contained in a single moment.

I’ve also been pondering when is the best time to write my final thoughts about a book. I generally don’t like to write fresh after finishing reading, because I like to take time to process and digest things. But then on the flip side if I wait too long I forget details! I am writing my summary for this book on 1 August 2024 as I sit here at Tia's Hostel in ShkodĆ«r, Albania, which marks 50 days since I finished reading. I must admit, I had to look up some of the story details online to refresh my memory!

8. Tanzania
Desertion by Abdulrazak Gurnah

image

I bought this book at Book Point in Arusha for 25,000 Tanzanian Shillings ($9.56 USD). This was the book on Ann Morgan's list. Gurnah was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature. I had heard a lot of good things about his books and I looked forward to reading this one. I did some reading of Desertion while I was in Zanzibar which was nice because Gurnah is from Zanzibar.

Even though it took me a while to finish, across four different countries (Tanzania, Egypt, Greece, and Albania, finally finishing reading in ShkodĆ«r, Albania on 27 July 2024), I really enjoyed this book. Gurnah’s writing is very descriptive and I learned many new vocabulary words such as tetchy which means irritable and bad-tempered, I hope I’m not tetchy too often! I liked how the lives of the characters of the story from different generations intertwined with one another. I think it is tragic how entrenched cultural and religious values and beliefs block and sometimes destroy love. In this story, Amin falls in love with Jamila, but Jamila is a divorced woman with a scandalous family history (ā€œscandalousā€ in the sense that her grandmother had a child with a British man), and this is seen to put dishonor on her. Amin knows his family would not approve of her so they meet each other in secret, and they fall deeply in love. Eventually their relationship is discovered and Amin’s parents demand that he never see her again. So Amin basically has to choose between Jamila or his family and in the end he chooses his family, but the way the story finishes it was at the stake of his own happiness. His life never seems to recapture the same joy he had when he was with Jamila, I think it’s very sad that it turned out that way. This is only part of the larger story, but something a wanted to write about. The story between Amin and Jamila takes place in the 1950s and 60s, but similar situations occur today. I met some friends in India who had similar circumstances, mostly religion-based. The girl they loved was a different religion and so their parents would never approve of their relationship or marriage.

9. Egypt
I got behind on my reading and didn’t read a book for Egypt! I was looking at some books by Naguib Mahfouz in a shop in Dahab but didn’t get one because I was still reading my book from Tanzania. I’ll have to read my Egypt book sometime later.

10. Greece
Same story for Greece, still not finished with my Tanzania book so am skipping Greece for now. I may read Iliad by Homer someday, or writings of Greek philosophy, which I am interested in. I almost bought Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis in a shop in Milos but decided not to since I wasn’t done with my Tanzania book yet.

11. Albania
Broken April by Ismail Kadare

image

I bought this book at Kancelari Infiniti Office in Berat for 1,400 Albanian Lek ($15.13 USD). I wasn’t expecting to find any books in English in Berat, let alone Albanian books translated to English (I thought I would have to wait until I got to Tirana), but as I was walking back to my hostel I saw a sign on this shop window that said English Books. So I went inside and asked. The friendly shopkeeper showed me the English section and this book was the last Albanian book he had left! Ismail Kadare is the leading literary figure of Albania, and the shopkeeper informed me that he passed away just a few weeks ago. I was also near Kadare’s former house while in GjirokastĆ«r. It’s an interesting background of events that has resulted in this book being in my hands and I’m looking forward to reading it and being introduced to Kadare’s writing.

I finished this book on 5 August 2024 while on the train from Bucharest to Brașov, Romania.

Broken April is about the Kanun, a customary code of law adhered to in the mountain region of northern Albania. The story opens with Gjorg Berisha shooting and killing a member of the Kryeqyqe family, as he was required to do under the blood-feud laws of the Kanun to avenge the murder of his brother. The Berisha and Kryeqyqe family have been locked in a blood-feud ever since a member of the Kryeqyqe family killed a guest of the Berisha household. The guest was not a friend or family member of the Berisha’s, it was a stranger, but a guest is sacred under the laws of the Kanun and if a guest is killed under the host family’s watch, their blood must be avenged. So this initial killing set off a chain of killings under the blood-feud between the Berisha and Kryeqyqe families, a family member for a family member down through the generations. After killing Zef Kryeqyqe, Gjorg Berisha is granted the 30-day bessa by the Kryeqyqe family, meaning he is protected for 30 days before the Kryeqyqe family is able to hunt him to avenge the murder of Zef Kryeqyqe. This is where the title Broken April derives from, captured in this passage:

Thirty days, he said to himself. The shot fired from that ridge above the highway had cut his life in two: the twenty-six years he had lived thus far, and the thirty days that began on that day, the seventeenth of March, and would end on the seventeenth of April. Then the life of a bat, but he was not counting that any longer.

Thus Gjorg’s April is broken. The life of a bat refers to the option that Gjorg has to shut himself away in a tower of refuge which is a tower without windows where a man who has killed can seek permanent protection, but at the cost of living in darkness with little company (only others who are also seeking refuge), with food and drink set inside the tower entrance door.

In addition to the blood-feud, the Kanun guides all aspects of daily living. It was very interesting to learn about this, which was a real thing in northern Albania in times past (the story takes place in the early 1900s). I visited the region where the story takes place while I was hiking around Theth, Vusanje (Montenegro), and ValbonĆ« in the Albanian Alps, also referred to as the ā€œAccursed Mountainsā€. The background in my book photo above shows ValbonĆ« valley as I was hiking down from Rosi Pass. I even heard talk of some former elders who lived in the area of Theth where I spent a night, whose job it was to interpret the laws of the Kanun and make judgements based on them.

I found this story very interesting to read, about something I had never heard about previously. This tied in with my learnings of other parts of Albanian history, mostly from local people I talked to, which is very interesting in many aspects. I could feel Gjorg's internal torment and sadness in completing an act he never would have otherwise done had it not been for the blood-feud requirements of the Kanun. And the way Kadare describes how Gjorg's life perspective changes once he commits the murder, at the same instant setting an end date for his own life, was engrossing and I felt like Gjorg was thereafter drifting along in a dreamlike state. Although it was a grave and somber subject matter, I very much enjoyed Kadare’s writing. I’m still trying to work out the exact meaning of the ending.

And as a fun addition to this book entry (writing this on 12 August 2024), I just met Iuliana on the train from Sighișoara to Cluj-Napoca in Romania, Iuliana lives and works in Timișoara but was attending a horror and fantasy film festival in Biertan village. She also completed her PhD, which was interdisciplinary in nature just like mine, in her case integrating financial market analysis with concepts from physics (mine combined geotechnical engineering and geophysics). Even though I finished this book about a week ago I have held on to it because I like to find a nice place to leave my books once I finish them, like at a hostel that has a nice book sharing section, but I hadn't found a good opportunity yet for leaving this book. I told Iuliana about my project of reading a book from each country I visit and showed her my Romania book (The Passport by Herta Müller) and Broken April. I had the thought to offer Broken April to her in case she was interested in reading it, and it turns out she was! And so it was the perfect opportunity to pass along the book and I'm glad I held onto it! In exchange, Iuliana gave me a nice postcard from Biertan showing the impressive Biertan fortified church that was constructed between 1486 and 1524 by the (German) Transylvanian Saxons. I think it's a fitting book for Iuliana having just come from the horror and fantasy film festival, a creepy part of the book was the Kanun requirement for families mourning the death of their family member that was killed as part of the blood-feud to scratch their faces with their fingernails until they bleed, and let their hair hang in front of their face. Then they're not allowed to clean their faces until the burial service is completed. Isn't that scary?! I hope you enjoy the book Iuliana!

12. Montenegro
This was an unexpected country visit. I had the chance to hike there so I went for it! But I was only in Montenegro for a total of about 17 hours, I didn’t have a chance to research any potential books, and it is very unlikely I would have been able to find one in the mountain village of Vusanje where I spent the night! But I plan to find a book for Montenegro and read it sometime in the future.

13. Romania
The Passport by Herta Müller

image

I bought this book at Cărturești Carusel in the Old Town area of Bucharest for 67 Romanian Leu ($14.76 USD). Like Abdulrazak Gurnah, Müller is another winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

I finished this book on 14 August 2024 while on the bus from Budapest, Hungary to Warsaw, Poland.

I have been using Goodreads for a while to keep track of my reading, but I have just switched to StoryGraph. It seems pretty good so far, it's a bit more streamlined where Goodreads can feel a bit clunky.

image A book vending machine. I saw this at the train station in Sibiu and thought it was a great idea.

14. Hungary
I only stayed one night in Budapest on my way from Romania to Poland. I will have to read a book in the future.

15. Poland
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk

image I took this photo in the Professors' Garden of Jagiellonian University, the oldest university in Poland and one of the oldest universities in continuous operation in the world.

I am super excited to read this book, especially because it is a novel about world travel. It was recommended to me by my friend Adam’s girlfriend Aneta in Warsaw. This is also the book on Ann Morgan’s List. Olga Tokarczuk is another winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 2019), this seems to be a theme in my reading lately! After checking four bookstores in Kraków I finally found this one in English at Bookland (Księgarnia) in the Old Town area. I had to run to the bookstore to get there just before they closed! I bought this book for 55 Polish złoty ($14.22 USD).

…They weren’t real travellers: they left in order to return. And they were relieved when they got back, with a sense of having fulfilled an obligation. They returned to collect the letters and bills that stacked up on the chest of drawers. To do a big wash. To bore their friends to death by showing pictures as everyone attempted to conceal their yawns. This is us in Carcassonne. Here’s my wife with the Acropolis in the background.

Then they would lead a settled life for the next year, going back every morning to the same thing they had left in the evening, their clothes permeated by the scent of their own flat, their feet tirelessly wearing down a path in the carpet.

That life is not for me. Clearly I did not inherit whatever gene it is that makes it so that when you linger in a place you start to put down roots. I’ve tried, a number of times, but my roots have always been shallow; the littlest breeze could always blow me right over. I don’t know how to germinate. I’m simply not in possession of that vegetable capacity. I can’t extract nutrition from the ground, I am the anti-Antaeus. My energy derives from movement – from the shuddering of buses, the rumble of planes, trains’ and ferries’ rocking.

After carrying this book with me through 12 countries, I finally finished it while in El Bolsón, Argentina on 10 November 2024! And by looking at the book you can tell it has been on a journey, with the front cover no longer attached and other wear and tear.

I really enjoyed this book. A lot of Tokarczuk’s writings and observations resonated with me. I liked the format of the book which was a flow of separate but related stories of varying length. Some of the longer stories (sections) were tens of pages in length while others were as short as a few sentences. I liked this style and felt like it kept things fresh and interesting.

16. Czech Republic
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

I didn’t buy this one due to feeling my budget tightening as I make my way into Western Europe, I found a PDF online. I did look at this story in two Franz Kafka story collection books at Luxor Bookstore at the main train station in Prague. Interestingly the two books had different translators and the English text was actually quite different between the two. I never considered that literary translation is a matter of interpretation more so than direct translation.

Photo 1 Photo 2

Two translations of the first page of The Metamorphosis, the translation on the left is by Willa and Edwin Muir (the version of the story I read) and on the right is by Michael Hofmann. I found it interesting to see the differences between the two.

image The house (No. 22) where Franz Kafka lived and wrote during World War I. I was walking around Prague Castle and just happened to come across Kafka's house in what's called the Golden Lane, the same day I started reading The Metamorphosis.

17. Germany
My relative Bob gave me a nice book What I Saw: Reports from Berlin 1920-1933 by Joseph Roth. I haven't had a chance to read it yet but I have it with me and plan to read it when I get the chance!

18. Denmark
The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen

image The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, created by Edvard Eriksen.

Since I was only in Denmark for a few short days I wanted to find something short to read. I visited the iconic mermaid statue of Copenhagen with my friend Santosh so decided I might as well read the original The Little Mermaid story! I didn’t know that it was originally written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. I found a publicly available PDF of the story, with translation by M.R. James which is included in the book Hans Andersen Forty-Two Stories published in 1930.

19. Sweden
I took a day trip to Malmƶ, Sweden from Copenhagen with my friend Santosh. We were there for about 8 hours, not enough time to read a book!

20. Netherlands
Another sprint through the Netherlands, not enough time to find and read a book. I plan to read one in the future.

21. Belgium
Another sprint through Belgium, not enough time to find and read a book. I plan to read one in the future.

22. France
I have wanted to read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-ExupƩry for a long time. I plan to read this one as soon as a get a chance, probably after my trip.

Update: I started reading The Little Prince on 7 December 2024. I checked it out from my local Bernardsville Public Library. I was excited because I signed up for my library card, it’s fun having a library card again! I also checked out The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and Dances with Wolves on DVD which premiered on my birthday back in 1990!

23. Switzerland
I’ve been lacking reading time, I’m getting very behind on my reading now.

24. Italy
Still reading my book for Poland! Tim from Melbourne who I met at Bigallo Hostel in Florence suggested I could read The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, I like that recommendation!

25. Brazil
I didn’t pick a book yet, I will have to read a book for Brazil after my trip. I like The Alchemist by Brazilian author Paolo Coelho.

26. Argentina
Not a River by Selva Almada

image Reading at the Perito Moreno Glacier. Reading was a perfect glacier-watching activity. I found a nice quiet spot and anytime I heard some ice cracking or popping I could look up to see what was happening. I saw a few big chunks of ice break off (calve) and fall into the water, the sound was very powerful.

I visited the very cool El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore in Buenos Aires but the English section was somewhat limited so I didn’t get a book. The next day I went to Walrus Books, a secondhand bookstore selling books in English. I saw this book and decided to get it!

image El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore in Buenos Aires. The building was originally a cinema-theater built between 1917 and 1919. It was converted to a bookstore in 2000.

I finished this book on 21 November 2024 while on the bus from El Calafate, Argentina to Puerto Natales, Chile.

I also read Crypto Confidential by Nathaniel Eliason while in Argentina. I think this is the first book I’ve ever read entirely on my phone through the Kindle app. I started reading this book on 11 November 2024 while in El Bolsón and finished it on 19 November 2024 while in El Calafate. I have become interested in learning more about the world of cryptocurrency. It is interesting in that it represents a totally different monetary system than the ones we have historically used in the world. The computer programming aspect is also of particular interest to me.

27. Chile
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

image Reading in the nice lounge area of Hostel El Patagonico in Puerto Natales.

I traded my Poland book Flights for this one which I found on the bookshelf at La Casona de Odile Hostel in El Bolsón. It smells really good! It has that old book smell – bibliosmia – with pages that are yellowing around the edges.

I have previously read A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende which was gifted to me by my sister's friends Maria and Fernando from Ecuador, since Allende was one of their favorite authors. I enjoyed A Long Petal of the Sea especially the characters and the evolution of their relationships throughout the story, so I am looking forward to reading this one!

I started reading this book on 25 November 2024 while sitting in the sunny lounge area of Hostel El Patagonico.

More from Alex's Adventures šŸŒ
All posts