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I've just finished a book I think a lot of people here might enjoy (indeed, might have read already). In 1950s Togo, a young boy has a nearly deadly encounter with a snake, recovering he reads a book about Greenland and becomes obsessed with travelling there. In 1958, aged 16, he ran away from home and spent the next eight years working his way through Africa and Europe before eventually reaching Greenland in 1964. In Michel the Giant: An African in Greenland Tété-Michel Kpomassie tells the remarkable (true) story of that journey and, in particular, the eighteen months he spent living among the inidigenous Greenlanders, by whom he seems to have been welcomed without question. It is a rich, vivid, and humane portrayal both of the author as a young man and of a culture even then coming under immense pressure (Denmark does not come out of this particularly well). A highly unusual and very worthwhile piece of travel writing. First published in English in 1981, Penguin reissued it last year.
 
Sounds very interesting, thanks Andy! A quick google seems to indicate that it is a travelogue of legendary status in Africa and France, with many editions and re-editions.

Downloaded.
 
jwi said:
A quick google seems to indicate that it is a travelogue of legendary status in Africa and France, with many editions and re-editions.

The edition I read has a very interesting, long afterword that recounts what happened when he returned home, how he came to write the book, and the opportunities it led to across his life (he's still alive). Yes, renowned I think across Africa and France.
 
Same, looks great

As for a recommendation, it is a known classic but Donna Tartt's The Secret History is bloody brilliant. 100% worth a read. Made me get off my arse and organise starting French Lessons next year as well
 
Wellsy said:
Same, looks great

As for a recommendation, it is a known classic but Donna Tartt's The Secret History is bloody brilliant. 100% worth a read. Made me get off my arse and organise starting French Lessons next year as well
Agree with that. Apart from the French lessons...
The Goldfinch and My Little Friend by the same author are also excellent I thought.
 
sherlock said:
Wellsy said:
Same, looks great

As for a recommendation, it is a known classic but Donna Tartt's The Secret History is bloody brilliant. 100% worth a read. Made me get off my arse and organise starting French Lessons next year as well
Agree with that. Apart from the French lessons...
The Goldfinch and My Little Friend by the same author are also excellent I thought.

I read it when I was in uni. It stopped me from taking classes in Classical Greek (thank god) so that is always that.
 
sherlock said:
.
The Goldfinch

Interesting, I read about 75% of the goldfinch before I couldn't read anymore. I like the author's writing style and it was an intriguing story, so I kept reading on. But I couldn't understand or get on board with the protagonists motivations/decisions especially later in the story and it started to wind me up. It all started to feel completely implausible. 'Jumping the shark' if you will. But I know other people really like it. :devangel:
 
SA Chris said:
Loved The Secret History, sadly got about halfway through Goldfinch and gave up. Not enough going on..

About 75 pages for me before stopping. Incredibly tedious.
 
I'm pretty impressed by how far you managed to get to in the Goldfinch-nonsense. I got like three pages in before putting it down.

(My method is usually to read the first two-three pages, and if it is great I check page 47 to see if that is good as well, then I soldier on. I learned this simple trick from a guy that chaired the committee that decides the Nobel Prize in Literature. He grew up in a neighbouring village)
 
I love all three of Tartt's novels but my ranking goes:

1. The Little Friend
2. The Secret History
3. The Goldfinch

I sense I'm an almost lone voice in ranking The Little Friend above either of the other two.
 
jwi said:
I'm pretty impressed by how far you managed to get to in the Goldfinch-nonsense. I got like three pages in before putting it down.

(My method is usually to read the first two-three pages, and if it is great I check page 47 to see if that is good as well, then I soldier on. I learned this simple trick from a guy that chaired the committee that decides the Nobel Prize in Literature. He grew up in a neighbouring village)
That's my Nobel Prize sorted then..... killer 3 pages then shite for 46 then a great page 47 then garbage again for the rest. Or am I missing something?
 
jwi said:
(My method is usually to read the first two-three pages, and if it is great I check page 47 to see if that is good as well, then I soldier on. I learned this simple trick from a guy that chaired the committee that decides the Nobel Prize in Literature. He grew up in a neighbouring village)

Similar to a method for monographs that was recommended on an academic blog I was reading recently. Read introduction, first & last page of each chapter. Skim notes & bibliography
 
jwi said:
I'm pretty impressed by how far you managed to get to in the Goldfinch-nonsense. I got like three pages in before putting it down.

(My method is usually to read the first two-three pages, and if it is great I check page 47 to see if that is good as well, then I soldier on. I learned this simple trick from a guy that chaired the committee that decides the Nobel Prize in Literature. He grew up in a neighbouring village)

Or take "Harry"s approach in When Harry Met Sally"
When I get a new book, I read the last page first. That way, if I die before I finish I know how it comes out. That, my friend, is a dark side
 
sherlock said:
That's my Nobel Prize sorted then..... killer 3 pages then shite for 46 then a great page 47 then garbage again for the rest. Or am I missing something?

Yeah. If those pages are good, the rest of the book will be read and judged as well.
 
andy popp said:
I've just finished a book I think a lot of people here might enjoy (indeed, might have read already). In 1950s Togo, a young boy has a nearly deadly encounter with a snake, recovering he reads a book about Greenland and becomes obsessed with travelling there. In 1958, aged 16, he ran away from home and spent the next eight years working his way through Africa and Europe before eventually reaching Greenland in 1964. In Michel the Giant: An African in Greenland Tété-Michel Kpomassie tells the remarkable (true) story of that journey and, in particular, the eighteen months he spent living among the inidigenous Greenlanders, by whom he seems to have been welcomed without question. It is a rich, vivid, and humane portrayal both of the author as a young man and of a culture even then coming under immense pressure (Denmark does not come out of this particularly well). A highly unusual and very worthwhile piece of travel writing. First published in English in 1981, Penguin reissued it last year.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0bmmvjx
Just thought I'd put this in here as it seems a fit for Andy's recommendation.I haven't listened yet but friends who hadn't read the book have told me it's excellent.
 

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