Tag: South America

  • City by the book: Lima & Llosa

    City by the book: Lima & Llosa

    Also from Peru – Mashed Potatoes Saved My Life: An Alternative Route to Mach Picchu 

    I have to admit, Lima was not our favourite stop on the trip. Perhaps because we had just descended from the excitement of a four day Salkantay trek to Machu Picchu as well as the general hubbub of Cusco, or because we hadn’t the time or energy to venture out of Miraflores. That being said, after a week of non-stop altitude sickness, I greatly appreciated Lima’s sea level location.

    IMG_8688
    My sister, not exactly ‘loving’ Lima!

    The truth is, Lima appeared to us to be a bit nothing and it seems to be that way in Mario Vargas Llosa’s The Storyteller too. This novel picked for Lima because wikipedia classed it as ‘set in Lima’ instead offered much more insight into the more tropical areas of Peru that I had the opportunity to experience during the Salkantay trek.

    There were of course references to Lima, that were very relatable as Llosa writes of how in Lima “even bright sunlight has a grayish cast” – while it is physically true of Lima’s haze it seems like a good metaphor too…

    Yet since the characters of The Storyteller are fascinated with ethnology – the study of different groups of people and the relationships between them – much of the novel’s insight was very connected with the impression our trek guide Juan Carlos gave us of Peruvian, and particularly Inca culture, but also of the Amazonian world I would come to experience in Brazil, later in the trip.

    My favourite part of the novel is probably more to do with the characters than the setting. I love when Saúl realises his passion for ethnology, I think Llosa has a really poetic way of describing the moment:

    “He had discovered, without the slightest doubt, what it was that interested him in life. Not in a sudden flash, or with the same conviction as later; nonetheless, the extraordinary machinery had already been set in motion and little by little was pushing him one day here, another there, outlining the maze he eventually would enter, never to leave again”.

    I can’t say I’ll be returning to Lima, but the rest of my Peruvian adventure was rich in stories, history and potatoes. I look forward to writing about Cusco, the trek and Machu Picchu!

    Lima dog rating: 4/10 (but Peru as a country gets an 8!)

    Last week: Cartagena & Márquez

  • What’s on my Kindle for a 4 week adventure

    What’s on my Kindle for a 4 week adventure

    I am very excited to be off on a graduation treat trip with one of my sisters. We’re heading to Colombia, Peru and Brazil for a big adventure and I wanted my kindle to be equally adventurous. While it proved more difficult that I expected it to, I’ve tried to get one book to read that is either written by a resident or is set in each city that we are visiting. I only managed to find four cities/books, but I will be sure to blog during or after the trip about my experience of visiting cities ‘by the book’ as well as reviews of the other books I’ll be reading while exploring.

    There will still be posts being published while I’m away, mostly with Periodically blogs so be sure to follow Fictitiously Hilary on WordPress or to keep an eye on my Twitter @Hilarysaysblaah. 

    City By the Book Books:

    While of couple of these books have been mentioned in classes once or twice, I really know nothing about them but I like to think that reading a relevant novel while visiting a city can offer a new aspect to a cultural exchange.  

    Cartagena – Of Love and Other Demons (1994) – Gabriel García Márquez – Chosen because Márquez studied in Cartagena and I’ve read rumours that the city may have inspired the setting of the novel.

    Lima – The Storyteller (1987) – Mario Vargos Llosa – simply chosen for Wikipedia’s inclusion of it in the list ‘novels set in Lima’.

    Manaus – Journey to River Sea (2001) – Eva Ibbotson – while a children’s story, it comes highly recommended and I think it will perfectly accompany a couple of days floating down the Amazon river!

    Rio – Don Casmurro (1899) – Machado de Assis – Not only was it published in Rio but de Assis lived and died there, so surely the novel will offer a different view on the city?

    Non-Fiction

    I have mentioned numerous times (sorry) how much I enjoy an actress’ autobiography. So for South America I’m going to be accompanied by the three autobiographies of the late, great Carrie Fisher:
    Wishful Drinking (2008)
    Shockaholic (2011)
    The Princess Diarist (2016)

    Free Kindle Books

    Now if I manage to make it through all that, I have David Copperfield and Sons and Lovers on back up since they are free in the Kindle store (the rest of this list saw the end of my student loan *weep*). I also have my own novel Project 27 on my kindle, I haven’t read it in almost a year and think it might be time for a reread!

     

  • Christmas haul and Review: Scrappy Little Nobody

    Christmas haul and Review: Scrappy Little Nobody

    A bit late for the festive season I know, but before I head back to university and scatter my books across the UK I thought I’d give a little haul of the books I got for Christmas. I was really lucky to get all the books I asked for and a load I didn’t and I’m already stuck into devouring this collection.

    img_6672

    Virago

    A selection of the books come from my mum’s recent discovery and love for Virago press. She insisted a couple of months ago that I watched the BBC documentary about the publishing house. I watched it and messaged her throughout saying ‘hey I have all these books,’ and ‘that’s in my dissertation, and so is that, and so is that…’ etc. I then looked at my bookshelf and realised that Virago’s little apple logo was scattered across the majority of my books. I don’t know how I’d never made the connection that all these wonderful women writers shared the world’s coolest publishing house. So Father Christmas this year filled my stocking with four lovely Virago books, and my sister added another to the pile:

    Frenchman’s Creek – Daphne du Maurier – I love Rebecca so I’m excited for more du Maurier.
    Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl – Carrie Brownstein – This was on my list after Emma Watson recommended it.
    My Ántonia – Willa Carter – I haven’t the foggiest about it but time will tell!
    The Paying Guests – Sarah Waters – I love Sarah Waters, Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith are excellent so I’m looking forward to this.
    Fifty Shades of Feminism – edited by Susie Orbach, Rachel Holmes, Lisa Appignanesi – I know nothing about this book but it certainly sounds like my cup of tea (thank you Sally!)

    It’s not Virago but my mum wanted me to finally read Germaine Greer‘s The Female Enuch so that found it’s way into my stocking, super stoked to read this at last.

    Broadening my horizons

    My old friend (she’s actually younger than me) Mads and I have a habit of buying each other books and because we have such different taste this means I often get to try something new. Really looking forward to these two:

    The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden – Jonas Jonasson
    The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom

    To physically broaden my horizons my aunt bought me the Lonely Planet South America on a Shoestring guide to help me plan for a post-graduation adventure… EEK!

    Random Requests

    Goodbye, Colombus – Philip Roth – My first read of 2017! I finished this last week and really enjoyed it. As with most books I read, I wanted it so I could understand a reference in Lena Dunham’s GIRLS… and now I do.

    The next three I wanted to read after I found a Guardian article about the best contemporary women’s writers:
    Beloved – Toni Morrison 
    White Teeth – Zadie Smith
    Americanah – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (I have heard nothing but praise for Adichie and this book).

    Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov – My current read. I wanted to read this to see if I just like Tolstoy or if Russian literature is my thing, though after listening to three dissertation presentations about it I think I’m in for a twisted time…

    The Cossacks and Other Stories – Leo Tolstoy – No justification needed, though apparently it was a nightmare to track down… sorry Gran!

    Himself – Jess Kidd – Honestly, I wanted this so I could scope out a literary agent who has now rejected me… I’m sure it’s wonderful nonetheless! Not bitter at all…

    FOOD

    I thought this had been my first Christmas where I hadn’t received a cookbook… until I got a package from the US from Melanie (also known as queen of the world and best gift giver ever). In the run up to the Gilmore Girls revival I came across Kristi Carlson‘s Eat Like a Gilmore recipe book in the weird world that is Gilmore Instagram. I even tried to get my hands on a copy but at that point it wasn’t shipping to the UK. I’m so excited to gain several stone from this book. It’s fabulous because it’s sorted into each cooking character’s kitchen so now I can really pretend I’m having a Luke’s breakfast. I promise I do have a firm grip on reality… sometimes.

    Scrappy Little Nobody – Anna Kendrick

    Big thank you to Sally for getting me this. I read Scrappy Little Nobody in three days and it was a perfect book for some light revision relief. Last month I though the reason I loved Lauren Graham’s autobiography so much was because I worship her. And while I do, of course, worship Anna Kendrick, I wasn’t sure what to expect from her as a writer. Now however, I think I just have a thing for actresses’ autobiographies. Kendrick, like Graham, writes how she speaks which makings reading it fun, but also is just a total hoot and bizarre human.

    Not only do I seem to be really enthralled by the will-she-won’t-she have a big break chapters (spoiler: she does) and her experience as a child actress, but Kendrick has some really interesting ideas and musings about fame, work ethics, relationships and the monumental task of being a woman. Her chapter on award shows had me laughing out loud (very different from LOL-ing).

    While at times it does mimic how she speaks a little too much so that  it becomes a bit of a confusing (but still funny) stream of consciousness, I think that’s an important thing to have in an autobiography. It gets a scrappy little 4 out 5 from me.

    Following Carrie Fisher’s death and Graham’s praise of her books in Talking as Fast as I can I think those will the actress autobiographies I hit up next.

    Some favourite snippets:

    On being nice but saying no to a drink or a date: “if you don’t, someone might strip you of an adjective you’ve been convinced has value, and label you as something else”.

    On commitment: “I can’t imagine what would drive a person to get out of bed in the morning if you knew you’d never have that drunk new-crush feeling again or ever dance on a table, or get so drunk you try to fight a stranger”. (Spoiler: she feels differently in a few pages time). 

    On something I’m certain she took from my own brain: “I wish people could tell the difference between the ‘leave me alone’ vibe I give off all the time by accident and my actual ‘leave me alone’ vibe”.

    I’d also like to blame Anna Kendrick for my use of ‘super stoked’ earlier, that was all her influence.