A Short History of Nearly Everything

This wonderful little book by Bill Bryson really does tell the History of nearly everything. One finishes reading the book with the sense that the book really does what it promises on the cover.

The book doesn’t actually go into countries and politics, of course, it rather tells the History of the world, how it came to be, what’s inside and outside it? How we found that out? Where ideas came from, what particular events caused these ideas or the disclosing of them. I imagine that most “grown-ups” will know the majority of the information contained in this book, the novelty is in the format; “a small book” connecting information you had never given much thought to and giving it a deeper meaning.

The style is simple and although, in a sense, didactic, it doesn’t give the reader the feeling of being lectured to. I loved it and would recommend it even to those who bore easily.




 

                 

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Click here to visit Bill Bryson's official website.

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda was written in 1998 by the New Yorker journalist Philip Gourevitch. It is a work of non-fiction about the genocide which took place in Rwanda in 1994 and killed 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Gourevitch travels to Rwanda in search of the why and how of the genocide. The book is an attempt at understanding how a genocide was possible in this day and age and why nobody did anything to prevent it if everybody knew it was going to happen. It is a brilliant account and in no sensationalist. A must read if you are at all interested in politics, in Africa, and indeed the world.

Just hope that your country (individually) never needs the help of the International community.

                                        

The story of Paul Rusesabagina the hotel manager portrayed in Hotel Rwanda is one of the stories in Philip Gourovitch's book.

A thousand Splendid Suns

A thousand Splendid Suns was written by Khaled Hosseini, an American writer of Afghan origin who became world famous in 2007 with the adaptation of his novel The Kite Runner to a film of the same name.

Whereas The Kite Runner dealt mostly with the world of men and the friendship between them, A Thousand Splendid Suns deals with women before and after the Taliban invasion.

It tells the story of two women from two different backgrounds (within Afghan culture) and how their lives become one. Mariam is the daughter of a rich man, but she’s a harami, an illegitimate child, and when her mother dies her father’s family marries her off to Rasheed, a shoe maker from Kabul. Laila is the daughter of an intellectual and is in love with her neighbour and best friend who leaves Kabul with his family just before both her parents get killed. Mariam’s and Laila’s stories become one when Laila sees that she has no choice but marry Rasheed.

It tells the story of the two women and it tells the story of Afghanistan. I think it’s an attempt at explaining how things reached the point they have in Afghanistan. To show that it was a normal country with a normal society before the Taliban imposed the Sharia.

To read or listen:
(I recommend listening so you have the proper pronunciation of the Afghan words)

                                               

                  

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There is a film due in 2015, read here.

By the same writer The kite runner - book and film

Kite Runner - book

Kite Runner - audiobook

Kite Runner - film

                                     










Watch the trailer:

We need to talk about about Kevin (Lionel Shriver)

This is a book about a young boy who kills eleven people in one day. The story is told through a series of letters written from Kevin’s mother to his father. Through these letters she is able to tell him about her “unspeakable” feelings towards the boy as he was growing up.

This was supposed to be a thought provoking book on the age old debate “nature versus nurture” but in my opinion it fails terribly. The book is pretentious and childish. I would have thought it more the work of an immature school girl who thinks motherhood is out of fashion and that it’s “cool” to say she doesn’t like children.

There is a film coming out shortly, hopefully it will be better than the book!

This book has won the Orange Prize

House of Stone: The True Story of a Family Divided in War-torn Zimbabwe (Christina Lamb)

Although a lot of books written about Zimbabwe may end up repeating the same story, Christina Lamb tells her story differently. In the past books would be about the black man and how much pain the white community had inflicted on them, then the white community started being under attack and the same stories were told but with the black community being the enemy. Today all Zimbabweans, black and white are victims of the power hungry government. Christina Lamb tells the story of Aqui (a black Zimbabwean) and of Nigel (a white Zimbabwean). In House of Stone you are presented with two sides of the same story.

If you don’t know much about Zimbabwe, this is a great place to start.

                                      

Watch a film about it:

The Godfather (Mario Puzo)

This is the book that inspired the much acclaimed Godfather films directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The script for the films was co-written by Coppola and Puzo so it is no wonder the reader gets the feeling he/she is watching the Godfather in writing. It is impossible not to think of the actors while you’re reading.

Puzo invented the most romantic gangsters in literature. For the few of you who have not watched the Puzo/Coppola masterpiece; “The Godfather” is the story of Vito Corleone, born of a poor Sicilian family, Vito is sent to New York to escape certain death. There he grows up and becomes Don Corleone (the godfather) who through an astute exchange of favours becomes one of the most powerful men in the United States. Whereas most gangsters have no scruples, the godfather never forgets a favour and honours his word. To Don Corleone the family always comes first, he doesn’t believe on cheating on women or neglecting your family duties, he is fair, he delivers justice.

A wonderful thrilling book!

The film's official trailer:

                              

The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Alexander McCall Smith)

The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency is the first of a series of very funny books written by the Rhodesian born (now Zimbabwe) Alexander McCall Smith.

The book is set in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana and describes the adventures of Mma Ramotswe, the only lady detective in Botswana. 

The narrator starts by telling us of how Precious Ramotswe grew up without her mother and how her father, who had become very ill through working in the mines in South Africa, looked after her. In a very light hearted way, McCall Smith describes the harsh conditions the miners had to suffer. The lady who looks after Precious after her mother had died is an aunt who had been “returned” to her family by her husband for not being able to bear children. The description of Precious Ramotswe’s early life gives a brief account of what life is like in the rural areas of Botswana and how the traditional extended family relations work.

We also learn about Note Mokoti, the jazz musician whom Precious married against her father’s advice and turned out to be a very big mistake. Note serves to explain why Precious Ramotswe is not married and is without children despite her belief in the traditional order of things. 

The rest of the book (and indeed the following books in this series) describes the cases Mma Ramotswe is asked to investigate, some serious bloodcurdling ones; such as the case of the missing boy who is suspected of having been used for traditional medicine and some funny and cheerful ones; such as Happy’s impostor daddy and the womaniser whose wife thinks innocent. Very sweet, upbeat books that tell us stories of an Africa no one writes about anymore, very far from the typical AIDS and poverty stories that have now come to symbolise the African continent! 

                     



Watch a video about Botswana:


                                                                                                                                                  

              

Watch a trailer:

     

Or explore on amazon:

                                                                      

and visit Alexander McCall Smith at: http://www.alexandermccallsmith.co.uk/