Reading Horizons: Episode 6
Reading Horizons, 13 June 2018
Currently reading
The Chilli Bean Paste Clan (我们家) by Yan Ge
This was the May selection by the Asymptote Book Club. I took out a subscription at thebeginning of the year but I’ve yet to read any of them (until now). Apparently in 2014 it was described by Words Without Borders as a “delightfully irreverent” novel and China’s “best untranslated book.” It’s taken a few years but thanks to translator Nicky Harman we now have it in English.
In a small Sichuan town, preparations are underway for a party to mark the 80th birthday of the matriarch ‘Gran’. The celebrations will bring to a head sibling rivalry and unveil secrets from the past. I’m about 80 pages in and enjoying the portrait of ‘Dad’ who is boss of the family’s famous Sichuan chilli bean paste. He’s a heavy smoker and a womaniser who can’t live up to the success of his elder brother and has to contend with the competing demands of three women: wife, mistress and mother.
Recently Finished
The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies
I’ve been intending to read The Welsh Girl for quite some time. As a Welsh girl myself how could I possibly ignore this book? It’s the debut novel by Ho Davies and is set just as the second world war is staggering to a close. Despite their remote location, the people who live in rural Wales find their lives impacted by the war when soldiers arrive to build a new camp for German prisoners of war. Ho Davies uses this as a mechanism to consider issues of identity and belonging. Well worth reading
Reading next
One of the book clubs I belong to has just chosen Missing Fay by Adam Thorpe for our July meeting. This has a similar plot to Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor – the disappearance of a teenage girl though McGregor’s novel has a rural setting where Thorpe goes for an urban location. Reservoir 13 was one of favourite reads from 2017 so it’s going to be interesting to see whether Thorpe can top it.
Reading Horizons is linked to WWWednesday, a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. It involves answering 3 questions:
The three Ws are:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
The Welsh Girl is wonderful isn’t it?
Loved it – way more than I did Resistance by Sheers
Currently reading: Circe by Madeline Miller. Just finished This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart. Next will read Convention by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W Bailey II.
How is the Circe? I bought her earlier novel for my niece who keeps pushing me to read her…
Circe was so good! I posted my review yesterday. Much better than her first novel. http://keepthewisdom.blogspot.com/2018/06/circe.html
The Welsh Girl has on my TBR shelves for years – and I was under the impression that it was alternative fiction in which the Germans had won the war until I realised I was mixing it up with Resistance by Owen Sheers, also on my TBR shelves! I’m glad you think The Welsh Girl is well worth reading – I hope to get round to it soon.
The Welsh Girl is much stronger than Resistance I think. I know a lot of people really liked Resistance but I found it a bit lacking in depth unfortunately
I love the books I see by the Asymptote book club. We can’t subscribe yet from Australia but I hope this changes in future.
They seem to come up with some unusual choices which is great
Hmmm. What with Marina’s rather ambiguous comment on the book, I’m starting to think I *won’t* be hurrying to pick up G any time soon….
Save yourself some effort!
I’m with Laurel-Rain, The Welsh Girl looks like one I’d enjoy too!
Here’s my WWW – https://bookboodle.co.uk/2018/06/13/www-wednesday-june-13th
The Welsh Girl looks very tempting…gorgeous cover, too! Here’s MY WWW POST