Mercy in the Madness

It’s finally time I got around to listing my next set of favorite international books. I went in order of country population, and you can find my book list from the first five countries here. Below are a few books from the next five countries.

Books from Nigeria

Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I typically try to find books that entirely take place in the country I’m reading about, and this does not, but it includes enough to get a good taste of it. It is a love story of a young couple who leave Nigeria during military occupation, one to America and one to London. Both experience the difficulties of the African immigrant experience in each respective country, and find a new love and appreciation for Nigeria.

Half of a Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This took me very much to the time and place of the Biafran war in the 1970s. Half of a yellow sun was the symbol of Biafra. It was just as much a deep exploration of several varied characters and their convictions. I have enjoyed all of her books, but this one was particularly enlightening about historical events I knew almost nothing about.

Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe

A classic from my school days, I reread this during my Nigeria phase. While a super-flawed protagonist, and a flawed traditional society being eclipsed by a flawed colonial society in a sometimes brutal way doesn’t make for very cheery subject matter, it does tell a story that represents real historical context in a realistic way.

Books from Bangladesh

A Golden Age, by Tahmima Anam

This book takes place in what was then Pakistan during the Bangladesh War of Independence. It follows a mother and her grown children through the choices they must make, filtered through the lens of profound familial love.

The Good Muslim, by Tahmima Anam

Similar to The Golden Age, this book follows a family through challenging political events (would you call them political?), including the rise of fundamentalist Islam in early Bangladesh. It illustrates the strain put on a family when ideals and convictions become wildly divergent.

Revenge, by Taslima Nasrim

This definitely drove home some of the darker aspects of traditional Muslim culture in Bangladesh, particularly in regards to marriage and women as possessions. It focused on the courtship and early marriage of a young couple. It was tied up a bit too neatly, although to be honest I like happy endings, so it was alright with me.

Books from Russia

War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy

Seriously. I read this. The whole thing. Took me the entire summer of 2021.

A Terrible Country, by Keith Gessen

I’m not sure why this was so memorable for me – it’s not a lot of action, and was a bit of a slow read. But, something about it felt really real, like a memoir. It is about a young man who returns to Moscow from America to care for his aging grandmother, and it provides a modern perspective on Russia that I hadn’t really found in other books.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

I really enjoyed this book. Because it covered just the one day, it was really able to include a lot of descriptive detail, nuance, and complexity in a pretty lean number of pages. The characters and the setting of a Russian prison camp were extremely memorable, and written in a way that made you feel as though you were there.

Books from Mexico

Certain Dark Things, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

A fun, quick read about an alternate Mexico City where Vampires are known and feared. A bit of romance, a bit of gore, and a bit of gothic legend. Silvia Moreno-Garcia also wrote a number of other vampire books in addition to this one, if this is something you enjoy.

Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel

I read a number of books touching on the violence and drug cartels that plague Mexico, including a couple of detective novels. But what I really wanted to find was a book about Mexico that made me want to go there, rather than stay the heck away. I wanted one describing the beauty and warmth of the people and place. I love books with lush descriptions of setting, that immerse you in the time and place of the story, and after some time, I found that here. Each chapter is built around a certain Mexican dish that makes you taste the setting, and settle into the delicious story. I also liked the sequel (Tita’s Diary).

Leaving Tabasco, by Carmen Boullosa

This is another one containing magical realism, and the story of several generations of women. A servant with stigmata, a mother having a puzzlingly close relationship with a priest, a grandmother telling a mystical nightly story – this one has all kinds of unexpected twists and turns.

Books from Japan

Hard boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami

I have read quite a few of Murakami’s books. They are all weirdly imaginative, sometimes melancholy, and really enjoyable. For whatever reason, this one sticks with me and I think of it often. Perhaps it is because of the way it suggests one picture of what happens to the mind after the body expires.

The Wind Up Bird Chronical, by Haruki Murakami

One warning: there is a torture scene which I literally could not read. I had to skip it. Aside from that, this is another unusual creation that you will enjoy if you like Murakami. This book has an interesting mix of stories from a World War II veteran, a husband trying to find his wife’s cat (and his wife), a high school girl counting bald men, and other dream-like qualities. Like all his books, it is long and can feel a bit chaotic, if you don’t mind a bit of chaos.

Kitchen, by Banana Yoshimoto

You know a book by an author named Banana may be a bit unusual, and this one certainly is. Still, it examines the very universal experience of grief and found family in an interesting and relatable way.