Three on a Theme: places I Know Little to Nothing About

Although I am not the least informed about the world we live in, I'm also not the most well informed. There are a lot of places I know little to nothing about, and what better way to address that than through reading?

In case you missed the time I did this for Hemingway, Three on a Theme is a little feature I plan to do here from time to time when I talk about three books around a similar theme (it does exactly what it says on the tin!). This time I was torn over what to call it, as two of the books feature kidnapping but I didn't have a third, and after two (technically three) pretty gruesome kidnap stories I really wasn't up for putting myself through another right away, so then I thought since both books featured places I'm really not at all familiar with, I'd use that as a theme and make my third something I'm excited to read from a place I don't know much about!

Drumroll please. Here we go!

It's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War by Lynsey Addario has been raved about all over the place recently. I heard it mentioned a couple of times on Kim's blog and as the books she loves tend to be great I immediately ordered it in to the library and I am so glad I did. Not easy reading by any means this memoir of Addario's life and career as a photojournalist beginning around the time of 9/11 is incredibly thought-provoking and made me think a lot about why people do what they do. She spends a lot of time in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and even Libya covering extremely dangerous situations and taking pictures of atrocities beyond my imagination, during the course of which she is kidnapped twice, involved in a bad accident and loses several friends and colleagues. How she has the inner strength to do the kind of work she does and take such phenomenal pictures is entirely beyond my understanding but, as she mentions several times throughout the book, she does it so that the public and policy makers get the whole story of what is actually happening. This is such an important and powerful book I honestly think everybody needs to read it, but brace yourself for some difficult stuff.

Purchase It's What I Do

The second book is by an author I've heard raved about everywhere, mostly for her essay collection Bad Feminist but as my library didn't have that and I'm still going strong on my book buying ban I had to start with An Untamed State which I knew was about Haiti, but didn't really know much beyond that. Honestly I almost gave up a few chapters in just because going from It's What I Do to this I thought was going to be too much for me mentally. I'm glad I stuck with it though. It's the story of how a Haitian - American daughter of a rich Haitian businessman is kidnapped. Appparently Haiti is one of the 7 Countries You're Most Likely to Get Kidnapped In, but as with the Dominican Republic before I read Junot Diaz (who is not on this list because his excellence has been extolled already on this blog and I don't want to bore you, but he could be as he is an equally educative author) I knew nothing at all about it until I read An Untamed State. 

Although it's not pleasant reading it's an incredibly well written novel and it's very compelling. I kept telling people I was reading it as quickly as I could because I really didn't like the subject matter but I couldn't put it down. To me, if a book makes me read it despite myself then it's worth recommending.

Purchase An Untamed State

Finally for the one I haven't read yet. There were several contenders for this spot: Americanah, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, The Harmony Silk Factory, The Bone People, all of which are books about places I don't know enough about, but finally I went for The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie. I read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian a year or two ago after everyone had told me to read it for about five years and I really enjoyed it. I still feel that I don't know anywhere near as much as I'd like to about Native American culture though and as I already know I like Alexie's writing, this seemed like a pretty good place to start! Anybody read it?

Purchase Lone Ranger And Tonto Fistfight In Heaven

Given that I don't know as much as I'd like to about anywhere other than the UK, what are your recommendations of amazing books that will teach me more about places I don't know enough about?

Disclaimer: All purchase links are affiliate - if you buy a book through them I will earn a small commission. You can also get 10% off all books until July 14th using SUMMERBOOKS at checkout. You're welcome!

Three on a Theme: Hemingway's Wives

 

Originally I was going to write this post just about The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, which was  our January pick for my online book group which I must say is full of lovely, eclectic readers who always suggest things I'd never heard of but which sound fantastic. Then I decided I wanted to post (as I said I wanted to do a while back and then never did) three books around the same theme, namely Ernest Hemingway and particularly his first marriage. 

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

It makes sense to talk about the one that I've actually read first. Honestly, I had very similar feelings to Hanna on this one, except that I know far less than she does about Hemingway and so hated him a lot less. I liked the feeling of fluidity throughout the book - it helped me come to terms with what happens towards the end, but I was incredibly annoyed with Hadley at various points throughout the book. She was such a pushover! I got quite angry in my notes at one point, there's a whole paragraph in capitals, underlined multiple times. I don't want to put in anything that will spoil this gorgeous, immersive book for anyone but there was a bit towards the end where she just should have stopped putting up with all the crap she was putting up with, grown a spine, given him a slap (at the very least) and walked out, but she didn't. Such disappointment. That said, McLain can't rewrite history, and with the story she had she did an amazing job 

The only downside of it (if it can be called that) is because it's the story of the Hemingway's time in Paris rubbing shoulders with people like Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, Ford Maddox Ford and the Fitzgerald's, it totally reignited my desire to read tons of Jazz Age books, as if my wishlist needs to be any longer!

 Mrs Hemingway by Naomi Wood

It's actually a total coincidence that I have these three books on hand. Mrs Hemingway by Naomi Wood has been on my wishlist for a while and I happened to have a leftover (??!) book token I'd forgotten about to spend, so after The Paris Wife was picked and while I was waiting for it to come in at the library, I was browsing Waterstone's during an unexpectedly childfree half hour and Mrs Hemingway was staring out at me with it's arresting bright blue cover from one of their strategically placed little tables. I carried it around the shop with me for a bit, and then Rhys and the boys came back so I just decided to buy it. I'm glad I did now as it's about all four of his wives and so should compliment The Paris Wife quite nicely. It will be interesting to see another take on his story.  

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway 

How better to finish off my little Hemingway binge than with the memoir of the man himself, featuring his Paris years with Hadley, covered in The Paris Wife? Previously my only Hemingway experience has been A Farewell to Arms which I had to read in Uni and thought it was ok. This is a teeny tiny little volume which was published posthumously from his manuscripts and notes. I picked it up in a charity shop for peanuts ages ago and I've left it out while we're packing to move just in case I feel like picking it up. 

Have you read any of these books? Any other great Hemingway recommendations I should check out?