Tuesday 8 March 2022

Top Ten Tuesday ~ Epistolary Novels

         

"Top Ten Tuesday" is an original feature/weekly meme created on the blog "The Broke and the Bookish". This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists at "The Broke and the Bookish". It is now hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.

Since I am just as fond of them as they are, I jump at the chance to share my lists with them! Have a look at their page, there are lots of other bloggers who share their lists here.

This week, our topic is Books With Your Favorite Trope/Theme

Sometimes it would be nice to have a closer explanation of what the suggestion really means, I have done several about a certain theme:

Top Ten Books From My Favourite Genre. I chose historical fiction here.

Top Ten All Time Favourite Books in X Genre. This was one about my favourite classic books.

According to Wikipedia, "a literary trope is the use of figurative language, via word, phrase or an image, for artistic effect such as using a figure of speech."

So, I thought I should check what kind of books fit into a certain category and before even checking my lists, I thought of epistolary novels. I love writing (and receiving) letters (mostly e-mails today but it's about exchanging news via written word rather than social media, so that counts in my opinion) and reading books that are written as letters or diaries is a lot of fun. So, epistolary novels it is.

When I came to choosing which book to put on this list, I found many that were written by people who suffered from a war or other devastating circumstances and that's what I went with. Maybe Mr. Putin should read at least one of those books, it might change his mind.


Atwood, Margaret "The Handmaid’s Tale" (Re-Read) - 1985
Dugain, Marc "The Officer's Ward" (F: La Chambre des officiers) - 1999
Filipović, Zlata "Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Wartime Sarajevo" (BOS: Zlatin dnevnik: otroštvo v obleganem Sarajevu) - 1993
Frank, Anne "The Diary of a Young Girl" (NL: Het Achterhuis)
- 1942-33
Hanff, Helene "84 Charing Cross Road" + "The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street" - 1970 + 1973
Hesse, Karen "Letters From Rifka" - 1992
Remarque, Erich Maria "All Quiet on the Western Front" (GE: Im Westen nichts Neues) - 1928
Schami, Rafik "A Hand Full of Stars" (GE: Eine Hand voller Sterne) - 1987
Shaffer, Mary Ann & Barrows, Annie "The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society" - 2008
Zweig, Stefanie "Nowhere in Africa" und "Somewhere in Germany" - 1995+1996

📚 Happy Reading! 📚

31 comments:

  1. Oh, wonderful choice of trope, Marianne! I love epistolary novels too but I don't think I read enough of them 😂 84 Charing Cross Road is high on my TBR and I hope to get to it at some point this year. Great list!

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    1. Thanks, Dini. I guess once you have been blogging longer (and get older), you will have enough for this topic, as well. I have 62 on the blog. LOL

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  2. I usually find epistolary books a bit too passive and slow, but when I see Anne Frank and Guernsey... Society on your list, I can totally see the appeal. And I have an old family copy of All Quiet on the Western Front (haven't read it), didn't realize that's epistolary as well. Learnt something new today!
    ~Lex (lexlingua.co)

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    1. I know what you mean, Lex, they can be a little tedious. But not the good ones. Yes, "All Quiet ..." is written as a diary and largely based on the author's experiences in the war. He lived not far from where I come from and live now, so he is sort of a "must" for readers like me. He had lots of trouble with the Nazis (of course) who burned his books and revoked his citizenship. A fascinating character with a book worth reading. Have a look.

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  3. Hi Marianne! This is very clever and a a trope I also enjoy a lot. I have two reviews coming up that both deal with letters.

    Guernsey Potato Peel (bla bla bla!!) is one of my all time favorite books. Will definitely be a classic.

    I see you like words and to pull the dictionary closer. So do I!! I host a biweekly meme on my blog called Wondrous Words Wednesday. Our next post is next week Wednesday. I am going to add a link for you here so you can check it out.

    Thanks so much for stopping by earlier!

    Wondrous Words Wednesday

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    1. Thanks, Elza, I'm glad you also love "epistolaries". And I love the new title you gave to the Guernsey book which I mostly refer to as "the Guernsey book" but I also loved it.

      And thanks for the link. I have seen some of your wondrous words posts and was tempted but I do so many memes already (including this one). I have been talking in my last monthly newsletters (Happy ... month) about words, I might combine the two.

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  4. I love this type of novel! Dear Aaron by Mariana Zapata is one of my favorites.

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    1. I never heard of that one, Deanna, I'll have to have a look. Thanks.

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  5. When done right, this kind of book can be amazing!

    Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!

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    1. Thanks, Aymee, I totally agree, of course.

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  6. This is a great trope! I also enjoy epistolary novels. I have read The Diary of Anne Frank and The Literary Society. Have a great week!

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    1. Isn't it great that most people like the "epistolaries"? Thanks, Cindy.

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  7. I've always loved reading epistolary novels, too. Fun list! :)

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    1. Thanks, Lark. I didn't even try to go by the overall theme we have at the moment, it just happened. Glad you like it.

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  8. Great choice of trope! I like The Guernsey Literary but think my favourite epistolary novel is 'Love, Rosie' by Celia Ahern

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    1. Thanks, Catherine. I have only seen the movie "P.S., I Love You" by Cecilia Ahern, I really loved it but, in general, I prefer to watch chick flicks to reading chick lit. I hadn't even heard of "Love, Rosie" but see they also made that into a film. Will have to check it out.

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  9. Great topic! I enjoy epistolary novels as well. I like that so many modern novels include emails, texts, and social media posts/comments since they're so much a part of how we communicate these days.

    Happy TTT!

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    1. So true, Susan, and in the past it was letters. And diaries, so written communication has always been around. I have always loved writing letters, so maybe that's why I love reading them, as well.

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  10. I find it hard to connect to epistolary novels because of the format, but I'm glad you enjoyed all of these!
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2022/03/08/top-ten-tuesday-358/

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    1. We all have our preferences, Jo, maybe you just didn't read the right epistolary novels for you, yet. But it doesn't matter, we all have different tastes and it's great that we can share our love for some of the ones we prefer.

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  11. Thanks, Stephanie. You are right, if the explanation isn't there, we are more inclined to do our own interpretation. But even if it is a simple subject, it's always fun to see what everyone else comes up with.

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  12. I've read a few of these! I should probably pick up the potato book someday. I don't think I've ever seen a bad review of it.

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    1. Thanks, AJ. I doubt that you'd find one. I mean, there's always someone who doesn't like a certain book but I have yet to meet them.

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  13. What a great list, I love your take on this week's theme. I love The Handmaid's Tale and Anne Frank's Diary!

    Here is my post: https://herseriallife.com/top-12-romances-with-my-favorite-tropes/

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    1. Thanks, Rae, it just came all by itself, I think the present situation just called for it. Thanks for your link, see you on your page.

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  14. Wonderful list. Eleanor and I have talked a lot about Anne Frank, and she chose that book last summer (when she was still 7) as her prize for the Summer Reading Program. One of the newer librarians mentioned it to me when he saw he take that one from the shelf and I had to assure him she would be fine with it.

    I can't wait to take Eleanor to Amsterdam to see the Annex. One of our friends has a VR device and Eleanor got to view it that way but of course nothing beats the real thing. I have never felt more humbled than I did climbing those stairs behind the bookshelf.

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    1. I know what you mean, Sarah, and it's so great that you tell Eleanor about what happened, many want to keep their children away from something like this and then they grow up believing it's all lies.

      Would be wonderful if you could make it to Europe one day. I hope we can meet then. As you know, I have a son in Amsterdam.

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  15. Love that you chose epistolary novels!!! And there are some good choices on your list! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thanks, Marg. I guess you either like that kind of books or you don't, glad you seem to have a similar taste. I always like your posts, as well.

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    1. They were indeed, Emma, a great story for us book lovers. And a true one.

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