#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here.
The starter book this month is "Kairos" (German: Kairos) by Jenny Erpenbeck.
The author was the first German to receive the International Booker Prize for this novel.
I hadn't read the book but since I had read another one by the same author, I decided to get it and read it.
Erpenbeck, Jenny "The End of Days" (GE: Aller Tage Abend) - 2012
How long is a child going to live, what kind of life is it going to be? Who is going to be around, who will be there to mourn them when they die. In this book, we get a feeling on how different a life can go and how different the end can be. A very interesting concept of describing how certain decisions can end a life or prolong it.
From here, I go to another book I read recently, where we learn about a whole life:
Şafak, Elif "10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World" - 2019
We follow Leila from the minute of her birth until several minutes after her death and then her friends. We learn about the way she lived, how she ended up in her situation, how her friends found themselves in their situations. We hear about Istanbul and Leila's hometown Van in Eastern Anatolia, right near the border to Iran.The author was the first German to receive the International Booker Prize for this novel.
I hadn't read the book but since I had read another one by the same author, I decided to get it and read it.
Erpenbeck, Jenny "The End of Days" (GE: Aller Tage Abend) - 2012
How long is a child going to live, what kind of life is it going to be? Who is going to be around, who will be there to mourn them when they die. In this book, we get a feeling on how different a life can go and how different the end can be. A very interesting concept of describing how certain decisions can end a life or prolong it.
From here, I go to another book I read recently, where we learn about a whole life:
Şafak, Elif "10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World" - 2019
Elif Şafak is a great author and this is one of my favourites by her:
Şafak, Elif "The Island of Missing Trees" - 2021
This takes place in Cyprus and we learn about the people on this divided island. As an example we have Greek Kostas and Turkish Defne. They fall in love but - as usual in such cases - their love is forbidden.
And this leads me to another book about Cyprus:
Hislop, Victoria "The Sunrise" - 2014
Famagusta, a town in Eastern Cyprus, is not different. People live their ordinary lives. They go to work, they go home. They love their families, they love their lives. Then the invasion.
One of my favourite books by this author is "The Island" but I go with another one of her books that throws light on part of the conflict betwen the Greeks and the Turks.
Hislop, Victoria "The Thread" - 2011
While a young man visits his grandparents in Greece, they tell him the story of their life and at the same time the story of their town and country. Thessaloniki has gone through a lot of turmoil and so have its inhabitants.
The young man now lives in the United Kingdom, so I thought about a Turkish guy who lives abroad, this time in Germany. The book is, like all the others, by one of my favourite authors.
Pamuk, Orhan "Snow" (TR: Kar) - 2002
Ka is a Turkish poet who lives in Germany but visits a town in Turkey called Kars. While he is there, they have a heavy snowfall and nobody can leave or enter the town.Anyway, while he staying in Kars, a revolution is taking place in the little city.
What does the starter book have in common with the last one? They both take place in Germany.
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This month, I loved all the books I presented. If you don't know them, I recommend them heavily.
Oh, very nice chain. You certainly are very widely read. I've only read two books by Hislop, The Thread and another one - I forget which.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Davida. I am interested in almost everything but I like a little bit of truth behind my books, even if they are fiction.
DeleteI love Victoria Hislop, I've read all her books, so far, and hope she'll write more.
Oh, I loved both by Elif Shafak, and your remaining links have been on my Must Read list for quite a while.
ReplyDeleteYay, Margaret, you managed to comment. How wonderful! Hopefully this is the end of our problems.
DeleteAll the books are by some of my favourite authors this month, so I hope you will like them once you get to them.
Stupid me I completely forgot this mem, and had already scheduled another post for today. And I do like Erpenbeck!
ReplyDeleteYou can always do it next week, Emma, I don't think that's a problem. Non of us always sticks to the "rules". They are more like guidelines, right?
DeleteSnow was brilliant...
ReplyDeleteTrue, Lisa. Everything I've read by Orhan Pamuk is fantastic. And I think I've read all his books that were translated either into German or English.
DeleteGreat chain. I have not read Elif Şafak but you have intrigued me with these two in particular. I do like Orhan Pamuk too. Loved Snow, and I'll never forget his nonfiction book, Istanbul.
ReplyDeleteThanks, WG, I'm glad you like it. Elif Şafak is a great author who has written some totally interesting books. Orhan Pamuk, one of my most favourite authors. And yes, Istanbul is brilliant.
DeleteGreat chain! I enjoyed The Sunrise and have The Thread on my TBR, which I'm looking forward to.
ReplyDeleteOoooh, they are two beautiful books, Helen. Enjoy.
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