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04.May.2009 Sunday Salon: Lazy Week

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It’s been a pretty slow week for me. I’m just somehow not in the best mood to read or to blog. *sigh*

I’m currently reading Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie. I find the beginning pretty slow going. Also, I’m awfully aware that Shamsie is a Pakistani and she chose to write about a Japanese girl when she’s never been to Japan, and this fact somehow bothers me a bit. I know a lot of people write about places that they’ve never been to, like the famous Herge (of Tintin), but only now I am wondering how much of knowing this fact would distract me from fully enjoying the book. I’m probably just a bit defensive because I read a lot of books by Japanese authors, and a tiny voice at the back of my mind questions why I want to read a book about Japanese or Japan by an author who’s never set foot on the land, if I could read works by people who are more connected, by origin or birth.

How about you? Do you mind to read a book with setting or protagonist that are of a different country with the origin of the author? I don’t mind it if the author has spent a considerable amount of time living there, but what if she/he hasn’t even been in that country and has no connection whatsoever in the family tree? Would you question how much the author actually knows about the place and the culture? Does it bother you at all that he/she writes about something completely foreign to him/her?

I didn’t know it could bother me until now, though I’m still not sure to what extend. I’m definitely continuing to read and see what I’d feel about it at the end.

On another note, I received a couple of awards from these lovely people below.

Jess from find the time to read has given me the Let’s Be Friends award. Aaw thank you for the attention. That’s sweet ;)

lets_be_friends

Cheryl from The Unadorned Book Review has passed me the Proximidade Award. “This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement!” Mmm.. aggrandizement.. now where did I hear that before? :)

proximade_award

Thanks you two! <3

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There are 7 Comments to "Sunday Salon: Lazy Week"

  • debnance says:
    4 May 2009 at 1:42 am

    A novel seems so much richer when the author has first hand experiences and uses these to write her story. I get upset when I read books by an author who is outside a culture and attempts to write about that culture….often the culture comes across as exactly like the author’s culture, with a few key elements pasted on. It comes across as false to me.

    Reply
  • Jackie (Farm Lane Books) says:
    4 May 2009 at 3:51 am

    I finished reading Burnt Shadows last week and I actually thought that the Japanese girl was one of the best characters in the book. I was unaware that the author hadn’t been to Japan, but I didn’t think this was the major problem with the book. It was trying to set the book in so many different places/over such a long time frame that I didn’t like so much. There are a lot of good sections in the book though.

    I look forward to reading your opinions on the whole book if you manage to finish it.

    Reply
  • Frances says:
    4 May 2009 at 4:32 am

    Don’t know that it would bother me that the author has never been to the locale about which he/she writes as fiction is sometimes just flights of fancy anyway. As long as the world presented was accurate if intended in that way. As you suggest, I probably would not event notice to start with.

    Today I am reading the new Laurie King book The Language of Bees, and hosting a book giveaway for The Crimes of Paris. Happy reading!

    Reply
  • Nymeth says:
    4 May 2009 at 6:56 am

    You raise a good point. I’m not 100% sure of where I stand on the whole cultural appropriation issue, but it’s something I do find myself thinking about sometimes. Do we have the right to speak for a culture we know little about? Can someone with no direct contact with a culture ever represent it fairly? I don’t know… I think it can be done, but it takes care, humility and a lot of respect. And of course, huge amounts of research.

    Congrats on your awards! You deserve them.

    Reply
  • Suko says:
    4 May 2009 at 8:18 am

    You raise an interesting question. To me, what’s important is authenticity. If a writer has done his or her research, then sometimes it doesn’t matter if that person has not lived in or visited the locale.

    Congrats on your awards, Mee! You will need a special “wall” to display them.

    Reply
  • Julie says:
    4 May 2009 at 9:37 am

    What a great question! If a writer sets a novel in a culture or environment outside his or her experience, okay, but I want to know why. Such a book needs a foreword or afterword explaining the author’s decision. I am reminded of the book Magic Street by Orson Scott Card. It’s set in an inner-city black neighborhood in Los Angeles; the author is a privileged white Mormon from Utah. Card does, in fact, explain his choice and his research at the end, and that made a huge difference to me.

    Reply
  • mee says:
    4 May 2009 at 11:30 am

    debnance: Yes I can see where you’re coming from.

    Jackie: I read one of the interview with Shamsie and it mentioned the fact about how she’s never been to Japan, and that’s how I knew. The interviewer asked about how she managed to do it. She said she’s done a lot of research. I’m sure she has. I’m just wondering why she chose to pick a Japanese, out of all things that she’s probably more familiar about. But hey, the setting changed pretty quickly to India, so perhaps the Japanese-thing wouldn’t be too much of a problem further on. I’ll have to go on and see.

    Frances: I’m not sure how much I usually would notice it apart from this book, but I usually do a bit of quick research first on the author whose book I’m gonna read. So that would give me a bit of background of the author. Especially if they have interesting/unusual names :)

    Nymeth: Thanks! Yes I believe it can be done too, but I’m interested in the reasons to why she did it. I think I’ll know the further I read on.

    Suko: Thanks! I think it’s not a big problem if the foreign locale just takes a small part of the story, but what if it takes a huge part? It also depends on how far away it is from where the author lives I guess (in terms of geography, culture, etc).

    Julie: Yes, that’s spot on! I want to know the reason why they chose to do so. That could be an interesting story in itself.

    Reply

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