I was very impressed. Le Clézio tells the story of Esther, a Jewish girl displaced from France over the Alps to Italy and eventually to Israel in the mid-1940s; her story briefly touches on that of Nejda, a Palestinian girl who becomes a refugee as a result of the 1948 conflict. The book is beautifully expressive of both the geographical landscapes of the Alps and Palestine, and of the psychological landscape of displacement, homelessness, and building new ties. I did wish we had learned more about what happens to Nejda in the end, and was a bit disappointed that the last few chapters were about Esther's life decades later. But the pluses outweigh the minuses. I am still hoping for an English translation of Le Clézio's Désert, which is about the Western Sahara.
March Books 16) Wandering Star, by J.M.G. Le Clézio
I was very impressed. Le Clézio tells the story of Esther, a Jewish girl displaced from France over the Alps to Italy and eventually to Israel in the mid-1940s; her story briefly touches on that of Nejda, a Palestinian girl who becomes a refugee as a result of the 1948 conflict. The book is beautifully expressive of both the geographical landscapes of the Alps and Palestine, and of the psychological landscape of displacement, homelessness, and building new ties. I did wish we had learned more about what happens to Nejda in the end, and was a bit disappointed that the last few chapters were about Esther's life decades later. But the pluses outweigh the minuses. I am still hoping for an English translation of Le Clézio's Désert, which is about the Western Sahara.
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Walls in Belfast
We went to the Ulster Museum yesterday, where there is a very good and full exhibition about the Troubles. One of the exhibits is a map from the…
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Which lines of longitude and latitude pass through the most countries?
This is an update from last week's post, where I considered a slightly different version of the first part of this question. I have illustrated…
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Everfair map confusion - what do you think?
I’m just starting Nisi Shawl’s Everfair, which made the Nebula finalists this year (but missed the Hugos, finishing 8th on the Best Novel ballot).…
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