The Literary Blog Hop is hosted by the wonderful Judith at Leeswammes blog. Ever since I came across this hop, it has been among my favourites since I always come across some amazing book recommendations.
I love Strange Pilgrims for many reasons. This is short (well, because they are short stories!) which really showcases Marquez's ability to write lusciously and atmospherically without being verbose. I also love that each story is about a different Latin American "pilgrim" -- someone in a hotel, a prostitute, a man flying in a plane -- but in all, they highlight the feelings of alienation of being unrooted from their own culture. I can relate, being an immigrant myself, and my roots also have a very strong Spanish influence that many of the cultural references resonate strongly with me.
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| Photo from here |
A Nobel Prize winning author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez passed away last April 2014 at the age of 87. I thought it fitting to celebrate his gift of storytelling to readers around the world through the Literary Blog Hop.
GIVEAWAY!
I am giving away any of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novels (up to US$15) through the Book Depository. I've listed some choices below but as long as it is penned by Gabo, you can win it!This giveaway is open to anyone who has a shipping address to which the Book Depository ships to. Please check the list here.
In Evil Hour
Memories of My Melancholy Whores
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
News of a Kidnapping
Collected Novellas
Memories of My Melancholy Whores
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings
News of a Kidnapping
Collected Novellas
All you have to do is:
Recommend at least one of your favourite literary fiction reads which you think I should read. Of course, tell me what you loved about it.
Leave your answers in the comments. If you have a review, please link it up! Don't leave your email address in the comments, please use the Promosimple entry form below.
Good luck and happy hopping!
Now hop on to the other blogs and maybe you'll win your next literary read:
I would (and have been) recommending The Girl with All the Gifts by M. R. Carey, which should definitely be literary fiction although apparently it hasn't been classified as such.
ReplyDeleteThanks Aiko! This is the first time I've heard of it! I'll do some googling and check it out. Good luck and happy weekend!
DeleteGreat giveaway! I'd recommend The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox. One of my favourite novels. I've got a review up on my blog :)
ReplyDeleteI know I sound like a broken record but... I'd recommend either The Elephant Vanishes or After the Quake by Haruki Murakami. Both are short stories collections, and since you seem to appreciate magical realism and all. :)
ReplyDeleteI would recommend Martin Booth's The Industry of Souls, one of my favourite books that I reread and reviewed as the first book for 2013 and I still loved it after rereading. I remember when I first read it, typing up passages and sending them to friends, convinced they had to be as astounded as I was by the amazing prose. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what touched me so much, but its about a British man living in exile in a small Russian village, reflecting on his life on one day in his 80th year, his birthday and the day he will be reconciled with family he hasn't seen for years. Absolutely stunning and a much underrated author.
ReplyDeleteI'd recommend The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin! It's a really enjoyable read, if you haven't read it already :)
ReplyDeleteI would recommend Glimmer of hope by Sarah M. Eden. It's historical romance, clean, very emotional and romantic. If that's your cup of tea of course :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the giveaway!
I'm recommending The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder, which I'm offering in my giveaway -- hope you'll take a crack at it.
ReplyDeleteI would recommend Birth House by Amy McKay. I don't really know why I liked it so much.
ReplyDeleteOh, picking just one to recommend is SO HARD. I really enjoyed The Woman Upstairs, of recent releases. So much angst.
ReplyDeleteHave you read Carmen Laforet's Nada? If not, I highly recommend it, it's got the atmospheric quality of The Shadow of the Wind (set in Barcelona after the end of the Spanish Civil War), it's got plenty of family drama, and it's also a coming of age story :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for this awesome giveaway! :)
Great theme for this blog hop. I tell people I love magical realism but somehow I have never read any of his works!! I tried 100 Years of Solitude in high school but I don't think I was really ready for it. I would like to read the short story collection.
ReplyDeleteI recommend The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by Jose Saramago. I did a quick search to check if you've read anything by him and I noticed you enjoyed Blindness and Seeing. Blindness is one of my favourite books by him as well. Gospel is not as dark, but I think it's a really interesting take on Jesus as a human being. My review is very old but you can check it out here: http://fallingletters.blogspot.ca/2010/10/jose-saramago-gospel-according-to-jesus.html (Thanks for checking out my giveaway as well!)
Since I am from India, I would recommend Room on the Roof and its sequel Vagrants in the Valley by Ruskin Bond. Both are coming-of-age stories and paint a vivid picture of India.
ReplyDeleteI have never read any of Marquez's novels. I would like to.
ReplyDeleteWhat I recommend its Stones Data by Jacob Whaler. It is the first in an outstanding series.
Thanks for the giveaway! Other than the book I mention on the entry form, I'd recommend Ready Player One, the best book I've read. More or less ever. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe Great Lenore by J.M. Tohline -- existential without pretension, gripping, haunting....one of my absolute favorites!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the amazing giveaway!
elizabeth(at)bookattict(dot)com
I would recommend any of Murakami's books. I just love his style where he leaves the endings open to interpretation.
ReplyDeleteI would recommend Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates, a novel based on Marilyn Monroe. What I love about this book is that it takes facts and spins a totally new world out of them.
ReplyDeleteIf you haven't read The Night Circus, I HIGHLY recommend that one. It was so magical and beautifully written. I found it absolutely captivating.
ReplyDeleteNo Book but the World is an excellent work of literary fiction, in my view, because it employs unusual and special skill to elucidate subtle ideas -- and especially to illustrate precise emotional states -- in order to achieve its ultimate artistic purposes. This is an excellent novel, which I recommend enthusiastically. I expect it will likely be one of my top 10 reads of 2014 (of 100+).
ReplyDeleteDo you know that my brain is so fried right now that I saw your post the other day and couldn't come up with a single piece of literary fiction to recommend, and upon seeing it today I had to consult Goodreads? :) (Though of course 100 Years of Solitude is one of my favorites.)
ReplyDeleteUpon careful consideration I'm going to recommend 'The Wasp Factory' by Iain M. Banks. It's VERY weird and dark.
I would recommend Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall. I just read it last week and it is still on my mind. I loved that it was a look at the civil rights era from the point of view of a 9 year old white girl. It was thought provoking, well written, and was the total package for me in terms of GREAT literary books.
ReplyDeleteAnything by Emile Zola is my recommendation, especially his masterpiece: Germinal. I love his intense writing and beautiful prose. As I love nature, I love him even more for his nature's becautiful depictions in his novels (he is the father of Naturalism anyway...).
ReplyDeleteThe Bronze Horseman Series!!!
ReplyDeleteRemembered and cherished for a lifetime!!
Thanks for hosting! I entered and chose Love and other demons :)
ReplyDeleteI would recommend The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet because I think more people should read David Mitchell :)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go and recommend 'Atonement' to anyone that hasn't read it yet, because it came to mind this morning!
ReplyDeletethanks for the giveaway!
I recomend all the books of Lavyrle Spencer :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway. I recommend any book by Simon Van Booy
ReplyDeleteI recommend Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon. Thank you for the giveaway! :)
ReplyDeleteAck, I could have sworn I answered this! Maybe I forgot to send it. :(
ReplyDeleteAnyway: "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," Milan Kundera. It was the first literary fiction to make me stay up until sunrise, then immediately go back to the first page and skip my classes that day. There are so many philosophical and emotional layers in it -- Jung would have a field day, with all the interplay of logic and lust, fortitude and feeling. It's such a perfect reaction to existentialism and just...it's a delight. It's at the highest level of thought while being eminently "readable." It's a natural for Gabo folks. :)
Such an amazing book, Ashley. Kundera is one of my all time favorite authors.
DeleteOh, how I love Gabriel Garcia Marquez. His writing is incredible and I love to find other fans!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if you've read it yet, but I would recommend "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas. I read it last year and LOVED it.
I'd recommend Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front because it is about the tragedy and pity of war.
ReplyDeleteI really loved Dracula written by Bram Stoker, I just loved the story :). Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI always have trouble defining literary fiction, but I'll take a stab at it and recommend The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett (my review). This one is just filled with love for the written word and has a Shakespeare mystery thrown in :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway! I have quite of a few of his really well known, books so I think I would pick your recommended 12 Pilgrims which I don't have :)
I recommend A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, its a beautifully written book that stays with you for a long time. Thank you for the giveaway. Enjoy your day. :)
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