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Bookworms Carnival

Nov

'07

Hello to all three of my regular readers, and to those of you who found your way here via the Bookworms Carnival page. I wanted to make this post before I totally forgot. Let me take you to the future: I’ll be hosting Edition 10 of the Bookworms Carnival in April ‘08 with the theme of Latin American literature/authors. If you’re confused, you can visit the Wikipedia article on Latin American literature for suggestions and explanations.

I can blame my interest in this category of literature on my time earning a Bachelor’s degree. I was required to take a “non-American” folklore class as well as a “non-American” history class and I somehow ended up taking Latin American folklore as well as Latin American history. I found that I enjoyed the required reading so much that several of the books became my favorites, and several of the authors intrigued me enough to branch out and read others by them. Examples (just two, but I will expand later when I have more time):

Mario Vargas Llosa - The Feast of the Goat. This is a favorite and a book which I recommend freely whenever someone says, “I don’t know what I like, what do you recommend?” I’ve gone on to collect his books though I’ve only read a few more and I’m currently engrossed in Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter.
Tomas Eloy Martinez - Santa Evita. I haven’t read anything else by this author, but I found this book to be so amazing and confusing that I decided to read it two more times before I would even think about discussing it in class. It also sparked a 12-page research paper about the mythology surrounding Evita — and this was in my history class.

What has made you interested in this specific writing? What differences do you find between Latin American authors and North American ones (or British ones, or Australian ones, or ones from wherever you reside)? And how about other-nationality authors who write about Latin America? What would you consider your favorite Latin American literature? What do you dislike about it?

I’m not just looking for book reviews, a tip you’ll find on most carnival pages, though I would really like to see some thoughts on Latin American literature and authors. I’d like to know why you liked something or why you disliked something. I’d love to include posts on why you picked up that certain book and what drew you so far into it that you couldn’t put it down.

It matters little to me when your post was written. Whether you were inspired to read a Latin American author for the first time when you stumbled upon the Bookworms Carnival page, or you’ve been reading Jorge Luis Borges’s work for so long that you can recite the first ten lines of all his short stories, I’d like to see posts from past and present that illustrate your personal understanding of Latin American literature.

So here’s the information you’ll need to send submissions and all that good stuff. If you’re really excited about this idea RIGHT NOW, you can always make your way over to the Bookworms Carnival page to see which one is currently featured. I’ll be taking submissions from now until the deadline, so start your engines.

Bookworms Carnival - Edition 10
Host: Michelle
Deadline for submission: April 13
Theme: Latin American literature/authors
To submit a post, email: admin at inthelouvre dot org

I’ll confirm receipt of all submissions and in April I’ll bother you with another email letting you know that the Carnival is completed. I look forward to reading your posts!

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