Mads (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} mmk) wrote,@ 2008-02-16 19:46:00 |
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Another good recommendation from oldhen
Another book that I stole fromoldhen that turned out to be beautiful, Alexander McCall Smith's "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series. Beautiful lyrical writing, with (for me) clear overtones of both R K Narayan (Malgudi) and Ruskin Bond (Mussorie). The same (almost lazy ) humor, the same (apparently) simple stories, the same superb evocative landscapes. Set in Gaborone, Botswana, the stories are not really short stories and not really a complicated novel, but something delightfully in between.
This extract is from Tears of the Giraffe, from when a character is meditating on the nature of being a mechanic:
"Did not the Lord himself learn to be a carpenter in his father's workshop? Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni thought. If the Lord came back today, he would probably be a mechanic, he reflected. That would be a great honour for mechanics everywhere. And there is no doubt but that he would choose Africa: Israel was far too dangerous these days. In fact, the more one thought about it, the more likely it was that he would choose Botswana, and Gaborone in particular. Now that would be a wonderful honour for the people of Botswana; but it would not happen, and there was no point in thinking about it any further. The Lord was not going to come back; we had our chance and we had not made much of it, unfortunately."
Excellently written, much happiness has been derived. I've only got two left to go in the series. Note to gentle readers, a movie is scheduled, so please read before it comes out....
Another book that I stole from
oldhen that turned out to be beautiful, Alexander McCall Smith's "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series. Beautiful lyrical writing, with (for me) clear overtones of both R K Narayan (Malgudi) and Ruskin Bond (Mussorie). The same (almost lazy ) humor, the same (apparently) simple stories, the same superb evocative landscapes. Set in Gaborone, Botswana, the stories are not really short stories and not really a complicated novel, but something delightfully in between.This extract is from Tears of the Giraffe, from when a character is meditating on the nature of being a mechanic:
"Did not the Lord himself learn to be a carpenter in his father's workshop? Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni thought. If the Lord came back today, he would probably be a mechanic, he reflected. That would be a great honour for mechanics everywhere. And there is no doubt but that he would choose Africa: Israel was far too dangerous these days. In fact, the more one thought about it, the more likely it was that he would choose Botswana, and Gaborone in particular. Now that would be a wonderful honour for the people of Botswana; but it would not happen, and there was no point in thinking about it any further. The Lord was not going to come back; we had our chance and we had not made much of it, unfortunately."
Excellently written, much happiness has been derived. I've only got two left to go in the series. Note to gentle readers, a movie is scheduled, so please read before it comes out....
