I've thought up some really random ways to choose the rest of the books. I hope you'll enjoy them. Sorry the writing is so small--you might need to zoom in (command + on a mac).
Now the results for...
Here are the books you unwittingly voted on...
Nigeria: Half of a Yellow Sun by Adichie, and The Bride Price by Emecheta
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| "Biafra’s impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria in the 1960s, and the chilling violence that followed." |
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| "A powerful story of a modern Nigerian girl who rebels against traditional marriage customs." |
Kenya: The In-Between World of Vikram Lall by Vassanji
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| "Against the unsettling backdrop of Mau Mau violence, the grandchildren of an Indian railroad worker search for their place in a world sharply divided between Kenyans and the British." |
Lebanon: DeNiro's Game by Hage
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| "about a Lebanese petty criminal during the bloody civil war, who is only a little more ethical than a shithead." (Goodreads reviewer, lol) |
Egypt: The Cairo Trilogy by Mahfouz
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| "the engrossing story of a Muslim family in Cairo during Britain’s occupation of Egypt" |
Turkey: My Name is Red by Pamuk
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| "At once a fiendishly devious mystery, a beguiling love story, and a brilliant symposium on the power of art" |
India: The White Tiger by Adiga, and Q&A (Slumdog Millionaire) by Swarup
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| "unsubtle look at 21st Century India... told by a working class fellow who, through ambition, intelligence, and a willingness to be utterly ruthless is clawing his way up the rungs of the Indian class ladder." |
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| "a kaleidoscopic vision of the struggle between good and evil - and what happens when one boy has no other choice in life but to survive." |
And so, Yellow Sun, Red, and the Cairo Trilogy make it on the longlist. Thanks again for the help! I'm enjoying our little democratic game.
BONUS! Most douchey review I came across on Goodreads (ohhh the hipstertude of it all!)
"Postcolonial
lite. I feel like this is what I'm supposed to be reading while I
listen to MIA and rock last season's mirrored "ethnic chic" from Urban
Outfitters. To show that, you know, I'm a citizen of the world, and a
really hip westerner who gets the shifting forces of globalization.... did I feel a bit pandered to? I did feel a bit pandered to. ... To be honest, I might have given it three stars if it hadn't won the Booker and made a bunch of Best of the Year lists."
