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nikkigee81's review against another edition
3.0
[Part of my Around the World Reading Challenge, begun in 2014 or '15.]
As far as "official" countries go, Abkhazia doesn't count - at least, according to most of the world. Abkhazians want their independence, and they are recognized as such by a handful of countries, but as far as the UN is concerned, it is part of the country of Georgia. To be honest, until I started this challenge, I had never heard of it before, even though it has had its share of unrest, and ethnic cleansing of the Georgian people from its borders.
There are not many books that are published in English. Abkhaz is the official language, but Russian is spoken, as well.
Fazil Iskander is one of the more well-known Abkhaz writers; although he lives in Russia now, he was born in the capital. He has been hailed as an "Abkhazian Mark Twain," with a subtle humor. Forbidden Fruit and other stories was his first published book, and the one most readily accessible to me, as I found a copy on a website dedicated to Abkhaz writers.
This was pretty good, overall; the style is like that of a relative or close friend telling you stories about their family, or the kooky people in their town and what hijinks they get up to. It ends rather abruptly, but then I realized that the best way to take this book is to read each story as an individual "chat," so to speak, and then the lack of cohesiveness is not a bother. My favorite was the story about "Old Crooked Arm," a very memorable neighbor. I really would like to seek out more of his work, such as his novels about "Chik," which deal with magical realism and are more satirical in nature.
As far as "official" countries go, Abkhazia doesn't count - at least, according to most of the world. Abkhazians want their independence, and they are recognized as such by a handful of countries, but as far as the UN is concerned, it is part of the country of Georgia. To be honest, until I started this challenge, I had never heard of it before, even though it has had its share of unrest, and ethnic cleansing of the Georgian people from its borders.
There are not many books that are published in English. Abkhaz is the official language, but Russian is spoken, as well.
Fazil Iskander is one of the more well-known Abkhaz writers; although he lives in Russia now, he was born in the capital. He has been hailed as an "Abkhazian Mark Twain," with a subtle humor. Forbidden Fruit and other stories was his first published book, and the one most readily accessible to me, as I found a copy on a website dedicated to Abkhaz writers.
This was pretty good, overall; the style is like that of a relative or close friend telling you stories about their family, or the kooky people in their town and what hijinks they get up to. It ends rather abruptly, but then I realized that the best way to take this book is to read each story as an individual "chat," so to speak, and then the lack of cohesiveness is not a bother. My favorite was the story about "Old Crooked Arm," a very memorable neighbor. I really would like to seek out more of his work, such as his novels about "Chik," which deal with magical realism and are more satirical in nature.
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