Trifolia’s Reading Expedition: A Journey to Countries, Classics, and Civilization

Read in 2024

January
3. Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein (read in English) - 3 stars
2. L'inventeur by Miguel Bonnefoy (translated by Liesbeth van Nes) - 3 stars
1. The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman (translated by Eefje Bosch and Mechteld Jansen)– 3 stars

Author’s Nationality:
- Canada: Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein - 3 stars
- France (Venezuela): L'inventeur by Miguel Bonnefoy - 3 stars
- UK (England): The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman – 3 stars

Publication date
2022: L'inventeur by Miguel Bonnefoy - 3 stars
2023: The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman – 3 stars
2023: Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein - 3 stars

Classics

Non fiction

Hello, I'm Monica, a 50-something-year-old historian from Belgium (Flanders). I work as an information manager (aka archivist). This will be my fourth year at Club Read and my fourteenth year at Librarything.

Last year wasn't a very good year for reading, as I was only able to read 25 books, my second lowest total since I started LT in 2014. This year I hope to reach my average of 63 books, although I must say that I prefer quality over quantity and I will not push aside heavy books just to achieve this goal.
My reading preferences are international literature, classics and contemporary literature and when I'm stressed I turn to detectives and thrillers.

This year I plan to add more non-fiction to the mix, partly because I want to delve deeper into reality, partly because I may have lost my interest in yet another view of life through the eyes of yet another author. Is it possible to read too much fiction?

However, I look forward to a new year of exploring the world through books.

Following labfs39's advice for 'Maybe an easy, feel good read to cleanse your palette' after my huge disappointment about Philippe Claudel's latest book, I listened to:

1. The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman – 3 stars

This is the fourth in the series about the Thursday Murder Club and a real feelgood mystery. Maybe the novelty has worn off a bit and the storylines have become very flimsy but the characters are so much fun and this series has worked its magic again.

2. L'inventeur by Miguel Bonnefoy - 3 stars

This is a fascinating and original novel about Augustin Mouchot, a forgotten pioneer of solar energy in the 19th century. Bonnefoy blends historical facts and fiction to create a captivating portrait of a man who dreamed of harnessing the power of the sun, but was thwarted by the rise of coal and capitalism. The novel is written in a lively and elegant prose, with a touch of humor and poetry. It also explores themes such as science, ecology, war, colonialism, and human nature. I was impressed by the author's ability to bring to life this obscure, eccentric, stubborn and in a way socially inept inventor, and to evoke the atmosphere of his time and places.

>5 Trifolia: sounds quite fascinating

Nice to see your thread pop up. Wish you a good reading year (qualitatively 🙂)

Welcome back, Monica. I'm really glad you started a thread for 2024. I hope you are feeling better and that you find some entertaining books during this time. I had never heard of Augustin Mouchot. I'm currently reading a bio of Chekhov which is so far, easy to read and interesting.

>5 Trifolia: Coal and capitalism - a deadly combination still out there.

Will be following your reading this year with interest.

So glad you're back Monica. Will be following your reading this year, and hope to get some good recommendations.

Happy reading 2024, Monica. I dropped a star.

Oh! I'm so glad you started a new thread. I will follow, for sure!

>5 Trifolia: I love the way you listed L'inventeur as a book from France (Venezuela)! Actually, Miguel Bonnefoy might agree with you! I have read another book from him, Sucre noir/Black Sugar. Not fully satisfying, but I had bought it on a whim as it was so colourful on a table of the bookshop, just a few days before the start of summer holidays, and I liked the change of scene as well as the reminiscence of magical realism à la Garcia Marquez.

>11 raton-liseur: re: Interesting that you mention:'I love the way you listed L'inventeur as a book from France (Venezuela)!', because I've thought long and hard about this. Not particularly about the nationality of Bonnefoy, but about whether I should label authors by their nationality. And what does it actually say about the author? Bonnefoy is a good example because his parents were from Chili and Venezuela and he was born in France, raised in Venezuela and Portugal, studied in France and worked in Venezuela. So, does nationality define an author? Is it even relevant for some authors?
And then I just thought: "Monica, you're overthinking this" but maybe not?:-)

I liked, didn't love L'inventeur. I actually wanted to read Héritage, but somehow I ended up reading this one first. I have a soft spot for books like these.

>12 Trifolia: And now lives in Berlin, I think. Like you I try to be cognizant of where authors are from, but it's becoming increasingly difficult in this global world. It makes the Global Challenge even more challenging.

>13 labfs39: It makes the Global Challenge even more challenging.: I can imagine. It's one of the reasons I have not yet participated. I'm also struggling with the setting / author-issue and the relevance of nationality for a book. Where do I put Elif Shafak? Or writers in exile who have lived elsewhere for the major part of their lives? Or are from ethnic groups who do not accept their nationality?
I like the approach to mention both setting and author, but am worried it's very difficult to be accurate at times.

I knew joining LT again would probably generate more questions than answers :-)

Well, I guess that with L'inventeur, he is writting in French, about a French character, so I would consider him as a French author.
With Sucre noir, set in Latin America and leaning toward Latin America magical realism, I would consider him as a Venezuelian author writting in French. (Venezuela because it is the country he talks a lot about in his interviews, I have not heard him mentionning Chile, although I am far from being a specialist!).
How does this sound? (You said it, more questions than answers, but that what books and discussions about books are for (sometimes)!).

Indeed, it's this kind of questions and answers that make me think. I'm not an expert either, but it's the thought that counts. Of whether an official nationality is representative? I think we have become far more sensitive to this in this global world, as Lisa mentioned.

hi monica, glad to see you here, I have had the some push and pull in Global Challenge, on that subject, its hard, but i do go back to my days teaching HH/deaf children and realized it comes to simply asking what you identify with (or ask parents if the kids are too little) And if we cant find the answer, we do the best we can, realilze that regardless where/what how you place the work, you are learning about another part of the world and I think thats why RG is so important

>3 Trifolia: Is it possible to read too much fiction?

I dont think you can, but , I often will read a novel and want to know more about the topic or place or time so Ill find a nonfiction or two* so I have some context and reference. which of course leads me to find another novel, etc, etc,etc I have found however that I am not reading as much non fiction as I want so Ive joined the non fiction challenge, and hope to increase that

*travel, history, biography, science

>12 Trifolia: what an interesting life Bonnefoy must have had growing up

3. Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein - 3 stars


The least you can say about this novel is that it is a strange and alienating book.
It is about a woman who, at the request of her brother, moves to his home in a small village in another country to take care of him and his household. But the woman fails to integrate and things go from bad to worse. The story is told entirely from the woman's perspective and you may wonder whether she is so trustworthy. Is she the victim of xenophobia, a superstitious village mentality, is she the victim of at least emotional repression in her youth, is she socially maladjusted or is there something inherently wrong with her? Because although strange things happen and people react strangely, her actions are not always normal. Because who leaves homemade dolls on strangers' doors in the middle of the night, no matter how well-intentioned?

The atmosphere of the novel is somewhat Victorian, even Gothic and initially I had the feeling that we were just waiting for the vicar, the amount of the annual income, the meddling gossip aunt and the charming/cruel lord of the castle until it turned out that the story takes place in the present. And that is strange because otherwise you notice very little modernity in the characters or actions.
I liked the language and style of this book, although I found the main character very introspective and other characters flat.

This book leaves me with mixed feelings. Was there some hidden depth that I was missing, or was it just a superficial attempt to create atmosphere? I wonder if this book reflects the uncertainty and chaos of our times, or if it's just a coincidence that I've been reading more books with ambiguous settings lately?
Recommended if you're intrigued.

Another enticing review of Study for Obedience. I plan to read it next month.

>19 Trifolia: Well-written review, Monica. I like "Is she the victim of xenophobia, a superstitious village mentality, is she the victim of at least emotional repression in her youth, is she socially maladjusted or is there something inherently wrong with her?" and "I wonder if this book reflects the uncertainty and chaos of our times". It was definitely a weird book and ambiguous. I'm fascinated by how individual everyone's responses to it are.

Great to see you back! Wishing you all the very best for 2024.

What you say in >3 Trifolia: about fiction and non-fiction resonates with me. I may have lost my interest in yet another view of life through the eyes of yet another author - yep, that just about sums it up. I don’t actually think it’s possible to read too much fiction, but I have decided to make more conscious choices about the nature of that fiction, and to leave room for NF, an addition that really spiced up my reading in the latter part of last year.

Great review of Study for Obedience, Monica.

>20 dchaikin: I'm really looking forward to read what you think of it, Dan. I always enjoy your reviews.

>21 labfs39: Ambiguous is definitely a word that applies to this book, Lisa.

23 Thank you, Darryl. So nice to see you here.

All the ambiguities as per authors' nationalities here are a big part of the reason that I generally skew toward just listing the books I read by where the stories take place.

I used to keep a thread on Reading Globally separating my reading in that way, but this year I've just moved that list to a post on my CR thread. For that, as per above, I simply list books by their settings. I also have a Reading Globally challenge thread, but there I don't include every book I read, but only books written by authors that are from the country in which the book is set. When in doubt (author from one country with a book set in another) I still skew toward the story's locale. That's just my way of doing things.

>19 Trifolia: I am definitely intrigued... but I don't know whether it is worth pursuing. I'll wait for Dan's review to make up my mind, I think :-D

>25 rocketjk: I generally skew toward just listing the books I read by where the stories take place
Same here!

Hi. Just catching up on your thread and enjoying your posts. I also read The Last Devil to Die and concur with your review, and am indeed intrigued by Study for Obedience.