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A review by clarxvizconde13
Other Voices, Other Vistas: China, India, Japan, and Latin America by Barbara H. Solomon
5.0
The book is a one-way ticket to five destinations: Africa, China, India, Japan, and Latin America. And by Africa and Latin America, I mean to say different countries in the specified regions.
Barbara H. Solomon, editor of the book, mentioned in the introduction that "As always, fiction provides a window through which we can view the inner lives of others. It can clarify issues, dramatize themes, and reveal insights about an individual or a group." Although the emphasis for every published work should be on the work itself and not on the author, I can't help but give the spotlight to the latter because it is with the latter's experiences that I get to understand how the events depicted (history), despite being works of fiction, have imparted a piece of the hearts, minds, sufferings, and joys of these writers, which makes the experiences of reading these tales raw and real.
Even if the set-up of the book can be compared to that of textbooks for those majoring in world literature, the introduction and the short biographical information on the authors mentioned in the book allow the reader to understand the context with which the stories were written in. If you're looking forward to exploring works from other authors in these geographical locations which you have not heard of until reading the book (like me), the book is an essential read.
I have not read the stories in the book in order. I started with the Latin American stories followed by the Indian tales. The African, Chinese, and Japanese narratives came afterwards. Solomon did a superb job of selecting the said authors with works translated in English, suggesting anthologies for further reading per geographical category, and giving the reader a sense of what people in the different facets of time and place have experienced that shaped their own perspective of life and the world.
Most memorable stories for me would be the following:
1) All the Latin American stories - Clarisa by Isabel Allende, The Book of Sand by Jorge Luis Borges, The Cost of Living by Carlos Fuentes, Death Constant Beyond Love by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Papito's Story by Luisa Valenzuela;
2) Indian stories - Dhowli by Mahasweta Devi, The Interview by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, A Horse and Two Goats by R.K. Narayan, and The Wog by Khushwant Singh;
3) African stories - The Collector of Treasures by Bessie Head and A Meeting in the Dark by Ngugi Wa Thiong'O;
4) Chinese stories - The Man from a Peddler's Family by Lu Wenfu (*this made me cry); and
5) Japanese stories - The Moon on the Water by Yasunari Kawabata.
Barbara H. Solomon, editor of the book, mentioned in the introduction that "As always, fiction provides a window through which we can view the inner lives of others. It can clarify issues, dramatize themes, and reveal insights about an individual or a group." Although the emphasis for every published work should be on the work itself and not on the author, I can't help but give the spotlight to the latter because it is with the latter's experiences that I get to understand how the events depicted (history), despite being works of fiction, have imparted a piece of the hearts, minds, sufferings, and joys of these writers, which makes the experiences of reading these tales raw and real.
Even if the set-up of the book can be compared to that of textbooks for those majoring in world literature, the introduction and the short biographical information on the authors mentioned in the book allow the reader to understand the context with which the stories were written in. If you're looking forward to exploring works from other authors in these geographical locations which you have not heard of until reading the book (like me), the book is an essential read.
I have not read the stories in the book in order. I started with the Latin American stories followed by the Indian tales. The African, Chinese, and Japanese narratives came afterwards. Solomon did a superb job of selecting the said authors with works translated in English, suggesting anthologies for further reading per geographical category, and giving the reader a sense of what people in the different facets of time and place have experienced that shaped their own perspective of life and the world.
Most memorable stories for me would be the following:
1) All the Latin American stories - Clarisa by Isabel Allende, The Book of Sand by Jorge Luis Borges, The Cost of Living by Carlos Fuentes, Death Constant Beyond Love by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Papito's Story by Luisa Valenzuela;
2) Indian stories - Dhowli by Mahasweta Devi, The Interview by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, A Horse and Two Goats by R.K. Narayan, and The Wog by Khushwant Singh;
3) African stories - The Collector of Treasures by Bessie Head and A Meeting in the Dark by Ngugi Wa Thiong'O;
4) Chinese stories - The Man from a Peddler's Family by Lu Wenfu (*this made me cry); and
5) Japanese stories - The Moon on the Water by Yasunari Kawabata.