A Dead Hand: A Crime in Calcutta

#1000
Title: A Dead Hand: A Crime in Calcutta
Author: Paul Theroux
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Year: 2009/2010
288 pages

An uneven novel from Theroux, ranging from 2 to 5 stars. Low stars for repetition, unconvincing character development with abrupt changes, and obvious plot with a limp conclusion; high stars for parallelism (albeit sometimes heavy handed), rich description, and overall idea. A good edit would have tightened this up considerably. Good enough for a plane trip, not good enough to recommend.

Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It)

#999
Title: Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help (And How to Reverse It)
Author: Robert D. Lupton
Publisher: HarperOne
Year: 2011
208 pages

A very accessible introduction to concerns about charities and service visits, most of which appears elsewhere but in more technical form. It would be useful as a reading for groups (especially religious organizations) planning missions, both domestically and internationally.

Lupton is a little self-contradictory around the edges and seems to cherry-pick Moyo's Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa, but I haven't finished reading that yet and could be misunderstanding its conclusions.

Nazi Literature in the Americas

#998
Title: Nazi Literature in the Americas
Author:  Roberto Bolaño
Translator: Chris Andrews
Publisher: Picador
Year: 1993/2010
Country: Chile
260 pages

While I found the concept and execution of this novel (fake lit crit) interesting and engaging, I also found it emotionally inaccessible. I kept waiting for more connections to the Americas' own repressive regimes. While this was present, and more so in the longest end piece, it seemed uninspired and thus plodding.

The Good Muslim: A Novel

#997
Title: The Good Muslim: A Novel
Author: Tahmima Anam
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Year: 2011/2012
Country: Bangladesh
320 pages

A sad novel about identity and how different family members make meaning of horrific events in the wake of the country's independence movement. I stands alone, though it's the second of a series. Some sections that seem thin may assume the reader has knowledge from the first book; not having read that book, I can't say.

Une suite à Moroni Blues

#996
Title: Une suite à Moroni Blues
Author:  Rémi Carayol, Soeuf Elbadawi, & Kamal'Eddine Saindou
Publisher: Broché
Year: 2007
Country: Comoros
56 pages

Ordered from Amazon.fr for cost + shipping of around $28, beating out Amazon.co.uk and Abebooks handily. A better book for Comoros, though "better" is relative as I haven't had to read long passages in French since 1974. Fortunately, I'm easily entertained.

***
2013: Now reading. I expect it to take 1-2 months.

***
The award-winning short, poetic essay, "Moroni de mes enfances perdues" (6 pages) was originally published as "Moroni Blues/Chap II." It caused a furor occasioned, as well as I can manage the French, less by its non-traditional style than by its content, which apparently threatened the status quo in Comoros by raising questions about insularity, the relationship between parts of Comoros and the archipelago as a whole, and xenophobia/racism.

This volume collects the piece itself and several commentaries. It's a little confusing because the essay was published on its own, and there is also a theatrical piece, "Moroni Blues/une rêverie à quatre," which appears to be built on this initial essay and was published as a volume of script and photos. The reviews show that the theatrical piece is multi-media; it appears to focus on longing for the Moroni that existed mytho-historically but isn't enacted now. It is told as "une réflexion de quatre personnages sur le repli communautaire, le rejet et la peur de l'autre" (Fathate Karine Hassan in her review in Nouvelles Études Francophones, 25(2)). Some reviewers see it as comedic. I would assume that the aspect that rankles is its criticism of France's occupation of Mayotte, content that has caused the author to be censored at times. This appears to be a program for "Moroni Blues/une rêverie à quatre": http://www.wip-villette.com/IMG/pdf/M... . A video conversation with the author, which I don't have the spoken French to understand): http://www.theatre-contemporain.net/s... .

***
Here's a sample to illustrate the rhythm and the translation amusements. This is part of a mytho-historical section, describing Moroni's past. Karthala is an active volcano on Comoros:

Le Karthala en rut, pour dire les choses autrement. Un volcan si proche, mille fois maudit par nos saints en prière sur l'étendue du Bandari. Moroni sentait bon le conformisme à l'époque. Mais c'était aussi un temps exquis où l'insouciance se conjuguait paradoxalement avec la loi du plus fort. Le colon veillait dans son bel uniforme étoilé, même si ce chef-lieu du pays pouvait bruire de toutes ses lumières sans que la chicotte ne vienne semer une once de trouble dans les consciences. Moroni pouvait rire et danser, tout en se sachant sous cage pour longtemps (p. 13).

***
The ending rally: "L'heure est sans doute venue de déconstruire les héritages pesants et de redessiner l'imaginaire d'une cité au regard toujours porté sur le large" (p. 16). I construe he's talking about the community's philosophy, and not about urban renewal.

***
The piece itself is followed by several essays, which, as best my French permits me to say, address the piece primarily in terms of poetical essay harangues about the elite's stupidity, from a Marxist perspective.

Flight Behavior

#995
Title: Flight Behavior
Author: Barbara Kingsolver
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2012
436 pages

A story with environmental themes, in the manner of her recent novels. Though heavy-handed at times, still enjoyable.

The Round House

#994
Title: The Round House
Author: Louise Erdrich
Publisher: Harper Collins
Year: 2012
321 pages

A wonderful novel that, though not lacking in action, is ultimately psychological. It's not necessary to have read Erdrich's other novels to enjoy this one.