I picked up I No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (no, I've never read it, there are a lot of books in the world) and I'm wondering if it's an accurate portrayal of Botswana? I'm fascinated by the language usage, Motswana for an individual (maybe man) of the country, Batswana for a group of people, Tswana apparently for the tribe(?) that occupies the land. I know so little of Africa.
Book: I am a Shepherd. Folks like a man of God. Mal: No, they don't. Men of God make everyone feel guilty and judged.
'Safe'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Connie Neil - May 24, 2014 6:28:57 pm PDT #22407 of 28344
brillig
Jesse - May 25, 2014 3:14:23 am PDT #22408 of 28344
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
The grammar is similar in Lesotho -- that's the country, the people are Basotho, the language is Sesotho. I have no idea how accurate the portrayal of Botswana is.
flea - May 25, 2014 4:53:28 am PDT #22409 of 28344
information libertarian
McCall Smith was born and raised (through high school) in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and lived in Botswana from 1981-1984 (helping found the University of Botswana). While I think a black African would write a very different book (and many have, obviously), I think the basic cultural stuff can be taken as pretty accurate.
Jesse - May 25, 2014 4:59:59 am PDT #22410 of 28344
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
A thing in Lesotho that reminded me of those books is that the honorific for women is Mme, pronounced like may. In emails, I always thought it was Madame, but no.
Connie Neil - May 25, 2014 7:13:29 am PDT #22411 of 28344
brillig
The scale of life is fascinating. People are happy with the basics. I'll avoid the obvious comparisons with American culture.
And the frequency of statements that life in Botswana is so much better, no internal fighting, no political prisons and never had any. It's an interesting take on the typical detective story, where there are bodies everywhere. Here, people just need some help checking things out, it makes consulting a detective very reasonable.
Jesse - May 25, 2014 7:43:28 am PDT #22412 of 28344
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
I imagine some of that is the Scotsman's perspective. I mean, for one thing, a quarter of adults have HIV. Although maybe it wasn't that bad when the books were written?
Scrappy - May 25, 2014 7:45:16 am PDT #22413 of 28344
Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
No, HIV comes up later in the series.
Jesse - May 25, 2014 11:33:11 am PDT #22414 of 28344
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
Yeah, I think I just read the first one, maybe two.
Polter-Cow - May 27, 2014 12:06:40 pm PDT #22415 of 28344
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Exciting news for fans of Mira Grant!
Which includes some people here.
The new Newsflesh novel is a book Seanan's been wanting to write for years: Rewind, which is Feed from the perspective of the Democratic campaign.
EpicTangent - May 27, 2014 12:29:22 pm PDT #22416 of 28344
Why isn't everyone pelting me with JOY, dammit? - Zenkitty
Best review of Seanan's (well, Mira's) writing listed in P-C's link:
“Horrifying, riveting, and a bit too plausible”