UNESCO Part XIV

I read Joel Lehtonen's Combe aux mauvaises herbes, Rizal's Noli me tangere, Flor Romero de Nohra's Crepitant tropique, and Eca de Quieros' Os Maia. Lehtonen barely kept me awake, despite it being a pastoral. It did give me a good idea of what it was like to live in the country in Finland about 1910, just like Nohra's book gave me a good idea of Colombian village life. Quieros' novel is indeed to be classed with The Forsyte Saga and Buddenbrook -- although I almost laughed when the principal lovers turned out to be brother and sister. Well, at least I didn't see it coming, as I have so many other times in other plot twists. Reading a book by a revolutionary shot by the authorities is always a ghostly experience, I find, but I also noticed that he named a character Sister Slutty, so he didn't exactly go out of his way to endear himself to the 1840s Philippine establishment either. I have just begun Herberto Sales' Les visages du temps, about colonial Brazil, and the style is already light and endearing. After this, I'll only have 2 UNESCO listers to read before I run out -- but the library will be open tomorrow.