Typical American sounds good.
I've never heard of Gish Jen. Can anyone enlighten me?
Fbaezer
One Hundred Years .. Is one of those books I've always been meaning to read ... It has such a wonderful reputation. Perhaps soon? It used to be on the senior high school reading list here in Oz. Very popular!
Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel
American Chica - Marie Arana
Hi Joanne
Haven't heard of American Chica prior to you mentioning it here ... Will look it up on the internet.
Was just posting something on another thread about Ian McEwan's "Amsterdam" but it occurs to me that his latest, "Atonement," is about a family, isn't it? It's been very well reviewed.
Also Carol Shields' "Stone Diaries" -- a wonderful, wonderful book.
Tartarin
(puff, puff ..) So many books, so little time! ~ You must read heaps!
No TV, Msolga. Makes a big difference in time available! Also, I've just discovered (so to speak) audio books and find that chores are much easier these days as a result. Confession: that's how I "read" The Corrections!
Remember when you were a child and you stumbled on one book by an author and got hooked and then looked for everything else by the same author? For a family story in three volumes -- THREE VOLUMES! -- that you get so hooked on that, at the end of vol. 3 you're begging for more, go to Naguib Mahfouz' trilogy, Palace Walk et. al. Beautifully written (and translated), you sail along through this story all too fast. Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize maybe ten years ago. Practically no one in the US had heard of him. So don't feel badly if you haven't either. And don't imagine that, because this is the story of an Egyptian family -- 1900 to present, approximately -- it won't grab you. It does.
That sounds really interesting, Tartarin. One of my favourite series is Kristin Lavransdattir, by Sigrid Undset. As old as the books are, and set even further back, they hooked me. A century of a family anywhere has to be interesting. Noting the author, I'll be able to find his books in the annex here.
Naguib Mahfouz' books are recomended as literature for high school students (African studies) here in Germany.
(Don't bookshops do special sales after the nomination of the Nobel Prize in the USA?)
A list of his books in English:
http://www.sis.gov.eg/egyptinf/culture/html/nagfrm.htm
Tartarin
I was totally hooked on the Cairo Trilogy! I read it a few years ago & couldn't stop until the last page of Sugar Street. Amongst other things, I found the daily routine of the family fascinating ... the daily rituals, the food preparation, the lives of the women, the world of the men outside of the home, ... It was a marvellous insight into another time & another place. And so beautifully written!
Someone ought to collect this list -- it's terrific. Maybe a website. Book blog.
Tartarin
Yes, a good list, I agree ...
I'm just trying to think of novels about siblings -rivalry, loyalty, betrayal - There must be loads of them, but right now I can't think of a single one!
They keep popping into my mind but not necessarily when I'm online! For example, a book I reread at about ten year intervals -- "The Old Wives Tale" (Bennett). And when I glanced at my bookcase to confirm the second "t" in Bennett, I saw Butler's "Way of All Flesh," almost an autobiography -- three generations' worth.
Bill W
Don't know that one. Who wrote it? About siblings?
A fine, little known novel about sibling rivalry is THE BLACK SHEEP by Balzac. It is especially fun because the "bad" brother turns out to be the savior of the "good" one thanks to an intricate plot twist. Another great family novel, the best ever written, is THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV. I can't believe that nobody else on this thread thought of it before me!
AAAAAAARGHHHHHH ..... I can't take it any more ... just gotta de-lurk
'Family Novel" ... what about
War And Peace 
<re-lurking>
timber
larry r
How nice to meet you here!
Welcome, welcome!
The Brothers K is one of those books that I had on my shelf for years, but for some unknown reason didn't get around to reading .... Maybe every one else whose contributed to this thread is in the same boat as me?
The Black Sheep I knew nothing about till you mentioned it just now ... Sounds like a "must read"!
