February 2020: South Africa, Czech Republic and Hungary
Read: Jock of the Bushveld by J Percy FitzPatrick (South Africa), The Good Soldier, Sveyk by Jaroslav Hasek (Czech Republic), Embers by Sandor Marai (Hungary) As 2019 drew to a close, I took a walk with my family along Hove seafront. It’s an annual post-Christmas get-together of my siblings, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces and brothers-in-law. There’s a big old crowd of us walking into the bitter wind towards the rusty remnants of the West Pier. The appetite for walking varies hugely and usually, after a mere half mile or so, the call to turn round and head for the pub is given and we about-turn and shuffle back to our starting position. As I walked, I chatted with my brother-in-law, Tim, about my reading challenge and Jock of the Bushveld - book number three of my international challenge. He chose a book for me from his childhood, one he reckoned he’d read in 1995. I picture him sitting in his bedroom with a battered paperback while up in Johannesburg, Nelson ...