Adventurous. I can‘t think of any other words to describe this amazing autobiographical story that transports you from tropical Togo to the endless night of Greenland. 7/10
Adventurous. I can‘t think of any other words to describe this amazing autobiographical story that transports you from tropical Togo to the endless night of Greenland. 7/10
My thermometer is playing up and displaying an eye-watering outside temperature of minus 65.8 degrees Celsius (-86°F) (obvious wrong! It's not even freezing). I thought I'd immortalise it...
As a child in #Togo, Kpoomassie found a book about Greenland and was just mesmerized. It took him years, but he got there and spent over a year traveling the country and meeting it‘s people, which he details here. He‘s a wonderful writer and I just loved this! I‘m also glad I couldn‘t smell the place because yikes! (Oh, and he‘s 5‘11”, but Greenlanders are so small, he looks like a giant.)
#ReadingAfrica2022
I‘m liking your priorities, Tété-Michel!
When the author was a boy in #Togo he suddenly decides he wants to live in #Greenland and sets of to do so. This #NYRB book is about his travels getting there but mostly about living among the people of Greenland. I learned a lot about them. Family dynamics, hunting, alcohol, winter and cold. It‘s a hard life under hard circumstances but with proud people. Very interesting!
#ReadingAfrica2022 🇹🇬 #ReadingTheAmericas2023 🇬🇱
One advantage to a preliminary plan of next year‘s #ReadingAfrica2022 is the ability to order out-of-print books secondhand and have them count for MountTBR, since they were technically purchased in 2021. This was the only book I could find for Togo, which makes me sad, as it‘s definitely not a genre a enjoy. I think it‘s going to be tough to get through this one, but I would be happy to be proved wrong.
Highly recommended book from #Togo and #Greenland. This is a true story, and an amazing one! Can‘t remember who‘s organizing the Africa reading in 2022, but please tag them! This book can be requested on NG. My review of the book https://theworldisourstoread.wordpress.com/2020/08/27/togo-from-under-the-africa... 🥰🥰🥰📖👍🏿👍
After an illness caused by a fall from a tree, Tété-Michel Kpomassie is apprenticed to the python cult priestess in Togo. He runs away from home in 1957 aged 16, determined to go to Greenland as a country devoid of trees and pythons. 8 years later he explores Greenland looking for locals still living a traditional way of life unaffected by colonialism and modernity.
Beautifully descriptive of both Togo and Greenland and the local cultures.
"Not awake yet, is he?" Uncle asked contemptuously.
#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl
#bookspin
Okay so I am a few pages away from the end but counting this for November bookspin! I am loving this. It is so easy to read and absorbing, hard to out down as you explore with him the different cultures and adventures.
Written in the 70's so much about travel has changed, but that sense if wonder never will let you down
@TheAromaofBooks
"Even in the Arctic, Equality is only a word."
#NYRBClassicsReadingSociety loved this book. 4.2⭐️ average! We were fascinated by the story, and impressed with the superb writing 🤩
4⭐️ This is definitely a must-read book! It is filled with excellent landscape descriptions, and detailed observations of the local customs. I love how - when he was a teenager - he fell in love with a book about the Eskimos, and decided on this quest. “Do people ever know their true reason for embarking on a long journey? So many causes, motives and impulses intertwine to form the semblance of a reason.”
Stack update + Hamilton on the side
One of the strangest true stories I have read. A boy from Togo reads about Greenland, and when he is older he goes there. It takes him years to work his way there through Africa and Europe, and it is impressive that he did it in the 1960s! Very interesting story, and you learn much about Greenland and its people. Highly recommended! #Togo #Greenland #readingtheworld
Day 3 for #31bookpics @howjessreads #underrated : african authors are underrated and should be read much more by anyone! I try to keep my reading diverse and am always happy for suggestions😘
😘😘😘 Thank you @Robothugs !! These just arrived 🎉 Yay to a new addition to my NYRB Classics collection 😍
This will be my last book read for March. It's my "green" book for the ColorCAT at LibraryThing. I'm hoping to finish it today. Yesterday was so warm and muggy I turned off the heat in the apartment. It's chilly this morning so I'm starting my day with some Arctic white hot cocoa with Italian green walnut syrup. Yum.
#MagicalMarch
#green
#LibraryThing
I don‘t really have a #favoritegenre - I love all kinds of them, very much depending on my mood😊 #readingresolutions #day21 @Jess7
Found this great book thanks to @shawnmooney ! Also doubling up and answering @Booksandcooks question that I prefer print books over audio/e-books (though I love those too). Thanks for the giveaway opportunity! #6666giveaway
"Far away, through the curtain of mist that suddenly enveloped the village, an iceberg glinted." Tate-Michel Kpomassie
"For Kpomassie, Greenland is the never-never land where children know best, dreams come true, and everyone lives happily ever after." A. Alvarez
An African boy reads a book about Greenland, and later goes to live there! Loved this non-fiction. AND this was the very first book I posted about on Litsy after I joined last July. #17rainbowbooks #greentitleorauthor
Not done bookish gifting for the holidays + my #24in48 #readathon pile being made ready! #saturday
Absolutely extraordinary! Be like me: fall in love with the title of this book about a teenager in Togo who falls in love with Greenland from the title of a book he happens upon, and his life-changing quest to visit the country most different from his own. And then please casually drop the title of this book into conversation, so as to infect others who love the idea that the mere title of a book can change a life.
My #firstlitsypost I feel like I have been here forever, but I posted this June 17, 2016. And I got TWO LIKES! #booktober
Akvavit is a Scandinavian spirit. I mean alcoholic beverage, not ghost.