This week I finished Sightseeing, Thai Tales, and The Night Tiger. I’m still plugging away at Contes Populaires de Cambodge, du Laos, et du Siam—in fact I’m still reading the same story that I was last week (“Vorvong et Saurivong”), but I feel better about it because I realized this story makes up the entire second half of the book. So when I finish it, I’m done (thank God). I’ve gotten to the point where I’m assigning it to myself, like homework, and am only sticking it out because I’m so close to the end that I might as well finish it.
Mythology and Folklore
This week’s readings: Stories from Thailand, plus a bonus Malaysian novel
I had a very long travel day this week, so I got most of my reading done while stuck on a plane holding a sleeping or nursing baby. Jet lag is way more brutal when there are two little (also jet-lagged) people in your house and no one seems to want to sleep at the same time, so I got very little done the rest of the week. Continue reading
Darangen: too epic for me
Darangen: in original Maranao verse with English translation, vol. I, Anon. (oral epic), transcribed by Hadji Lawa Cali et al., translated by Ma. Delia Coronel, 1986 (original composition sometime before the 14th century)
- Philippines, #1
- Borrowed from San Francisco Public Library (via interlibrary loan)
- Read October 2017
- Rating 3/5
- Recommended for: scholars, princesses in towers, and other people with lots of time on their hands
The Birth of I La Galigo: Intense pregnancy cravings, eggs of unknown provenance
The Birth of I La Galigo: A poem inspired by the Bugis legend of the same name, Mohamad Salim, Sapardi Djoko Damono, and John H. McGlynn
- Indonesia, #17
- Borrowed from SF library (interlibrary loan)
- Read August 2017
- Rating: 3/5
- Recommended for: lazy folklorists
Chamorro Legends on the Island of Guam: Stay in your lane, Mavis
Chamorro Legends on the Island of Guam, Mavis Warner van Peenen, 2008
The Book of Luelen: The thought collector
The Book of Luelen, Luelen Bernart, 1977 (written in 1934-46)
- Federated States of Micronesia, #1
- Borrowed from SF Library
- Read January 2017
- Rating: 2/5 (BUT: this rating reflects only my reading enjoyment and is not a reflection of the inherent quality of the book. The reason for this distinction will become clear further on)
- Recommended for: ethnobotanical historians and sociocultural anthropologists
Annotations to the Book of Luelen, John L. Fisher, Saul H. Reisenberg, Marjorie G. Whiting (eds.), 1978
- Borrowed from SF Library
- Read January 2017
- Rating: 3/5
- Recommended for: as above, only more so
The Incomparable Ulli Beier
Words of Paradise: Poetry of Papua New Guinea, ed. Ulli Beier, 1972
- Papua New Guinea, #3
- Borrowed from SF library
- Read October 2016
- Rating: 3.5/5
When the Moon Was Big, and Other Legends from New Guinea, ed. Ulli Beier, 1972
- Papua New Guinea, #4
- $6.00, Amazon.com
- Read October 2016
- Rating: 3.5/5
Voices of Independence: New Black Writing from Papua New Guinea, ed. Ulli Beier, 1980
- Papua New Guinea, #6
- Borrowed from SFSU library, via SF library
- Read October 2016
- Rating: 3/5
Legends, Traditions, and Tales of Nauru
Legends, Traditions, and Tales of Nauru, Timothy Detudamo, 2008 (written in 1938)
- Nauru, #1
- Borrowed from SF library
- Read December 2016
- Rating: 3/5
- Recommended for: literalists
Custom Stories from Choiseul
Custom Stories from Choiseul, various authors, 1995
- Solomon Islands, #6
- Skimmed on Google Books
- Read September 2016
- Rating: 2/5
- Recommended for: incurable elaborators
Vanuatu: Substance without style
Black Stone, Grace Mera Molisa, 1983
The Story of the Eel, Elder Mark of Emil Potun, 2004
- Vanuatu, #2 & #3
- Black Stone: skimmed on Google Books; Story of the Eel: read online through JSTOR
- Read August, 2016
- Opening line (Black Stone): Ageless Vatu/ primeval source/ of creative forces/ ad infinitum
- Opening line (Story of the Eel): There was once an old man and an old woman.
Around the World in 2000 Books 