Lion

Destination: Botswana and Zimbabwe, Africa

Book: The Girl Who Married a Lion and Other Tales from Africa by Alexander McCall Smith

Since I was first introduced to Alexander McCall Smith through his funny, thoroughly delightful No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, the first of a series that has a world-wide audience, I have been curious about why a Scotsman is writing about Africa.

Not that he never writes about Scotland, but we’ll save those books for another day.  When I went to my library to poke around for more books in the series of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, I found that McCall Smith has also written several children’s books, and a couple of collections of folklore (not mentioning scientific papers in his role as a physician and a member of U.N. committees.)

I love the characters of the Detective Agency, and felt that I learned a lot about the culture and lives of people who live in Botswana. His keen ear for dialect makes you feel you are there. The wildly popular series now numbers ten. It is typical of his lovely sense of humor that Precious Ramotswe, “traditionally built” founder of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency writes a foreword for The Girl Who Married a Lion.

I finally got around to his web site, which you will find by clicking on his name, here, Alexander McCall Smith. It turns out that he grew up in Zimbabwe and part of his education was in Africa.

The short fables from Botswana and Zimbabwe retold in The Girl Who Married a Lion relate a way of looking at the world, tells you what sort of things are high priorities for people who live in the bush, and let’s you hear the voices of native speakers. They deal with drought, selfish behavior, fears of the wild animals, and magical powers.

I was struck at how often songs made up on the spot played a role in these stories.  I have always thought that learning a language teaches you a great deal about another culture, because it reveals assumptions and tells you what is important and not so important in that culture.  If you can’t learn the language, then folk tales run a close second. And Kerry Dexter is about to chime in here and say that nothing is better than folk music for teaching about a culture.

In these stories, although we don’t hear the music, we definitely see the thought process that goes into creating the songs that people use as an every day medium of expression.

Photograph from Flickr via Creative Commons, taken by “etrusia_uk”

Have you ever read folk tales of a country you are visiting to help you understand their culture? Share your thoughts here.

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Authors: Ian Rankin and Alexander McCall Smith

Nope, we’re not talking Loch Ness Monster here.  Some readers recommended some good mysteries for the traveler to read on the way to Scotland.

The British Isles seem to produce enormous numbers of mystery writers. But although Agatha Christie may have been the mother of the cozy mystery, Conan Doyle was not the first mystery story writer.  That distinction belongs to Edgar Alan Poe.

But back to Scotland, where some writers have attracted our readers’ attention.

Ian Rankin, chosen by reader Coleen, has an intriguing website that includes a map of Edinburgh with pinpoints for locations in his series of Rebus mysteries.  Rankin wrote a book a year about his popular detective from 1987 to 2007. The web site describes the importance of Edinburgh to the books. “Edinburgh plays an important role throughout the Rebus novels: a character intself, as brooding and as volatile as Rebus.” WELL! Surely a traveler to Scotland must read those books!

Alexander Mc Call Smith, says Jessie Voights. I have to agree that he is a fun, light read. I have only read one of his Scotland mysteries, in the Philosopher Club Series starring Isabel Dalhousie.  He has a second group of mysteries, the 44 Scotland Street series. The 44 Scotland Street cast of characters live in an apartment house, giving the writer plenty of room to develop characters and plots. It sounds like it is made for television. I first met him through reading his mysteries set in Africa, The Ladies’ Number One Detective Agency, which is guaranteed to make you fall in love with the characters and laugh all the way to the last page. Don’t miss Mr. McCall’s web site. It is a much fun as his books.

I’m sure there are many more mystery writers in Scotland and their fans will speak up. We’re listening….

And more about books for Scotland here: Books on Scotland Suggested by a Reader and Sounds of Scotland.

This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.

©2012 A Traveler's Library. All Rights Reserved.