Movies and books relating life in a foreign country

If I remember ... there are answers in other posts ... but wathever ... let's do it again

I know a book that was adapted in a movie :
Fear and Trembling : A Novel ("Stupeur et Tremblements") - book from Amelie Nothomb - 1999.
Fear and Trembling  - movie adapted from the book - 2003.

Synopsis : a graduated belgian women goes to Japan because she's fascinated by this country. She perfectly speaks japanese because she lived in Japan when she was a young girl. The movie explains all her adventure inside a japanese company.

Take a look at the official english website : http://www.cinemaguild.com/fearandtrembling/

I've also bought "Are you experienced?" from William Sutcliffe (thanks Tom Cang)
You can have a look to this book review here: http://www.indiastar.com/rollason1.htm

Just in case some people don't know the two followings, I suggest that you take a look at them :

- Best foot forward by Susie Kelly or how a real englishwoman who just set up in France decides to cross her new country from west to east in a more than 550 miles hike... read the review

- Almost French by Sarah Turbull or how does look french life to a freshly new arrived autralian girl in Paris...and how it looks likes now after some years over there...
read the review


These are some of my favourites but there are of course plenty of others which speak about the way french people are considered by "outlanders" ... my next will probably  be a year in Provence by Peter Mayle (review)

I actually didn't like "Lost in Translation", but that may be because I was alone in the middle of no where China at the time of waching.  Harder to feel sorry for someone who is surrounded by other people at that point!

Trouble wrote:

I actually didn't like "Lost in Translation", but that may be because I was alone in the middle of no where China at the time of waching.  Harder to feel sorry for someone who is surrounded by other people at that point!

I like Annie Hawes' books about living in Liguria, northern Italy - Extra Virgin, Ripe for the Picking and A Journey to the South. She strikes the right balance between making fun of the locals and of herself, without being condescending or contrived. Wonderfully written, very funny and the food descriptions are mouthwatering.

Have you seen "L'auberge Espagnole" from Cedric Klapisch? It's a "must see" movie ifor who wants to discover the Erasmus program (it's a european student exchange program) and Barcelona

More info about this movie here: L'auberge Espagnole

Have you seen "The russian dolls"? It's the same story, several years later. I haven't seen it but I should definitely rent it!

Trouble wrote:

I actually didn't like "Lost in Translation", but that may be because I was alone in the middle of no where China at the time of waching.  Harder to feel sorry for someone who is surrounded by other people at that point!

haha! that is exactly what my wife said. she was in beijing at that time.

These are not talking about expatriates, but I've got two more interesting books to suggest if you want to travel without taking the plane (I actually read them in the tube)

One hundred years of Solitude from Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This saga will bring you to central/south america

Musashi written by Eiji Yoshikawa

This one will bring you to Japan (I haven't finished it yet but I like it)

Strangely, I've been living 16 years (out of 24) away and never came across expat-kind of books!
Never thought about that anyhoo!

It's fiction but 'After Hannibal', by Barry Unsworth was ok.

Sinbad wrote:

It's fiction but 'After Hannibal', by Barry Unsworth was ok.

What is it talking about (very briefly)?

Sorry, I was going to post a link to the Amazon page but I couldn't work out how to do it.

It's a story of life in a small area of Tuscany. It involves local businessmen, expat Brits, dishonest builders, crooked lawyers and all the sorts of problems that expats might experience in a foreign country, in a worst case scenario.

I will say "A year in the merde" by Stephen Clarke. It's not exactly a very good novel, but I find his perception of french's life really interesting.
I read this book when I was abroad and it permited me to understand some french practices like food. I think that this book depicts really well life in Paris... the problem, for me, is that the story is really funny from the beginning to the middle and then really boring.
Nevertheless I advice it for uncomplicated lecture!

When in Rome...
Pick up the collection of short stories, "Saving Rome" by Canadian writer/journalist Megan K. Williams. The only book I've read about expats in Italy that tells real stories about real lives -- not glossy, starry-eyed, recipe-filled, fictional ones. Characters are even allowed to be lonely, disenchanted and even angry. But they learn something about themselves and about their expat experience.

Although it is about first generation Indians on the American East Coast, another collection of short stories, "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri, really touched and exposed my expat core. Oddly I had lots of emotional connections with the various characters and their experiences. She is also a great writer (won a Pulitzer Prize for this book).

Interesting topic ! If you did like "A Year in the Merde", you should definitely check the second volume "Merde Actually".
I strongly advise to the people who have an interest in Latin America the film "Motorcycle Diaries", it tells the story of the trip by motorcycle across South America in 1952 by young Ernesto Gueverra. The story is moving, and the scenery is spectacular. One of the motto for this film is : "Let the world change you, and you'll be able to change the world."

I just read "A year in the merde" by Stephen Clarke and boy did I love it! Can't wait to read "Merde actually"!

Probably the most interesting book I've read in the 'expat' field is Conor O'Cleary's 'Melting Snow', an Irish journalist's account of his time spent in Moscow during Glastnost.

For a movie, I have to go with Midnight Express.

I have read the book "Are you experienced?" .

I really love the film, Under the Tuscan Sun. It's a semi-sappy chick flick about an American divorcee reinventing herself in Italy. I love it!

Oh, I didnŽt connect with Lost in Translation at all!  Basically, she was on holiday.

The best fiction book I have come across that described the alienation/discombobulation associated with being an expat is The Namesake.  It is about the experiences of an Indian family who moves to Boston and has children (the TCK!).  The wifeŽs disorientation and emotions were described perfectly (IMHO).

As someone who relocated to Ireland, I wanted to better understand the conflict in the north, I thought the following two were great:

Fiction: Eureka Street (http://www.betterworld.com/Eureka-Stree … 2-c-0.aspx) which had great pictures of the daily life of one guy in the city (though a local, not an expat, these stories are still important to understand the culture!)

Non-Fiction: Watching the Door (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter … 92501.html) which is the autobiographical writings of British journalist Kevin Myers as he reported about "The Troubles" for the BBC.  It's an amazing story and a good read!

As for my favorite expat read, which isn't an expat writing about their country, but is just expat writers, I love Hemingway's stories about Spain (particularly "The Sun Also Rises http://www.betterworld.com/The-Sun-Also … 5-c-0.aspx) and T.S. Eliot (originally from the midwest of America, son of a preacher, who became the preeminent critic of London in the Modernist era) particularly his Complete Poems and Plays (http://www.betterworld.com/Complete-Poe … X-c-0.aspx).