opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

21 - 31 March 2018

21 March: Jürg Laederach (1945-2018) | American Academy of Arts and Letters prizes | Trick review
22 March: Prix Jean d'Ormesson longlist | Festival Neue Literatur
23 March: Whiting Awards | The Neighborhood review
24 March: Philip Kerr (1956-2018) | Tawada Yoko reviews
25 March: Critical appreciation of Murakami lagging ? | Rein Raud on Baltic/Estonian literature | Desmond Elliott Prize longlist
26 March: Bologna Children's Book Fair | Weeping Waters review
27 March: Claus 2018 | Border Districts review
28 March: Rathbones Folio Prize shortlist | Teaching Russian literature in ... Russia | What makes a .... German bestseller ?
29 March: Latvian literary awards finalists | Angela Carter Q & A | Narcotics review
30 March: James Tait Black Prizes shortlists | Literature in ... Pakistan
31 March: Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay Q & A | 'Tournament of Books'

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       Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay Q & A

       At livemint Sana Goyal has a Q & A with Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay: 'India's Elena Ferrante'.
       Bandyopadhyay notes:

There was a time when mountains of literature from Russia, Europe and America used to be translated into Bengali. This stream has dried up completely now. But translated literature has found a new life elsewhere, domestic expression has found a huge global space. I think there will be much more of this in the future.

       Tilted Axis has published two of her works in translation, Abandon (see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk) and Panty (see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk). I have both, and should be getting to them eventually.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       'Tournament of Books'

       The Morning News' 2018 Tournament of Books has now concluded, pitting Samanta Schweblin's Fever Dream against multiple-prize-winning George Saunders ' Lincoln in the Bardo in the finals, with the title in translation coming out tops.
       Does this make the Schweblin -- also shortlisted for last year's Man Booker International Prize -- a frontrunner for the soon to be announced longlist for the Best Translated Book Award ? I have to admit, I didn't really take to it at first read -- but I'll probably revisit it (and would be surprised if it didn't make the BTBA longlist).

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       James Tait Black Prizes shortlists

       They've announced the finalists for the James Tait Black Prizes -- "Britain's longest-running literary awards" --, with four each in the two categories, fiction and biography.
       The winners will be announced ... 18 August. Which certainly gives the juries sufficient time to deliberate.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Literature in ... Pakistan

       In the Daily Times Muhammad Omar Iftikhar considers Pakistan's literary landscape, offering a decent introductory overview.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Latvian literary awards finalists

       They've announced the Latvijas Literatūras gada balva finalists, in four categories.
       Always interesting to see the local works getting prize-attention - as well as what's being translated locally -- in this case including works by Italo Kalvīno and Emīlija Dikinsone .....
       The winners will be announced 27 April.

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       Angela Carter Q & A

       At the TLS Kate Webb has a Q & A with Angela Carter, mainly about recently deceased (but many years before his decease) Wilson Harris.

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       Narcotics review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz's Narcotics: Nicotine, Alcohol, Cocaine, Peyote, Morphine, Ether + Appendices, a 1932 text now available in English in an attractive edition from Twisted Spoon Press.

       Witkacy definitely deserves more attention and readers -- notably for Insatiability, but also more generally .....

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Rathbones Folio Prize shortlist

       They've announced the (still eight title strong) shortlist for this year's Rathbones Folio Prize ('open to all works of literature written in English and published in the UK' -- all genres and forms, except what's written for kids).
       The winner will be announced on 8 May.

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       Teaching Russian literature in ... Russia

       Realnoe Vremya has a two-part Q & A with Aleksey Vdovin about Russian literature, and specifically how/what's taught in schools -- good, depressing fun: see parts one and two.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       What makes a .... German bestseller ?

       We've seen these sorts of books (and articles) in the US/UK -- e.g. Michael Korda's Making the List, or more recently Jodie Archer and Matthew L. Jockers' The Bestseller Code: Anatomy of the Blockbuster Novel (see the St.Martin's publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com) -- and now Jörg Magenau has written one for and about the German-language market, Bestseller (see the Hoffmann und Campe publicity page) and at Deutsche Welle Jochen Kürten has a Q & A with him, What makes a book a bestseller ?

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Claus 2018

       It's been ten years since Flemish author Hugo Claus died, and via I'm pointed to the Letterenhuis Claus 2018 activities and information -- and the nice overview at De Redactie, Hugo Claus remembered in unique exhibition.
       Several Claus works are under review at the complete review:

• Desire
• Even Now
• Greetings
• The Sorrow of Belgium
• The Swordfish
• Wonder

       But there's a lot more to get to (and a lot more that still needs to be translated ...).

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Border Districts review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of A Fiction by Gerald Murnane, Border Districts.
       This came out in Australia last year, and Farrar, Straus and Giroux is now publishing it in the US -- along with a fat collection of his stories. Will this be the big breakthrough for the often Nobel-touted author ?

       (Updated - 28 March): See now also Mark Binelli's breakthrough-helping profile in Thr New York Times Magazine, Is the Next Nobel Laureate in Literature Tending Bar in a Dusty Australian Town ? -- which suggests there's a case to be made that Murnane is: "the greatest living English-language writer most people have never heard of" .....

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Bologna Children's Book Fair

       The Bologna Children's Book Fair runs today through Thursday.
       Ed Nawotka previewed it at Publishers Weekly, in: Big, Bold Moves at Bologna.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Weeping Waters review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Karin Brynard's Weeping Waters.

       An English translation of this Afrikaans police procedural, the first in a (so far only two-book ...) series, came out in South Africa a couple of years ago, but now Europa Editions has brought out a US+ edition. I don't think it'll be quite a Deon Meyer-like breakthrough, but we'll see .....

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Critical appreciation of Murakami lagging ?

       In The Japan Times Damian Flanagan considers: Haruki Murakami: Literary lightweight or global superstar ?
       He suggests:

Yet for all the adulation, serious critical appreciation of Murakami’s works lags.

       The conferences he mentions -- at Newcastle University (40 years with Murakami Haruki), Strasbourg (Haruki Murakami au présent et au futur), etc. -- do suggest considerable critical engagement (as he notes: "These days, the diversity of critical research on Murakami is startling") -- though, yes, maybe Murakami isn't taken quite as 'seriously' as some other authors.
       An interesting overview, in any case.
       Among many comments:

[Motoyuki] Shibata cites contemporary authors such as Yoko Ogawa and Mieko Kawakami as examples of authors thriving in the post-Murakami style.

       Seven Ogawa-titles are under review at the complete review -- though three of these are not yet available in English translation --; see, for example, Revenge, while Kawakami is only beginning to appear in English; see, for example, the recently released Ms Ice Sandwich.
       Quite a few Murakami-titles are also under review at the complete review -- sixteen -- but not yet the latest, only appearing in English in the fall (pre-order your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk). Despite now already even having been translated into ... Burmese (among many, many other languages) .....

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Rein Raud on Baltic/Estonian literature

       In Publishers Weekly they offer Becoming the Baltics: Novelist Rein Raud Reflects on the Literary Life of His Region -- part of their useful Publishing in the Baltic Region 2018-overview. (The Baltics are this year's 'market focus' at the London Book Fair (10 to 12 April), hence the attention.)
       A few weeks ago the British Council also had a Q & A with Rein Raud.

       Two of his books are under review at the complete review: The Brother (which really should have gotten a lot more attention than it has) and The Reconstruction.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Desmond Elliott Prize longlist

       They've announced the longlist for this year's Desmond Elliott Prize -- a UK debut-author prize.
       I haven't seen any of these -- and I assume most haven't (yet ?) made it to the US -- but certainly some intriguing-sounding titles.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Philip Kerr (1956-2018)

       Sad to hear that Philip Kerr, best known for his many Bernie Gunther novels, has passed away; see, for example, Hannah Summers' report in The Guardian
       While I read the first, best, Gunther novels -- that first trilogy -- as well as favorites such as A Philosophical Investigation (and duds like Dead Meat and The Grid) before I started the site, several of his works are under review at the complete review:

• Dark Matter
• If the Dead Rise Not
• The One from the Other
• A Quiet Flame
• The Second Angel

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Tawada Yoko reviews

       The most recent additions to the complete review are my reviews of two works by Tawada Yoko:

• The novel The Emissary, due out shortly from New Directions
• The story, Time Differences, published as part of Strangers Press' Keshiki-series

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Whiting Awards

       The Whiting Foundation has announced their 2018 award winners -- the ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama who receive US$50,000 each, lucky them.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       The Neighborhood review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Mario Vargas Llosa's latest novel to be translated into English, The Neighborhood.

       This hasn't gotten very much US-review attention yet (the UK edition isn't out yet) -- with the notable exception of The New York Times, who have not only done the rare daily-edition/The New York Times Book Review double (admittedly both times in reviews that also cover the simultaneously-released essay collection, Sabers and Utopias) but also a very fancy profile in The New York Times Magazine. Yes, the guy's a Nobel laureate -- but this is ... a lot of coverage, for two not-very-good books ..... Perhaps not the best allocation of limited literary coverage/review resources ?

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Prix Jean d'Ormesson longlist

       French author Jean d'Ormesson died last year -- but at least there's a prix Jean d'Ormesson now, with a focus on classics that have fallen into some obscurity, and they've now announced a twelve-title longlist, with lots of modern translations: works by Chinghiz Aitmatov, Gerald Durell, Gerald Durell, Claudio Magris, Eric Newby, William Styron, and Inoue Yasushi (The Hunting Gun) among them. A pretty solid line-up.
       The winner will be announced on 6 June.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Festival Neue Literatur

       The Festival Neue Literatur -- bringing: "new writing from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States" to New York -- runs tomorrow through Sunday.
       This year's theme is: Insider | Outsider.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

       Jürg Laederach (1945-2018)

       Swiss author Jürg Laederach has passed away; see, for example, Paul Jandl's Neue Zürcher Zeitung piece.
       He wasn't widely translated into English, but Semiotext(e) brought out 69 Ways to Play the Blues (see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk) and Dalkey Archive Press brought out The Whole of Life (see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk), so that should tell you something .....

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       American Academy of Arts and Letters prizes

       The American Academy of Arts and Letters has announced that Thomas Pynchon has been awarded the inaugural biennial US$100,000 Christopher Lightfoot Walker Award, "which recognizes a writer of distinction who has made a significant contribution to American literature".
       They've also announced their (other) literature award winners -- eight 'Arts and Letters Awards in Literature'-winners, and the winners of seven other awards.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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       Trick review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Domenico Starnone's Trick -- just out in English, from Europa Editions, in Jhumpa Lahiri's translation.

(Posted by: M.A.Orthofer)    - permanent link -

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