opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

1 - 10 November 2018

1 November: Governor General's Literary Awards | Cundill History Prize finalists | Translation from ... German to Arabic | Treatise on Modern Stimulants review
2 November: (American) National Translation Awards | Sudan/South Sudan Literature Week
3 November: Russian books auction | The most influential book of the past 20 years ? | The Frolic of the Beasts review
4 November: Q & As: Benyamin - Indrek Hargla | More on Louis Cha
5 November: Translating from ... Tamil | Murakami donates literary archive | In/Half review
6 November: Prix Femina | Russian women writers | Literature in ... Turkey | Nana review
7 November: Warwick Prize for Women in Translation shortlist | Prix Médicis | Kamala Markandaya | The Anarchist Who Shared My Name review
8 November: French literary prizes | South African Literary Awards | Christopher Lehmann-Haupt (1934-2018) | Childhood review
9 November: The Plot Against America - the mini-series | Adam Kirsch on Giorgio Bassani | Prix du Premier roman
10 November: National Museum of Korean Literature | Roy Jacobsen Q & A | I am a Cat review

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       National Museum of Korean Literature

       The South Korea Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has announced a site (in Gijachon, in northwestern Seoul) and funding for a planned National Museum of Korean Literature, due to open in 2022; see also the Yonhap report, Gov't to build Korean literature museum in Seoul's northwestern district.
       They promise:

We'll do our best to make the museum into a major hub for promoting literature.

       Sounds good.

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

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       Roy Jacobsen Q & A

       At hlo Gergő Melhardt has a Q & A with Roy Jacobsen: Nostalgia's a scar that's good to scratch from when he was at the recent Margó Irodalmi Fesztivál -- mainly about The Unseen.

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       I am a Cat review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Natsume Sōseki's classic, I am a Cat.

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       The Plot Against America - the mini-series

       About two weeks ago I mentioned the 92nd Street Y's staged reading of Philip Roth's The Plot Against America (and see now also Paige Williams' report on that, Reading Philip Roth After the Pittsburgh Massacre, at The New Yorker) -- and now they've announced that the novel will also be turned into a six-hour mini-series as, as for example Lesley Goldberg reports in The Hollywood Reporter, David Simon Fascism Drama 'The Plot Against America' a Go at HBO.
       There's certainly some potential here; it'll be interesting to see the results.

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       Adam Kirsch on Giorgio Bassani

       The Novel of Ferrara, collecting Jamie McKendrick's translations of Giorgio Bassani that have been appearing over the past few years, has just come out, and at Tablet Adam Kirsch offers an overview, in Giorgio Bassani's Memorial Tapestry -- noting that: "[The Garden of the Finzi-Continis] gains in meaning and resonance as part of The Novel of Ferrara, where it forms one panel in a tapestry representing the lost world of Ferrara’s Jewry".
       I have a copy and should be getting to it -- though probably piecemeal; meanwhile, see the publicity pages from W.W.Norton and Penguin Classics, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

       (Updated - 10 November): See now also Fernanda Eberstadt's review in The New York Times Book Review.

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       Prix du Premier roman

       French prize season putters on even after the announcement of the Goncourt and the Renaudot-winners -- with, for example, the prix Interallié only announcing its finalists yesterday (the winner to be revealed next week); see, for example, the Livres Hebdo report.
       Among the other prizes that named winners after the Goncourt-Renaudot: the first-novel prize the prix du Premier roman -- with awards for both a domestic work (Concours pour le Paradis, by Clélia Renucci) and a foreign one (The Sum of Our Follies, by Shih-Li Kow); see the Livres Hebdo report.

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

       French literary prizes

       They announced the winners of the two leading French book prizes yesterday.
       The prix Goncourt went to Leurs enfants après eux, by Nicolas Mathieu. The 2 Seas foreign rights page notes that US rights have gone to Other Press; see also the Actes Sud publicity page.
       The prix Renaudot went to Le Sillon, by Valérie Manteau; see the Le Tripode publicity page.

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       South African Literary Awards

       They've announced the winners of this year's South African Literary Awards; Dan Sleigh's 1795 won for best novel; see the Tafelberg publicity page.

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       Christopher Lehmann-Haupt (1934-2018)

       Longtime book-reviewer for The New York Times Christopher Lehmann-Haupt has passed away; see, for example, Robert D. McFadden's obituary in The New York Times.

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       Childhood review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Two Novellas by Gerard Reve, Childhood, just out from Pushkin Press.
       These have actually both been translated before, but were previously only available in anthologies; it's good to see them in dedicated-book form -- but there's still a lot of Reve to get into English .....

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       Warwick Prize for Women in Translation shortlist

       They've announced the shortlist for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation.
       The only title under review at the complete review is Daša Drndić's Belladonna, but I should be getting to some more of these.
       The winner will be announced next Tuesday, 13 November.

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       Prix Médicis

       Next up among the French literary prizes: the three-category prix Médicis; see, for example, the Livres Hebdo report.
       The fiction prize went to Idiotie by Pierre Guyotat (see the Grasset publicity page); several of his previous works have been translated into English; see, for example, the author page at MIT Press.
       The foreign novel prize went to Rachel Kushner's The Mars Room, and the non-fiction-prize to Stefano Massini's The Lehman Trilogy.

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       Kamala Markandaya

       At The Paris Review's The Daily weblog Emma Garman writes about Kamala Markandaya in her 'Feminize Your Canon'-series.

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       The Anarchist Who Shared My Name review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Pablo Martín Sánchez's The Anarchist Who Shared My Name, recently out from Deep Vellum.
       Martín Sánchez is a member of the Oulipo, but this isn't too constrained or tricksy a novel.

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

       Prix Femina

       French literary prize week began yesterday with the announcement of the prix Femina winners; see also the Livres Hebdo report.
       Le lambeau by Philippe Lançon won the fiction prize; see the Gallimard publicity page. The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott won for best foreign fiction, and Gaspard de la nuit by Elisabeth de Fontenay won the essay-prize.

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       Russian women writers

       In The Moscow Times Michele A. Berdy suggests The Women's Century: Five Russian Writers to Watch.
       English-writing Sana Krasikov is probably the most familiar in the US/UK, while Guzel Yakhina's Zuleikha is due out next year from Oneworld (see their publicity page); I hope we get to see more from the others in English.

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

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       Literature in ... Turkey

       In Hürriyet Barçin Yi̇nanç has a Q & A with the 'Writer of Honor' of the upcoming International Istanbul Book Fair, Selim İleri, in Readership in Turkey remains low ‘due to flawed approach in education’.

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

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       Nana review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Delacorta's Nana.
       This is the first in a six-book series -- all of which were translated into English -- but it's the second which is the best-known: Diva, the basis for the famous movie. Though they all seem long out of print currently .....

       (Delacorta is, of course, a pseudonym -- of Swiss author Daniel Odier; the only other of his titles under review at the complete review is ... his interview with William Burroughs, The Job.

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

       Translating from ... Tamil

       In the 'Meet The Translator'-series at Scroll.in Urvashi Bahuguna has a Q & A, Only a fraction of worthy modern Tamil books have been translated, says N Kalyan Raman -- the translator of the JCB Prize for Literature by Perumal Murugan, Poonachi.
       He notes:

Right now the selection of books for translation is guided by good intentions on the part of all concerned -- publishers, editors and translators -- but it is also haphazard to the extent that there is no invisible hand behind this process to ensure that the best works in a particular language are translated on priority. Even among contemporary writers, some are pushed forward through contacts with publishers and others, equally meritorious, are ignored. [...]

There is another flaw in the current process which needs conscious correction. Selection of texts for translation is highly skewed in favour of well-known books by famous authors, in other words, modern classics published at least a few decades earlier.

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

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       Murakami donates literary archive

       As The Japan Times reports, Haruki Murakami to donate novel manuscripts, other material to Waseda University, his alma mater.
       Apparently:

The materials include copies of his books translated and published in other countries as well as his extensive collection of music records.

       (And that's a lot: "his collection of vinyl records [...] total more than 10,000 copies".)
       He could have sold his archive for a tidy sum -- and: "he considered some other places, including foreign universities he has worked at".

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

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       In/Half review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Slovenian author Jasmin B. Frelih's In/Half, just out in English from Oneworld.

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

       Q & A: Benyamin

       In The Hindu Jinoy Jose P. is In conversation with Benyamin, the winner of the JCB Prize

       His Jasmine Days won the JCB Prize for Literature; see also my review of his Goat Days.

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       Q & A: Indrek Hargla

       At estonian world Edith Soosaar has a Q & A with Estonian author Indrek Hargla about reading, writing and publishing.
       He finds:

Realism and writing about yourself and every-day life are the main paradigm of Estonian literature. Those who dare to venture away from that mainstream do not write well yet.

       Peter Owen has published two of his Apothecary Melchior-novels; see their publicity page.

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       More on Louis Cha

       As I mentioned last week, Louis Cha (Jin Yong) has passed away. Among the interesting articles about him and his writing since then, see:

• I translated Chinese writer Louis Cha 'Jin Yong'. Here's why he never caught on in the West by Graham Earnshaw -- very interesting !
  
  
• The Literary Legacy of Louis Cha by Wu Haiyun in Sixth Tone

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

       Russian books auction

       On 28 November Christie's (London) is holding an auction of Russian Literary First Editions & Manuscripts: Highlights from the R. Eden Martin Collection -- 228 lots.
       The preview article highlights some of the most impressive of the lots; check out: From a rare first edition of Dostoevsky's masterpiece to the CIA-sponsored Doctor Zhivago. (The article says the auction is: "in New York on 28 November", but everywhere else says London -- for the viewings, too -- so .....)

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

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       The most influential book of the past 20 years ?

       In the Chronicle of Higher Education they asked "scholars from across the academy": 'What's the most influential book of the past 20 years ?', and their responses can be found in The New Canon.
       Close to all the titles are non-fiction -- and none are under review at the complete review.

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

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       The Frolic of the Beasts review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Mishima Yukio's The Frolic of the Beasts.

       Mishima was a prolific author and far too much of his work hasn't been translated into English yet (really, a lot), so it's always great to see something new -- and great that there's a bit more coming next spring, with Star; see the publicity pages from New Directions and Penguin Classics or pre-order your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

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

       (American) National Translation Awards

       The American Literary Translators Association has announced the winners of the 2018 National Translation Awards.
       Charlotte Mandell's translation of Mathias Énard's Compass won the prose category.
       Katrine Øgaard Jensen's translation of Ursula Andkjær Olsen's Third-Millennium Heart won the poetry category. (I have this, and will get to it eventually .....)

       They also announced the winners of the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize (Bonnie Huie's translation of Qiu Miaojin's Notes of a Crocodile), the Italian Prose in Translation Award (Elizabeth Harris' translation of Antonio Tabucchi's For Isabel), and the Cliff Becker Book Prize in Translation.

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

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       Sudan/South Sudan Literature Week

       The Sudan/South Sudan Literature Week started yesterday at P21Gallery -- and actually lasts ten days.
       Great to see some exposure for yet another country (well, two) from which we see far too little.

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

       Governor General's Literary Awards

       They've announced the winners of the (Canadian) Governor General's Literary Awards -- seven winners each in English and French, with The Red Word by Sarah Henstra and De synthèse by Karoline Georges the fiction winners, and translations of Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler and Explication de la nuit by Edem Awumey the translation winners.

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

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       Cundill History Prize finalists

       They've announced the three finalists for the Cundill History Prize -- at US$75,000, apparently: "the largest prize for a work of non-fiction in English".
       The winner will be announced 15 November.

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

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       Translation from ... German to Arabic

       At Qantara.de they have a Q & A with literary translator Nabil Al Haffar, who translates from the German to Arabic -- and an impressive range of authors and titles, from Peter Weiss to Christoph Ransmayr's Cox; currently he's working on Kafka.

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

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       Treatise on Modern Stimulants review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Honoré de Balzac's Treatise on Modern Stimulants, just out in a nice little edition from Wakefield Press.

       A fine complement to Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz's Narcotics, which Twisted Spoon Press brought out earlier this year .....

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

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