opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

21 - 31 December 2018

21 December: Crossword Book Awards | Arab authors' 2018 favorites | New Quarterly Conversation
22 December: Writing in ... North Korea | Wild Animals Prohibited reviews
23 December: Red Circle profile | Archipelago Books profile | Prapanchan (1945-2018)
24 December: The Millions' 'A Year in Reading'-series | Eileen Battersby | Normans område review
25 December: Walter Abish profile | Dragon Island review
26 December: Best books of the year in ... the Netherlands (and Flanders) | The Dark Room review
27 December: The year in literature in ... Indonesia | Choice Cuts review
28 December: Nepal Literature Festival | Best Africa books 2018 ? | Best fiction on China ? | NYRB Classics covers
29 December: Amos Oz (1939-2018) | Speculative fiction in ... India | The Academy of Fisticuffs review
30 December: 100 bestselling books of the year in the UK | Q & As: Leonardo Padura - Bán Zsófia
31 December: Coming in 2019 ... | 'Books in the Media' aggregator | City of Ash and Red review

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       Coming in 2019 ...

       A new year, and lots of new books to look forward to -- and there are already quite a few previews out listing what to look out for. (Mainly big press titles, but it's a start.)

• Spring 2019 Adult Announcements at Publishers Weekly; click on the various categories
  
  
• Fiction and nonfiction to look out for in 2019 at The Observer, by Rachel Cooke and Alex Preston
  
  
• The 50 most anticipated books of 2019 at Entertainment Weekly, by David Canfield
  
  
• 39 Fiction Books Coming Out In 2019 To Add To Your Reading List For The New Year at Bustle, by Melissa Ragsdale
  
  
• The 25 Most Anticipated Books of 2019 at Esquire, by Adrienne Westenfeld
  
  
• Here Are 25 of the 2019 Books We Can't Wait for (so Far) at Oprah, by Leigh Haber and Michelle Hart
  
  
• Ten books to read in 2019 at the BBC, by Jane Ciabattari
  
  
• The 10 Most Anticipated Books Of 2019, According To Independent Bookstores at Forbes, by Rachel Kramer Bussel
  
  
• The Books We’re Looking Forward to in 2019 at Vanity Fair
  
  
• The books we can't wait to read in 2019 at Harper's Bazaar, by Olivia Ovenden
  
  
• Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of 2019 at Lit Hub, by Emily Temple
  
  
• Books We're Looking Forward to in 2019 at the Emerging Writers Network
  
  
• All the science fiction and fantasy books we’re looking forward to in 2019 at The Verge
  
  
• Books to look forward to in 2019 at the Irish Times, by Arminta Wallace
  
  
• What to read in 2019 in the Sydney Morning Herald, by Melanie Kembrey
  
  
• Most awaited books of 2019 by Indian authors My Nation
  
  
• These authors wrote some of the best books of the year. But what will they be reading in 2019 ? at Scroll.in

       At the Translation Database at Publishers Weekly there are already 124 works of fiction in translation to look forward to (well, actually a few less: some titles don't belong here: Happiness, as Such is the third translation of Natalia Ginzburg's Caro Michele; Anna Gavalda's Billie came out in English in 2015, Hallgrímur Helgason's Woman at 1,000 Degrees in 2018).
       Several are already under review at the complete review, including Daša Drndić's EEG, Karen Duve's The Prepper Room, and Dag Solstad's Professor Andersen's Night.
       There are, of course, more books than I can count (or want to list ...) on the database list that I'm particularly looking forward to, including ones by Ogawa Yoko, Mishima Yukio (already have my copy !), Oksana Zabuzhko, Krasznahorkai László, Antonio Lobo Antunes, and Enrique Vila-Matas.

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

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       'Books in the Media' aggregator

       I missed the beta launch announcement in November but the UK The Bookseller now has a book aggregator, Books in the Media.

       Since I last updated the meager aggregator list at the complete review, two more have bit the dust (and two remain inactive); hopefully, they can sustain this one.

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       City of Ash and Red review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Pyun Hye-Young's City of Ash and Red.

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       100 bestselling books of the year in the UK

       In The Guardian John Dugdale lists and offers an overview of The 100 bestselling books of the year: from Eleanor Oliphant to Michelle Obama (never mind that the year isn't yet over and books are still being sold ...).
       No million-copy sellers, but Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman was the runaway top seller of the year in the UK, selling 806,469 copies, more than 300,000 more than the second-best seller. I am ... completely unfamiliar with this title (but then not a single one of the top 100 is under review at the complete review ...), but you can get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
       Interesting also that:

Tot up the names, and you have 63 men credited, compared with 35 women; a big turn-around from last year's 50 women and 40 men.

       That is a large shift.
       Perhaps less surprising:

Look for an equivalent brainy strain of novels, however, and you'll find it challenging: literary fiction is scarcer than in 2017

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       Q & A: Leonardo Padura

       At the Los Angeles Review of Books Susannah Rodríguez Drissi has Writing Cuba: An Interview with Leonardo Padura.

       Quite a few of Padura's novels are under review at the complete review, notably the Mario Conde-novels, including Heretics.

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       Q & A: Bán Zsófia

       Bán Zsófia's Night School is forthcoming from Open Letter -- see their publicity page, or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk -- and at hlo they now have a Q & A with her, “Be prepared !” So, we were.
       While Amazon list an April publication date for this, it is, in fact, due out in a few weeks; I have a copy and look forward to getting to it soon.

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

       Amos Oz (1939-2018)

       Leading Israeli author Amos Oz has passed away; see obituaries in, for example, The New York Times (by Isabel Kershner) and The Guardian (by Julia Pascal).
       Several of his works are under review at the complete review:

• Black Box
• Panther in the Basement
• Rhyming Life and Death
• The Same Sea
• Scenes from Village Life
• The Story Begins
• Suddenly in the Depths of the Forest
• A Tale of Love and Darkness

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       Speculative fiction in ... India

       At The Wire Thomas Manuel finds Six Reasons 2018 Was a Game-Changer for Indian Speculative Fiction.

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       The Academy of Fisticuffs review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Sophus A. Reinert's The Academy of Fisticuffs: Political Economy and Commercial Society in Enlightenment Italy.

       I've long been meaning to get to his Translating Empire: Emulation and the Origins of Political Economy -- see the Harvard University Press publicity page -- but this new one jumped the queue (not that the queue is a very neatly ordered pile to begin with ...).

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       Nepal Literature Festival

       The Nepal Literature Festival ran 22 to 25 December.
       The Himalayan has some nice photographs -- but the festival was not without controversy: as Sailendra Adhikari reports in The Kathmandu Post, Nepal Literature Festival organiser fined for trimming tree branches as, rather shockingly: "organisers chopped the branches of 24 trees on the banks without taking permission".
       They did get away with slap on the wrist mere Rs 10,000 fine and the promise they won't do it again .....

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       Best Africa books 2018 ?

       At Quartz Africa Abdi Latif Dahir and Lynsey Chutel offer The best Africa books we read in 2018 -- captured in 28 words or fewer -- an interesting selection.

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       Best fiction on China ?

       At What's on Weibo Manya Koetse offers the Top 25 Best Fiction Books on China: Understanding Contemporary China through Modern Literary Fiction.
       The selection is limited to modern Chinese fiction -- works that have come out after 1978.
       Certainly some debatable choices, but an interesting selection; quite a few of the titles are under review at the complete review; see the index of Chinese literature under review.

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

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       NYRB Classics covers

       At The Los Angeles Times Aida Ylanan looks at 'The colors of NYRB Classics' in the slideshow, Cover to Cover -- a neat overview.

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       The year in literature in ... Indonesia

       In The Jakarta Post Sebastian Partogi offers 2018 in review: The peaks and valleys of Indonesia's literary scene.
       While aspects are troubling -- "Weakening sales continued at bookstores in 2018" -- there also seem to be quite a few positives.

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       Choice Cuts review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of French thriller-writing team Boileau-Narcejac's 1965 body-part-transplant novel, Choice Cuts.

       This is the second French novel involving a head transplant I've covered at the site this year -- the other being Hubert Haddad's Desirable Body.

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

       Best books of the year in ... the Netherlands (and Flanders)

       Always interesting to see what books make the best-of-the-year lists for 2018 abroad -- and there are quite a few from Dutch and Flemish sources, including:

• De 51 beste boeken van 2018 (and the three best book covers) at de Volkskrant
  
  
• De 20 beste boeken van het jaar at De Morgen
  
  
• De beste boeken van 2018 volgens onze recensenten at Trouw
  
  
• De beste boeken van 2018 at De Groene Amsterdammer
  
  
• Het beste van 2018: twaalf literaire toppers at Humo
  
  
• De beste boeken van 2018 at Knack Focus

       Several new titles from Dutch-writing authors that will hopefully make it into English, as well as a variety of books in translation, some already available in English, some not .....

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       The Dark Room review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Yoshiyuki Junnosuke's 1970 Tanizaki Prize-winning novel, The Dark Room.

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       Walter Abish profile

       At Tablet Jake Marmer profiles the author in A Is for Abish -- whose birthday it was yesterday.
       Apparently, his classic Alphabetical Africa is being re-issued (though Amazon only lists an October 2019 publication date; in any case, the old edition is still available).

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       Dragon Island review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Jacques Godbout's creative little 1976 novel, Dragon Island.

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       The Millions' 'A Year in Reading'-series

       The Millions' 'A Year in Reading'-series for 2018 is now complete, with links to all 74 participants' entries now conveniently available on that main page.
       Always a fun exercise, and lots of interesting responses.

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

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       Eileen Battersby

       Sad to hear that, as Marie O'Halloran reports in the Irish Times, Former Irish Times critic Eileen Battersby dies following car crash.
       Her reviews were mainly of fiction in translation, appearing often in the Irish Times, the Financial Times (including this weekend's edition), and elsewhere; I don't think any print-reviewer covered as many titles in translation as she did.
       Her novel Teethmarks on My Tongue came out from Dalkey Archive Press in 2016 (I have a copy, but haven't gotten to it ...) and Head of Zeus earlier this year; see their publicity pages (Dalkey Archive Press; Head of Zeus), or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

       (Updated - 25 December): Irish president Michael D. Higgins has issued a statement on her death, noting that: "to all those in the world of books, there will be a sense that a critic relied upon by so many readers, and respected by writers, has been taken from us". Dalkey Archive Press director John O'Brien has also issued a statement.

       (Updated - 27 December): See now also a nice batch of tributes in the Irish Times, Eileen Battersby: Inquisitive and brilliant, lonely and kind.

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

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       Normans område review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Jan Kjærstad's 2011 novel, Normans område.

       Kjærstad is yet another leading Norwegian novelist; his Wergeland-trilogy has been translated into English, but, surprisingly, that's it. (The second in the trilogy, The Conqueror, came out from Open Letter -- and is currently the only title listed at their site as sold out -- good, on the one hand (they sold out the print run !), disappointing, on the other (interest doesn't seem great enough to warrant a new print run ...).)
       This isn't a must-have-in-English volume, but more of his work should be available in English.

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

       Red Circle profile

       In The Japan Times Kris Kosaka profiles Red Circle Authors: Sending Japanese literature westward, as founders and directors Koji Chikatani and Richard Nathan explain:

Red Circle Authors is not strictly a publishing firm, nor is it an agency. Rather, they see it as a "home" for a group of established Japanese and Japan-based writers, helping to promote their work overseas while heightening overall awareness of the great depth and breadth of Japanese literature in the process.

       I've found the site a useful resource -- and have also reviewed two of their first 'Red Circle Minis', Stand-in Companion by Shiraishi Kazufumi and Backlight by Hanawa Kanji.

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

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       Archipelago Books profile

       In Publishers Weekly John Maher reports how The Final Volume of a Successful 'Struggle' Marks 15 Years for Archipelago, as the publisher has now completed the whole Karl Ove Knausgaard-cycle with the culminating My Struggle: Book Six -- and have apparently: "sold around 50,000 copies of the six volumes of the novel".
       They put out some very fine books -- with a distinctive look and feel to the physical volumes, too -- and many of them are under review at the complete review.

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

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       Prapanchan (1945-2018)

       Tamil author Prapanchan has passed away; see, for example, the Scroll.in report.
       His Sahitya Akademi Award-winning novel Beyond the Sky has been translated into English; get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

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

       Writing in ... North Korea

       At North Korean Literature in English there's a fascinating post on Kim Ju-sŏng on writing fiction in North Korea, a great look at a book recently published in Japan, by a North Korean author who defected, all about the North Korean literary scene, 跳べない蛙 北朝鮮「洗脳文学」の実体 ('The Frog that Couldn't Jump: The Reality of North Korea's Brainwashing Literature'; see the Futabasha publicity page).
       Lots of fascinating information, including about the workings of the Korean Writers' Union. Although: "Kim makes clear that his major motivation for aspiring to be a professional writer was the opportunity to live in Pyongyang", there seems to be a lot of worthwhile material here -- the extensive post sure points to a lot that's of interest; hopefully, US/UK publishers will pick this up.

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       Wild Animals Prohibited reviews

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of a collection of Stories, Anti-stories by Bengali writer Subimal Misra, Wild Animals Prohibited.
       Hopefully, we'll see some of his anti-novels in the US/UK soon too .....

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       Crossword Book Awards

       They've announced the winners of this year's (Indian) Crossword Book Awards -- not yet at the official site, last I checked, but see for example the Scroll.in report.
       Goat Days-author Benyamin won for best translated work with Jasmine Days, in Shahnaz Habib's translation; it had already won this year's JCB Prize for Literature.
       Leila, by Prayaag Akbar, won the award for fiction; Faber & Faber brought this out in the UK; see their publicity page or get your copy at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.
       There are also audience-selected winners, the 'popular choice' awards; The Boy Who Loved by Durjoy Datta won that fiction category.

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       Arab authors' 2018 favorites

       ArabLit collects a variety of Arab authors' 2018 favorites -- a great look at some interesting titles recently published in Arabic.

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       New Quarterly Conversation

       Issue 54 - Winter 2018 of the Quarterly Conversation is now available, covering the usual mix of interesting authors and books -- worth a look.

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

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