opinionated commentary on literary matters - from the complete review

The Literary Saloon Archive

11 - 20 December 2023

11 December: narrating eu:rope | Yambo Ouologuem | Time's top 10 fiction titles of 2023
12 December: Words without Borders 2023 favorites
13 December: Zurab Karumidze (1957-2023) | Poetry sales in ... the UK | Distress review
14 December: Worst fiction of 2023 ? | Ted Morgan (1932-2023) | A Shining review
15 December: IPAF longlist | Booker Prize judges announced | Translations from ... Hungarian, 2023 | The Gold Seekers review
16 December: Akunin and Bykov books no longer for sale in Russia | Barrios Book in Translation Prize longlist
17 December: Chinese literature in English translation 2023 | 10 most-read PW book reviews
18 December: Best book lists | Nabokov course | The Necessary Angel review
19 December: Wicked Weeds review
20 December: Bestselling memoir | 'Werther's World'-exhibit

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       Bestselling memoir

       Guinness World Records have announced that Kuroyanagi Tetsuko's Totto-chan has now set the record for 'Most copies published for an autobiographical memoir by a single author' -- 25,113,862 copies through 1 September of this year; see also, for example, the Kyodo News report and the Kodansha press release (warning ! dreaded pdf format !)..
       See also the Kodansha US publicity page for Totto-chan.

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

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       'Werther's World'-exhibit

       2024 will be the 250th anniversary of Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther, and at the Deutsches Romantik-Museum they'll have a twelve-part exhibit on Werthers Welt -- Werther's World; see also the Börsenblatt report.
       I wonder how they'll deal with the 'Werther effect' issue (see e.g.) ...

       The Sorrows of Young Werther isn't under review at the complete review, but Ulrich Plenzdorf's seminal modern East German take on it, The New Sorrows of Young W., is.

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

       Wicked Weeds review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of A Zombie Novel by Pedro Cabiya, Wicked Weeds.

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

       Best book lists

       Of best books-lists there is, of course, no end at this time of year, but among those of possible interest -- and freely accessible -- see now also the Foreign Affairs' reviewers The Best of Books 2023 and writers from The New European reporting on The best book I've read this year.

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

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       Nabokov course

       In the Cornell Chronicle Kathy Hovis reports how Class explores Nabokov as writer and ‘butterfly man’, as: "Nabokov’s deep interest in and connection to the natural world and his cross-pollinating interests in the sciences and the arts were the focus of a new seminar" -- COML 4103

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       The Necessary Angel review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of C.K.Stead's The Necessary Angel.

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

       Chinese literature in English translation 2023

       At Paper Republic Eric Abrahamsen offers the 2023 Roll-Call of Chinese Literature in English Translation -- noting that: "After several years of steadily-increasing numbers, the shelf shrank a bit this yea".
       Still, quite a few titles -- whereby Sinoist: "accounts for more than a quarter of the books on the fiction list".

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

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       10 most-read PW book reviews

       Publishers Weekly has published its list of The 10 Most-Read Book Reviews of 2023 -- always interesting to see.
       I haven't seen any of these.

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

       Akunin and Bykov books no longer for sale in Russia

       As Reuters reports, Russian publisher, stores drop writers over pro-Ukraine comments -- those writers being the very popular Boris Akunin and Dmitry Bykov; see also the terse АСТ statement (though Akunin is still listed -- extensively -- at their site).
       Disappointing/weird that:

Both authors made the comments in phone calls with people who they thought were senior Ukrainian officials. In reality, those were Russian video bloggers and comedians who have made a career out of publicly embarrassing the Kremlin's foes.

       But their comments/attitudes certainly don't embarrass them.

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

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       Barrios Book in Translation Prize longlist

       The (American) National Book Critics Circle has announced the longlist for this year's Barrios Book in Translation Prize -- bizarrely, not at their official site but here, at The Hub.
       None of the twelve are under review at the complete review -- and I've only seen three of them .....

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

       IPAF longlist

       They've announced the longlist for this year's International Prize for Arabic Fiction, 16 titles selected from 133 books.
       The shortlist will be announced 14 February 2024.

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

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       Booker Prize judges announced

       They've announced the judges for next year's Booker Prize, with Edmund de Waal to chair the 2024 judging panel, which then also consists of Sara Collins, Justine Jordan, Yiyun Li, and Nitin Sawhney.
       The longlist will be announced in July.

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

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       Translations from ... Hungarian, 2023

       hlo helpfully rounds up the Hungarian Books in Translation 2023 that came out in English.
       Only one of these is under review at the complete review is Omar Sayfo's Allah's Spacious Earth; the only other one I've seen is Barcode.

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

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       The Gold Seekers review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Augusto Monterroso's The Gold Seekers, out recently from Sublunary Editions.

       I've long admired what little of Monterroso's work is available in translation -- Complete Works and Other Stories was the sixth review posted at the site, in 1999 -- and it's great to see at least a bit more now available. Hopefully, it will lead to more .....

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

       Worst fiction of 2023 ?

       Along with the many 'best of the year'-lists, there are far too few worst-of ones -- but at least we can always depend on Steve Donoghue to round some up -- and his The Worst Books of 2023: Fiction ! is now out.
       One of them is even under review at the complete review -- though *just* the tenth-worst, Rebecca Makkai's I Have Some Questions for You.

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

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       Ted Morgan (1932-2023)

       Ted Morgan/Sanche de Gramont -- Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of biographies of W.Somerset Maugham and William S. Burroughs, among others -- has passed away; see, for example, Bob Drogin's obituary in The Washington Post.

       I'm still disappointed that when he went for the anagrammatic name-change he didn't opt for 'Dr. Montage'.

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

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       A Shining review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Nobel laureate Jon Fosse's latest, A Shining -- out now in English from Transit Books (in the US) and Fitzcarraldo Editions (in the UK).

       And while I am not a hat/cap wearer, even I hope I'll get a Jon Fosse cap for Christmas !

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

       Zurab Karumidze (1957-2023)

       Georgian author Zurab Karumidze has passed away; see, for example, the Agenda.ge report.

       Dalkey Archive Press brought out his Dagny a while back -- though he wrote that in English.

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

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       Poetry sales in ... the UK

       In The Bookseller Tom Tivnan reports that in the UK Poetry on course for a record year (presumably paywalled), as: "the category might crack the £15m mark for the first time by 2023’s end" -- led by titles by Donna Ashworth and Rupi Kaur, taking up four of the top six slots, with the top seller shifting ... 20,276 copies so far this year; see the sales chart of the top twenty titles.

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

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       Distress review

       The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Greg Egan's 1995 novel, Distress.

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

       Words without Borders 2023 favorites

       At Words without Borders "staff members share their favorite translated books of the year and the titles they're most looking forward to in 2024", in The Best Books We Read in 2023 -- And What We’re Looking Forward to in 2024.

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

       narrating eu:rope

       They've announced that The EU launches new website to introduce the wealth of European literature to Japan -- "enabling Japanese bibliophiles and publishing professionals to explore the thriving, multi-cultural literary landscape of the EU", narrating eu:rope.
       Looks like a good idea, to have information about/from all the EU members at a single site.

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

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       Yambo Ouologuem

       In The Observer Vanessa Thorpe writes how African writer ruined by row with Graham Greene finally gets chance to shine, as Penguin Classics will be bringing out a new edition of Yambo Ouologuem's Bound to Violence in the spring (as Other Press already has in the US) -- occasioned, of course, by the appearance of Mohamed Mbougar Sarr's prix Goncourt-winning The Most Secret Memory of Men in English.
       It's certainly good to see it in print and getting attention.

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

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       Time's top 10 fiction titles of 2023

       Like many other outlets, Time has announced its top 10 fiction titles of 2023.
       The only one of these that I've seen is their top choice -- Catherine Lacey's Biography of X.

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

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