World book night top 100 lets make it a fresh list !!!
04 Aug 2011 25 Comments
in #translationthurs, A LIFE IN BOOKS, around the world, book awards, book news, questions, reading challenge, thoughts, world book night Tags: 2011, 2012, musings, NEW VOICES, TRANSLATIONS, world book night
Beside the sea world book night
This years world book night giveaways are to be decided by us the public by choosing our top ten books .I looked at the current top 100 and have to agree with Meike from Peirene it is a bit bland and from the perspective of winstonsdad the translation choices which there are at this moment ten book are what I would call the ones people think they should read or put in a list even if they’ve not read to look good (sorry needs to be said) .I love Murakami and Marquez but some diffeernt book here would be great open peoples eyes.Well Meike has suggest if we could all choose Beside the sea by Veronique Olmi it is a lovely french gem and is one of my all time favourite reads any way ,at moment 35 votes will get it in the top 100 I ve vote so 34 would do it come on lets help the nymph and the lovely ladies of Peirene make the list ,all of us bloggers and tweeters know how much effort this publisher puts into social media and interaction with its readers more than any major publisher does .So put your hand up and say yes I want the small guy to win for once because we all love the underdogs in this country lets for once get them there ,Meike has written a blog post about this too here ,thanks stu .I will be put up for giving away this time as I was too shy to volunteer last year .
My top ten -
Beside the sea by Veronique Olmi – reason a french gem touching and it will make you gasp if you’ve not read it !
Rings of saturn by W G Sebald reason started my love of translation and it is a book that can be reread and still make you think .
Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes – reason the first novel it has all in it that has followed since a true master piece .
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges reason he was a genius flash fiction avant grade fiction all look at this as a starting point
If on a winters night a traveller by Italo Calvino reason I love it and I know many people hate it but who can’t love a book that talks to you ?
My century by Gunter grass - reason short interlocking pieces covering the 20thcentury from the German master not his best but it is a good insight into Germany .
Cities of red night by William S Burroughs - reason he was a one off writer this book has all a young guy could want from a book and men shou,ld read more !
The last brother by Nathacha Appananah – reason a unheard corner of post ww2 history jewish refugees stuck on a tropical island told touchingly through two young boys tale .
Goodbye to all that by Robert Graves – reason my favourite memoir war is bad and read this you know it is ,a poets eye goes to war .
Walden by Henry David Thoreau – reason if more people had read this would the world be the way it is the simple life as he spent time in nature thinking whilst living in a wooden hut .
What are your choices ?
The discovery of Heaven readalong (from iris on books)
09 May 2011 6 Comments
in reading challenge Tags: 2011
I brought Harry Mulisch’s The discovery of heaven 1992 masterpiece a while ago having enjoy another of his books a long time ago and when Harry died in October I thought be time to read him again, then I saw Iris of Iris on books has organised a read along of the book ,so I thought I d join in with Iris a blogger I really like the book was voted best dutch novel by the Dutch newspaper NRC ,here is the piece about it from the NRC ,I used google translate ,and just about got the article .Micheal Orthofer has a page on Harry Mulisch ,with links to his many reviews of Harry’s work which like always have numerous links to paper reviews .He gave it a rare A+ in his review .The book was made into a film in 2001 starring Stephen Fry as one of the two main Charcaters here is the IMDB REVIEW .this starts later this week and runs through to June when it is Dutch Literature month on Iris blog you may want join in here is a good place to start the centre of Dutch Literature in translation many great books to choose from .
What dutch books have you enjoyed ?
Have you read this epic book ?
here we are and off the prince goes ,war and peace post 1
24 Jan 2011 5 Comments
in reading challenge, Russia Tags: readalong
I miss calculate pages but just means last weeks of reaalong .so what happen in the first 150 pages ,we meet the cast at some parties well that is how it felt there are lot people in this book to get to know ,this remind me of a tv show when you see the cast in the opening titles so you know who they are .Then Prince Andrei set off to were a tearful send off from his family his sister had a touching seen with him then his father gave him advice .The we see the troops (Hussar’s) depart ? I m hook so far ,little to many footnotes but the are helpful and I like the inclusion of the original french as Tolstoy wrote it in the russian version .
WHAT DID YOU LIKE ?
Bloggiesta wrap up and a question
23 Jan 2011 7 Comments
in MEME, reading challenge Tags: 2011, MEME
Well my quiet Bloggeista was a success .What I did -
- updated what I m reading and put all challenge badges up
- updated blogroll
- Start working on about me ,want make this perfect this time so another day or two to muse
- wrote two reviews
- commented on new blogs
This was quite productive given the time I had ,I also finished a book and read my first bit of war and peace .
Question -
I m not a huge audiobook fan but would like to try one or two anyone any suggestions on the line of what I read anyway or something simply brilliant that you’ve listen too in the past ? All suggestions welcome .
Norwegian wood by Haruki Murakami
22 Jan 2011 16 Comments
in Japan, reading challenge Tags: 2011, Asian fiction
Source – Library
I had a girl,or should I say ,she once had me ,
She showed me her room ,isn’t it good ‘Norwegian wood .
the opening of the beatles song that gave the book its title .
This is my first of many Murakami’s this year so I ve decide to scrap the usual bio start of my post for these and at end of year do a port all about the man and what I ve learned through the year of reading his books ,hopefully all of them if time allows .
So Norwegian wood I read a few years ago and loved it is what I call the classic Murakami style ,A young male and two females ,this has cropped up in other Murakami novels this is set in the sixties and told in a series of flashbacks by the Male Toru Wa\ntabe who on a flight remembers his First love Naoko and a wild lover Midori ,we see the loose morals of the sixties young people finding the feet in the world via drink ,casual sex all this is acted out in front of a soundtrack of modern jazz Miles Davies and beatles songs .Toru in his young days is like a moth caught between two lights the bulb like Naoko dependable and always constant and the candle like Midori a flickering siren for the young man .When you throw into the pot of this book a dying father in Midori case you have a tale that boils over and constantly has you wanting to turn over to the next page .for me one scene really touched me in the hospital Mr Kobayashi Midori’s absent father that return from Uruguay ,that is dying and he shares a cucumber with this old man touching and slightly funny at the same time seemed something that you have to be a master writer to pull off .
I m going to eat some cucumber if you don’t mind ,I said to Midori’s father .He didn’t answer I washed three cucumbers in the sink and dribbled a little soy sauce into a dish .then wrapped a cucumber in nori ,dipped it in soy sauce and gobbled it down.
mmm great I said to Midiori’s father .Fresh simple smell like life .Really goo cucumbers .A far more sensible food than Kiwi fruit .
Toru trying to get the dying mr Kobayashi to eat .an important incident in the book I think .
The book is how we deal with the shit life brings you when young you have it all loss death ,despair ,longing ,angst .All this through the older Toru eyes looking back on his youth .In some way this remind me of W somerset Maugham’s of human bondage Toru and Philip from that book seem like similar characters and both have to deal with the attraction to two women .
Winston’s score -
Kevin from wonder year thou a lot younger than Toru deals with a lot of the same things he does in the wonder years ,like a love divide with Winnie and new loves during the series and there is also the fact that the title music for this is a beatles cover
happy new year ,plans for 2011
01 Jan 2011 20 Comments
in reading challenge Tags: 2011
happy new year from us all
HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL .
Well first full year of blog gone by its been an eventful year on the blog .I passed my two main challenges so as a new year dawns it time to consider personnel challenges ,which I tend to stick to I ve sign for some great reading challenges for Italian books ,Murakami ,Bolano and reading the Myth .so my personnel goals are -
To read 130 plus books last year I managed 127 so this is reachable ,the is usually a couple of days each month I don’t read and should so will try to pass this .
Reach 90 countries Last year I read books from 61 countries have review 58 and have 3 left to review .Want add depth to world reading more this year so less new and more from new writers from places I ve read from this be end of every month starting with Italy in Jan then Hungary in feb .I ll read 4 or more books from each country and doing a couple thematic post on the country .
Also hope to comment better on other blogs and meet new bloggers .
What your plans ?
Italian reading challenge
23 Dec 2010 22 Comments
in reading challenge Tags: 2011
My friend dan on twitter gave me the eyes up on this challenge by book after book blog .Its a year long Italian reading challenge .The Challenge is to read 12 books over 2011 set in Italy or by Italian writers .I m going to do the later have a number of books lined up for January for a week of Italian reading .Want try and read 12 different writers from Italy over next year . to find out more look here
So I ve Calvino ,Eco ,Maurnsig ,Buzzati ,Sciascia and want to finally get to the collectiive writing project Luther Blisset and the novel Q which I got halfway through years ago but had to give book back to a friend .
WHATS YOUR FAVOURITE ITALIAN NOVEL ?
2666 XMAS TIME HAVING ROBERTO OVER FOR XMAS .
14 Dec 2010 27 Comments
in reading challenge Tags: 2010, latin american fiction
Well a quick post ,just wondering if any one fancy joining me with a Xmas readalong of 2666 Roberto Bolano’s masterpiece I m think starting about 20th of this month and reading through the Yuletide period and through to new year .I know its a busy time of year for people but any company be great as I tackle my second 900 plus book of the year .I ll be reading the us paperback version ,think it is same page count as UK version .
Novella reading wrap up post
07 Dec 2010 11 Comments
in reading challenge Tags: 2010
Had planned to do this yesterday ,but a visit to dentist and Tooth being taken out I thought it was just check up but the tooth needed taking out so had a few injections as I hate the dentist with a passion ,all due to my sweet tooth I do like my cakes and biscuits !!! Well this weekend Simon at stuck in books had a novella reading weekend well I ve managed to get through 4 novellas this weekend which was great ,may do this on my next weekend of in the new year still have a lot on the shelves to read .
THE FOUR NOVELLAS READ -
So I spent summer in Finland ,a small village in Argentina as it falls in to chaos ,a fisherman’s dilemma over a large pearl and its fall out and a young women’s romance in 1930′s china .Not a bad weekend review to follow in next few weeks .
novella reading weekend start post
04 Dec 2010 10 Comments
Simon over at stuck in books ,ask people to join in Novella reading weekend well I started last night with a funny dirty little war by the Argentina writer Osvaldo Soriano .a book that follows a village splitting and fighting as peronist and non peronist’s .a fast paced book so far and a new argentina writer to me .
next on pile after this is The Pearl John Steinbeck
