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8/26/16

Review: A Contented Man and Other Stories by Zoë Beck, translated by Rachel Hildebrandt

https://weysis.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/zoe-beck_a-contented-man_lweyward-sisters-publishing-07-2016.jpg?w=573&h=860A Contented Man and Other Stories by Zoë Beck, translated by Rachel Hildebrandt (Weyward Sisters Publishing, 54 pages, August 7)


Zoë Beck's dark, haunted collection is Weyward Sisters Publishing's second offering (see my review of the first- Snow Flurries and Other Stories), and it will make you clamor for more.

Each of the four stories- "A Contented Man", "Rapunzel", "Still Waters", and "Flann, the Púca"- showcases Beck's talent for crafting quietly horrifying tales, be they stories of obsession, blood feuds, or creatures out of folklore. They are told without embellishment, building up slowly but inexorably to disturbing ends.

In Translation: July Fiction and Poetry

I’m very excited about the fiction and poetry out in translation this month: we have the first book of Mongolian poetry to be published in the U.S. (thank you, Phoneme Media!), fiction from Jordan about the aftermath of the Arab Spring, a new novel by award-winning Mexican author Carmen Boullosa, and a work of experimental fiction by Chile’s Alejandro Zambra. It’s going to be a good month, guys.


Boullosa Before by Carmen Boullosa, translated by Peter Bush (Deep Vellum Publishing, 120 pages, July 26)
A bildungsroman, ghost story, and revenge novel all rolled into one, Before has won Reforma’s “Best Novel Published in Mexico” award and the Xavier Villarutia Prize for Best Mexican Novel. Here, Boullosa explores the end of innocence through one woman’s return to the scenes of her childhood.




Goodbye, Elie Wiesel, and Thank You

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/elie-wiesel1.jpgYes, 2016 has felled many well-known writers, musicians, and other cultural icons, but the recent death of Elie Wiesel is, for me, particularly upsetting. I don’t know why, but I’d always assumed that he would be around forever, reminding us of our better natures and the strength and hope of basic human morality.

You’ll find many remembrances of and interviews with the Auschwitz survivor, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and prolific author in the coming days, so this post will focus on his most well-known works. After all, Wiesel is no longer physically with us, but his words live on, and that is crucial when we remember the millions of victims of the Holocaust.

(You can find a complete list of Wiesel’s books here.)


8/10/16

Review: The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes

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cuxbqaaGp2HLTV0nRCFwMEpGI3+yBv+PJeQ7C1xwklu4kWJQXV9J5lUuibIHxnrRuBzLTmDyKdVWSVlQZXtDXOAa7CLF+Vs+JNlDoTlJM7o2u61yLudfeBv7TYc0hNgygb0fF17uPfu7B71RYYmxv8Al3Fp06Nvpd/2e/Pkq5ZThLGARxn6rd/adT/VlG2HLeouIPJArdVdR5M/R8lv3x8AuYtzXT+TH0fJ60+AQZZzgqahwzJkI95SJ6KDEPSl4bglVO+XqBwld4pFpLYwdzfYvLfbvPSVOySSRgysXDLjyXYgBoAAsBkAFzeyWF9fELDCLuJ7F0i6cP1jmEk0ltgIQgKAsmhAVEgvL27+zH+I/gvTXl7e9CnP8RViVx036x4/iKrIyVkuUjx/EVDctCB3KN7HkpYSSLKJyIFkCJCeIptY5zsItc8XAD2lTJiivhtM7iQQwdg1PflyKAbC57S/JkY+u82b3cddAmXsi/UNJd+8eMx2DQe89ihJI6V+J7rnd/8ANylH1pGsHpONhfIXUFbi5zyXXc4nMnMlGEucA0Fx4AXVz2vildG9pDmmzmkWspzPgYLRNJJaMw43AyOu5wI1AzB3IItpbFpmdYOBc0BwbiAto45aE97ba5Kqpe2R4fnjcPlMsi7iO3XtJRJI+aRznE9ZxfhGQBOuSThkFRXcrqPJf6Ok9cfALl7rqfJgW2dJ60+AQYKhw89n49IfFIS3N7rNWl4rqjL+9d7LlTpKeorHhtPG99zmQMh2lcbxdJXv7FicalrrdVjcRPbkF7yybPpPNIbEh0jjdxHgFqzWuMyM8rtCSLlGaqBCM0woBCErqiQXm7cF44D/ABHwXpBebt35vD/1/gqlcbUAmok44joqc76q+ozqJTxcVQctdVoIHO17IN3HLcloc0Z5Z80BhyJSyuVI5kW1UL5+CA3dilHkQb2KQzTuAL70F09Q+YNac2R5NuBiA3C/AcFW5nvTaerdGLPmggMjqpOsRogkXy0SJGpQQLV0/kz9HyetPgFzJdyyXTeTJvs+T1p8Ag5+tF9p1HEzO/8AZfRsNuqNBlkvnNf9I1XrX+JX0GilNRRwTHWSNrj22Wb7VaE8k0WQQNuCFK2aVlAs0J2RZAITshABebt35tF6z8F6a83b3zOPlJ+BViVxs/zmQfxFZybGy0VBJqpL64is5zJ7VoBN3BLtTvyI4oxANsc0EXck8jrlwSOtt6TjnmUEhlqpAXNt/AKL2SR2EkbmYhduJpFxxW8Yfyb51Q44JoXhs+F+ZH1Xdl8iNEGHTVDua27R6KoEVZGWRmZt5ItCHg2JA4HX2rATwQO+gF+SnKx4bnG4W1OEop6iSmeXROLCRYkbwrG184veeQjhfVakl9pWW+eq6jyZ+j5PWnwC8ZtaXA/KA8jGDde/sKTpaJzsLG/KHJgsNAnLjJ/SVzNf9I1PrX+JXdbCudi0lzfqW964WvH9o1PrXeJXbeTRxbEgBN8JcPeVzrT00JoQR3oTS3KBITQgSE0IEF5+3R+hM9YPAr0V523fmDfWDwKsSuLq/nLzxKzq+syqnjgVnvvC0JaqwU0hpn1AwGONwa6zhdt9CRuCUFPLVyiOnjdJIdAP6yVlBVCkqMUzS6nkBjmZxade8aqBU0UlS5tJGIAZHAh8hAN+APA8FCB4p6sSTwueGEh0eLC69iNdxBz7lOspnUdU+Fzs2kOZIPrN1DgpbRniq5GTsuJXsHTjD1S/eR25HTvQaeibFT1Gza49GYHB8crwSBIRctyzwkeF+SxQ1L6bpBA4t6RpYSRe7Tusq5JpZy0yySSFos0vcTYcBdQVDdmSb3vmTxUTkMkb1po6OSpjkeyKWbo3NBji9LO+ehyFuG9BnB5JAZ3WmqpJqOa0sEsIcSWCQZ27d6pba9ygsggMrwwZuJXW7Lg83pcA+1f3Bc/spoMzpB9UZLpaN5kiJPFc9+eN58dclXC20Kk3/vXeJWik2rWUkBhp5ujYDithBzWPaDiNoVI/zXeJVAflkt4y63ZXlI6VwhrGgv3PGV17H5Ri4f8AkF89bKQ4H6w0XuUczZ4xYsxaEE2UqOnFfGR6P/kEefx/ZPtC8Q0U+uFoHIqHms32VB7n5Ri+w72hNtfEfqu9y8IU8tx1Ce5BgeMixx7EHvHaEQ+q/wByX5QjOjH+wfzXPmOT93J7Cjo5t0cnvVHRCsjJybJ/+Vh2zUNlpA0NeCHg5i24rzAybcyX3qEgla09KJAN172RK80zU0e0Gvq4OmjDusMVgBxsNbcFHbVK6l2i/PHFL8pE7cWnd3aexKWB9TXNghF5JHWAJsramVw2OKSqH6RS1BjiOt22OIX4D+Sqq5Wtloo66ijEElO4MmZHfqnVrxe/Yc9QltV0MswqInhskoDpobG8b/rcrXWKOWSJ5dDI+MkWJY4gkdyjoLblRdPUyzMjje68cTQ1jRoB+O9UXKCc1bTU81VJgp48b7EgXAvbPK+vYgrud6CST2LdsqOCqfJA5p85ewmnkL7DHbIW58VY15r9nvbUvtU0huySQ2Lmk2LCTvBzHeECfCyibSySMjnhnhxYbZvdncYvq2NtOHNY4j0E7TLjDSBiwOs7CRqOehV0NbURxGFpa+EnEGSMDwDxFxks7s3EkknUlBZLUOdC2EYuja4vGJ2I3IF8+5VXvrklzUntc3DiFri4QenskD5S3JdFRfqe9c7skgB5OdiF0NB+pdb7RXH7un1cltBo/KFSf811/aVS1jSLki3Aq2vP9oVXrX+JWbFftXVzN0ds2nJMOOAEEgtO5IOzvdSNnXwC19WoPU2ftiRgEU0hLbWBO5eqKyaws5pB34QuS5LfQ7QMREc1zH7wpZ+D3vOpW6Oaf9qXn0wyAjJ/6AshmhGfSNLTorG4Xtux4cPBZ1Grz6bIFsR/2BA2hOQOqy/YszcJNjrxSLTi7U0aztCYCxDD3KmerknYY3hgbrkFTlqk30rFWUryawEVDjob3BGoWZ73vdikc57jq5xuStdfYVDxwU9kwUlVViGoe8SSNIiy6oduvvPZyWlecTYd9rpgF5DWi7ibAL2dm1FTSzVVPWlphwOjdFLIGsc7QBt8rdm7uXnT09Xsqqjxt6OdlnscCCDwI3Kis0jzSmpY9ksTX4H4CbsJ0vcaHitlHI6voX7Pe75WO8tKbgZgdZl+BFyrHTxUcjyJY6qnqYevG02c5xsXF2XVINyO7mvMc7E95zAeSSL7r6c0AxzopGuaes0ggtO/UZj8FZPM+omdLMQXuJJsABc8gq9Mym04shbtJsgjclXxxMkp3yl+UYzA1HA8xewPaFOSCKBxu+5IOFpzLTe1j2WOe8gZWKpkle6V8gcWukFnYTbLh2ckFzZIobYWmQ4MjfiDccrH8eOWd73SPu4oAGFSxNiZewLr5A70G7ZhsXi+oBXRbOIdA4g/W48guJMjnix0vewyXVeTQtQSC/8AenwCx496u9Y5zaP0hVeuf4lZwcrFenXdD57UXaC7pHZd6yXgIzbnwWtRRlxskTmr8UA1jPtQDBuaU0VONxivc71FaAKc63vxTwU5PpEcE0ZrrRSVD4JmlrrC+d1B8LcN2PBO9u9Uq+x1LsJbjLw1vG6icyLOBbucNFzjp5HgBziQMkzVSmJsWI4G5gLHiY6LIaEHsQWm9znb3rxItoysjLSA47nHUJxbSnjeSTiBOYKZUxbtC7ql261rZ8ll6zbFtw4WIcNxV09c2Z5e5haeWayvmuRZotwW1eztTotoUlNtF0kcUzx0crXauI+s0D+swvNrKt1U2njz6Knj6NmLU8Sf5clEfLDEXEuAtmdANFFseLFY3sLm24cUFYtdSIzU7thLJHxCRh3ONg4abs9xWiWuhbK0xMxOY3o7vzGGwsOdsxzFkCjZ0E2GoHR3u0SfYcDy5jPkexRlq3dZsIEbXDPDzzPvJtyNlmMocRiLiLWF924e6yA9uZPcCc0DFwddUy1x0UHSj6osnC+R0jbZ910FuFsTbvOZ3Kh+J5ByHAA6KwsMjsTnk8bblW+NrLA3JtfgoAtsbarqfJm/5Pkv+9PgFyYJbfC4hdV5LfR0nrj4BBzu0T/aNV65/iVRfmr9oj+0ar1z/ErPZVTQkhAyTxSSTVAHEb0yDa+5K9lNpBvdQQQm5tsxp4KKokEroGqDkgYQU2Rve8NDcyL55WHE8BzV/QxQNxTnE4jqstob7+yzgdN2qgqgjfNI1sbS65DbXte+6/Eq4TMp5X4A1wDscbm6EEeib52IOY19qolqHSyOkF2lwAdY62t7BcXtuVaCySaSX03EjhfLS3tsBmq9EIVAhCtjjbYulNmjdvKgjEzGSToOKm54a3CABbU7yiSXE0MYMLW6cT2qsW3qIsY8DOxUHPJNzmkcjlokVcUYr8l1fkt9HSeuPgFyd11fkr9GyeuPg1Bz20T/AGjVeuf4lZ1ftH6RqvXP8SsyCWSRsEkIGgpJIGhAQgkHW79yCN4UU2mxugSvppYo5w6VptcEPbmWEG9wNDzB15Ko58iokEINL6s4iYmCPFmbaYswS0bgQbEHL3LO65JJJJO8pAlMHVAktEc07HegEJhvwRzKB5blEnNF+CRN9yB3Re6V0IGhJCoYXV+S30dJ64+DVyYK6zyW+jpPXHwapRzu0fpGq9c/xKzLVtH6RqvXP8SsqAQmjUZIEhFiEWQFwi6EIBJNCABsbqTusLgKUfREASYtcy3W39fgrcNI14AfKW3tfLIZ5+CDOAd+SC3O2ivPmwc4XlwjQi2abfNSHAiQH6pHd8fagojtoRdS8Fa1tPxkBzy4f1kqpcGM9FiwbsWqITQSbYstFEgoBAPJM2L+qb3QQGaeHii2F6DqUUrWKEDVGhQCEwL9qR3qhDVdb5LfR0nrj4NXJLrPJX6Nk9cf/VqghU+TXT1Ms3neHpHl1ujva5vxVf5q/wCs+6+KEKA/Nb/WfdfFA8lrftn3XxQhA/zXy+efdfFL81v9Z918UIQH5rD/ABn3XxR+awt87+6+KEID81h/jPu/ij81v9X918UIRC/NX/WfdfFP81s7+efdfFCEAPJYj9s+6+Kf5r20rPuvihCB/mz/AKv7r4oPkwD+127I/ihCCI8lgP2s29X8UDyVsbis+6+KEIGfJcH9r+7+KR8lgf2u3/b+KEIEPJW37Z918Uz5LX/bPuvihCAHktbSs+6+KR8lb/tn3XxQhA/zVH+M+6+K9XZWz/ybTOh6TpMTy6+G24DjyQhB/9k=The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes (Knopf, 224 pages, May 10)

I've been a Shostakovich fan for a long time, but not entirely because of his oeuvre (I love some of his music, but not all). It was also the Shostakovich mystique that intrigued me- that aura surrounding the composer's life and the questions that dogged him even after death.

And then I heard about Julian Barnes's biographical novel based on Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich's life under Soviet terror and I knew I needed to grab a copy immediately.

8/6/16

Review: Before by Carmen Boullosa, translated by Peter Bush

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51ULFwpumSL._SX316_BO1,204,203,200_.jpgBefore by Carmen Boullosa, translated by Peter Bush (Deep Vellum Publishing, 120 pages, August 2)


First published in 1989, Before is the kind of novel that constantly points back to itself, emphasizing its own hyper-real narration and downplaying, if not outright obfuscating, important "facts." For instance, is the narrator dead? Is Esther actually her mother (seems so), but then why won't the narrator refer to her as her mother for most of the book? I could go on..

Not having certain answers, though, doesn't matter here- it doesn't matter if the narrator is dead because her words are extraordinarily alive. Take this passage in which she reflects on "memory":

I wouldn't dare live through what I experienced as a child because, once recollected, the facts turn into dangerous needles that could sew up my heart, sear my soul, and turn my soul into strips of dead flesh. As we live we hardly realize that we are alive...To relive what we've seen by the lucid light of memory would be unbearable and, as far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't be brave enough. (68)

Throughout the novel, the narrator explains that she is gripped by fear, hounded by it even, and her world is not the stable world of objects and people that are what they seem. Rather, as in this passage, even the act of remembering is fraught with danger, because something as intangible as that can transform itself into threatening needles. She constantly hears footsteps and roams the house at night searching for their source (but to no avail). At times, she encounters other girls who also hear these steps, but one disappears and the other never discusses it.

And then, without warning but nonetheless seamlessly woven into the plot, the magical realist elements emerge: a dresser that can transform drawn objects into tangible ones, shadows without corresponding objects, magical stones that take away the narrator's dreams...

Everything is in flux and in motion in Before, corresponding to the narrator's emotional and psychological state leading up to and including the twin traumas of losing her mother and achieving puberty. A nameless, shapeless Fear embodies this sense of hyper-reality for the narrator:

I was afraid, this time afraid of everything and everybody. Not only what pursued me was a threat, what surrounded me was too: my white bedroom curtains, curtains alive like insects, like animals caged in a zoo I wouldn't want to visit, slumbering beasts awoken and enraged by my presence. And the curtains were nothing by the side of the stormy sea, the sea of the floor of the house! (101)
Not to get too autobiographical here, but this shapeless, indeterminate fear reminded me of my own childhood in some ways, where anything I encountered that didn't fit into my understanding of the world terrified me. I'm pretty sure that most kids experience this in one way or another, but at the time (age 6-12), I was scared of the most random things: revolving dioramas, certain paintings, examples of new technology...It could pounce at any moment, and despite being surrounded by family or friends, I'd feel helpless and alone, trapped in my own brain. This kind of unexpected, nameless fear is probably a holdover from our ancestors, who had to be ready for everything from wild animals to natural disasters and poisonous plants.

Anyway, I look forward to reading more of Boullosa's work (and there is a lot of it, which is good), and I urge you to check out Before.