Published by Wordcraft of Oregon, 2007, 192 pages. The title of this book is borrowed from a story by Balzac about betrayal and mistrust, two threads running through the book. The third is love, with all its inadequacies and flaws. Fred Twomey is a creative writing professor, married with two sons. He has a reasonably …
My Father’s Zoo: Esther David
Published by Rupa Publications, 2007, 100 pages.Review by Sadhana Ramchander How many people you know grew up in a zoo? How many people you know have a father who started a zoo? This is the stuff of my own childhood dreams (before zoos became bad places), and I became very excited when I saw this …
The Neapolitan Novels: Elena Ferrante
Translated from Italian by Ann Goldstein(Publishing details at the end.)Review by Tom Peak The Neapolitan Novels, Elena Ferrante’s four-piece masterwork, is rightly the literary sensation of its time. The epic narrative, sweeping over decades, gallivanting across the life of a neighbourhood—a city—a country—an epoch, rummaging through the lives of the two protagonists, a pair locked …
50 Must-Read Books in Translation
When we started the reading challenge two years ago, we planned to read, between us, a book from every country in the world. Books written originally in English didn't take us very far, so we either read in other languages (French, Spanish, German) or looked for literature in translation. Fortunately, translations into English are growing, …
Crow Country: A Meditation on Birds, Landscape and Nature—Mark Cocker
Published by Vintage Press, 2008, 224 pages. There is something primeval about crows and ravens, which is probably why they often get a bad rap in fiction. They are often portrayed as the harbingers of bad tidings and connected in some way to evil. And when we are not seeing them as some sort of …
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Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell: Susanna Clarke
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing, 2004, 782 pages. England, early 1800s. The country is at war with France under Napolean. Magic—the practical kind, anyway—has not been seen in the land for hundreds of years. The only magicians left are theoreticians, men who had never caused a “leaf to tremble upon a tree or made one mote …
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V. : Thomas Pynchon
Published by Harper / Vintage Classics, 1963, 496 pages.Review by Thomas Peak A conventional review of V. is hard to write. There is no plot, not much of a lesson, no real conclusion, no moral to be gleaned. It loosely follows a quest for V. across the globe. But 'loosely' is the operative word. What …
The World’s Oldest Library Reopens: The Guardian
Khizanat al-Qarawiyyin, located in the old medina of Fez, is widely believed to be the oldest library in the world, dating back to the ninth century. It was founded by the daughter of a wealthy merchant. Once it is restored, it will be open to the public. "'It was like healing wounds,' says Aziza Chaouni, …
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The Guardian’s Interview with a Bookstore: Parnassus Books
The Guardian publishes interviews with people who run bookstores. This one is publisher Karin Hayes and writer Ann Pratchett, who opened Parnassus Book in Nashville, Tennessee, because Pratchett decided she could not live in a city without a bookstore. They even have their dogs on the staff! When asked about what the biggest surprise was …
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The Yacoubian Building: Alaa Al Aswamy
Translated from Arabic by Humphrey T. DaviesPublished by HarperCollins, 2004, 272 pages. Original version published in 2002. Peel away the outer layer of an apartment building and you’ll find a microcosm of life: people living in within a small space with their joys, sorrows, triumphs and despair, just a few feet away from each other. …
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