Claudio Magris: Danubio (Danube)

The latest addition to my website is Claudio Magris‘ Danubio (Danube). This is not really a novel, though Magris himself calls it a drowned novel, and the introduction to my Italian edition calls it part novel/part non-fiction. It describes a journey from the source of the Danube (which is disputed) to its outlet in the … Read more

Venice and the Armenians

I shall not describe writers associated with Venice, as I did with Trieste. Suffice it to say that many, many writers have been inspired by Venice. Goldoni, Marco Polo and Casanova were born here, Shakespeare was influenced by it and, more recently, a whole slew of writers, from Henry James to Hemingway, from Goethe to … Read more

Trieste

Our annual spring trip this year took us, among other places, to Trieste and Venice (the latter will appear in a separate blog post). It is many years since we had visited these two cities. Trieste has been home to quite a few worthwhile writers. Several worthwhile writers were born in Trieste. These include Claudio … Read more

Mexican literature Part 2

I have now read twenty Mexican novels in a row. So what have I learned? Well, Mexican literature is as varied as any other well developed literature. I found post-modern novels, feminist novels, historical novels, psychological novels, love and romance and death and dying. However, a few things stand out, even if the twenty novels … Read more

Yuri Herrera: Señales que precederán al fin del mundo (Signs Preceding the End of the World)

The latest addition to my website is Yuri Herrera‘s Señales que precederán al fin del mundo (Signs Preceding the End of the World). This is a superb short novel which can be read as Dantesque journey through the underworld or as the story of a woman illegally entering the United States from Mexico, not to … Read more