tmn The latest addition to my website is Kathryn Davis‘ The Girl Who Trod on a Loaf. This is a first-class novel about the nature of art (in this case music) and how it intertwines with life. The story is told by Frances Thorn, a woman who, accordingly to her family, disgraced herself and is now … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Mikheil Javakhishvili‘s კვაჭი კვაჭანტირაძე (Kvachi). This is a book I have long been wanting to read, even since I read about it in Donald Rayfield’s essential The Literature of Georgia. We must be grateful to Dalkey Archive Press for publishing it (in a translation by Rayfield) in English, … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi‘s Kintu. This is a superb book about modern Uganda, though the story starts in 1750. Kintu Kidda is the governor of a Ugandan province in 1750. He loves Nnakato and marries her but she cannot bear him children. As a result, he is persuaded to … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Nuruddin Farah‘s Maps. This novel is somewhat different from many of his others, as it focuses on an earlier part of Somali history, the war between Ethiopia and Somalia over Ogaden. The focus is very nationalistic, in that the Somalis feel that, unlike the Ethiopians, they are a … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Enrique Vila-Matas‘ Kassel no invita a la lógica (The Illogic of Kassel). This is the most recent to date of his novels published both in English and Spanish. It involves the participation of the narrator (i.e.Vila-Matas) in Documenta-13, an event held every five years in Kassel, Germany, devoted … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Enrique Vila-Matas‘ Aire de Dylan [Looks Like Dylan]. This book is somewhat different from many of his previous ones. Though it does start with the normal approach – our narrator invited to a conference on a specific theme – it then takes a completely different tack. The conference … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz‘s Derborence (When the Mountain Fell). This novel is based on an actual historical event. In 1714 a large part of the Diabelerets mountain in Switzerland sheered off and fell on the village of Derborence. Twenty people and numerous animals were killed. There was a further fall … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Sergio Galindo‘s Otilia Rauda (Otilia’s Body). Despite the somewhat sensationalist (though not inaccurate) title, there is more to his book than sex, though sex does play a key part. Otilia Rauda is born in a small Mexican town. By the time she has reached puberty, it is clear … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Sergio Galindo‘s Nudo [Knot]. This tells the story of a ménage à quatre (which later evolves into a ménage à cinq), though, despite this name (given by one of the characters), there is little bed-hopping. The main couple are Allan and Nan Brown. She is Canadian and had … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Gerald Murnane‘s The Plains. This a superb novel from Murnane, best described as a fable, about the huge central area of Australia called The Plains, which seems to be run by some very rich and powerful barons who seem to be combination of Texan cattle barons and European … Read more