The latest addition to my website is Lydie Salvayre‘s La Conférence de Cintegabelle (The Lecture). As the title tells us it is indeed a lecture given to the people of his small town, Cintegabelle. The lecture is about the art of conversation and a lecturer, who is not named, believes he is an expert on … Read more
The latest addition to my website isLydie Salvayre‘s La Médaille (The Award). The book consists of speeches given at a ceremony in a French car factory where medals are being handed out to long-serving/exemplary workers. The speeches are given alternately by a management representative and the employee. Management tries to show how much it has … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Germano Almeida‘s O Testamento do Sr. Napumoceno da Silva Araújo(The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo), a novel from Cape Verde. Napumoceno hasbuilt up a successful export-import business and when he dies, he is expected to leave everything to his nephew and business partner, Carlos. … Read more
The latest addition to my website is György Spiró‘s Fogság (Captivity). This mammoth novel – 865 pages – is set at the beginning of the first millennium A.D> and follows the story of Uri, Jewish but living in Rome and a Roman citizen.Unlike most boys of his age, he does not help his father because … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Peter Stamm‘s Ungefähre Landschaft (Unformed Landscape). The novel is not set in Stamm’s native Switzerland but in Norway, near the Russian border. Our heroine is Kathrine, a customs officer. She is divorced with a young son. She starts an affair with Thomas, a man seemingly with multiple achievements … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Wu Jianren‘s 新石頭記 The New Story of the Stone). The novel is a continuation of the famous eighteenth century Chinese novel The Story of the Stone, aka The Dream of the Red Chamber . You do not have to read the original to appreciate this work. Jia Baoyu, … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Tsering Döndrup‘ s Rlun dmar ’ur ’ur(The Red Wind Howls ). The novel, which was banned in Tibet and cost the author his job tells of the Chinese takeover of Tibet. Though critical of the Chinese, many of the Tibetans are far from saints. Alak Drong was a … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Anna Lidia Vega Serova‘s Ánima fatua (Anima fatua). This is an autobiographical novel about a woman born in Leningrad to a Cuban father and Russian mother. They emigrate to Cuba but the parents divorce and mother, daughter and son return to Russia where things do not go well. … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Yōko Ogawa‘ s 猫を抱いて象と泳 [Swim with an Elephant Holding a Cat]. Our hero is brought up by his grandparents but remains a loner. One day he meets a former bus driver, now massively overweight, who teaches him chess, both how to play and the philosophy behind it. However … Read more
