Title: The Faces (original title: Ansigterne Writer: Tove Ditlevsen (translated by Tiina Nunnally) Publishing House: Penguin Classics Date of Publication: January 26th 2021 (first published 1968) Rating: 5 stars ‘’She could think about the words in peace, without fearing that new ones would appear before the night was over. During this time the night held…
Tag: Women In Translation
The Woman in the Purple Skirt
Title: The Woman in the Purple Skirt Writer: Natsuko Imamura (translated by Lucy North) Publishing House: Faber & Faber Date of Publication: June 3rd 2021 (first published June 30th 2019) Rating: 4 stars ‘’Some people would pretend they hadn’t seen her, and carry on as before. Others would quickly move aside, to give her room…
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
Title: The Dangers of Smoking In Bed (original title: Los peligros de fumar en la cama) Writer: Mariana Enriquez (translated by Megan McDowell) Publishing House: Hogarth Press Date of Publication: January 12th 2021 (first published November 2009) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Or she’d hear a rooster crow in the middle of the night and remember –…
A Sunday in Ville-d’Avray
Title: A Sunday in Ville-d’Avray (original title: Un dimanche à Ville-d’Avray) Writer: Dominique Barbéris (tr. by John Cullen) Publishing House: Other Press Date of Publication: April 27th 2021 (first published 2019) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Some of the houses in the neighbourhood I passed through were still closed up – proof that their owners hadn’t yet…
Dogs and Others
Title: Dogs and Others (original title: Psi i Ostali) Writer: Biljana Jovanović (tr. by John K. Cox) Publishing House: Istros Books Date of Publication: November 5th 2018 (first published 1980) Rating: 4 stars ‘’Dogs always believe that they belong to Others (whom they consider to be, for unknown reasons enduring right up to our day,…
Fairground Magician
Τitle: Fairground Magician (original title: Vašarski mađioničar) Writer: Jelena Lengold (tr. by Celia Hawkesworth) Publishing House: Istros Books Date of Publication: December 17th 2013 (first published 2008) Rating: 5 stars ‘’It’s not that I need you to love me, but I need to suffer because you don’t.’’ I am a rather weird person. Strange things…
A Cage in Search of a Bird
Title: A Cage In Search of a Bird (original title: L’illusion délirante d’être aimé) Writer: Florence Noiville (tr. by Teresa Lavender Fagan) Publishing House: Seagull Books Date of Publication: September 15th 2016 (first published August 18th 2015) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Perhaps because I have too much respect for language, I suffer during conversations when nothing…
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982
Title: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 (original title: 82년생 김지영) Writer: Cho Nam-Joo (tr. by Jamie Chang) Publishing House: Scribner UK Date of Publication: February 20th 2020 (first published October 14th 2016) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Help out? What is it with you and ‘’helping out?’’ You’re going to ‘’help out’’ with chores. ‘’Help out’’ with raising…
Untold Night and Day
Title: Untold Night and Day (original title: 알려지지 않은 밤과 하루) Writer: Bae Suah (translated by Deborah Smith) Publishing House: Jonathan Cape Date of Publication: January 30th 2020 (first published April 20th 2013) Rating: 5 stars ‘’By the time the heatwave came to an end, nothing remained of the people but ash. They became fused…
The Girl Who Reads on the Métro
Title: The Girl Who Reads on The Métro (original title: La Fille qui Lisait dans le Métro) Writer: Christine Féret-Fleury, Ros Schwartz (Translator) Publishing House: Flatiron Books Date of Publication: October 8th 2019 (first published 2017) Rating: 5 stars ‘’He was talking about books as if they were alive – old friends, powerful adversaries at times, insolent…
The Diving Pool
Title: The Diving Pool and Other Stories (original title: (ダイヴィング・プール) Writer: Yoko Ogawa (translated by Stephen Snyder) Publishing House: Vintage Publishing Date of Publication: April 2nd 2014 (first published 1990) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Since I was a little girl, I’ve disliked the thirtieth of December. I could always get through the thirty-first by telling myself…
Flowers of Mold
Title: Flowers of Mold (original title 옆집 여자) Writer: Ha Seong-Nan (tr. by Janet Hong) Publishing House: Open Letter Date of Publication: April 23rd 2019 (first published 1999) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Teacher, I want to fly, but the ground keeps pulling me down.’’ Korean Literature is rapidly flourishing thanks to a plethora of wonderful women…
Miracle On Cherry Hill
Title: Miracle On Cherry Hill (original title: 뒤뜰에 골칫거리가 산다) Writer: Sun – mi Hwang (translated by Chi-Young Kim) Publishing House: Abacus Date of Publication: July 4th 2019 (first published 2014) Rating: 5 stars ‘’It rained for two days straight. The trees howled in the back garden and angry rain lashed against the windows. Kand…
Fear and Trembling
Title: Fear and Trembling (original title: Stupeur et Tremblements) Writer: Amélie Nothomb (tr. by Adriana Hunter) Publishing House: St. Martin’s Griffin Date of Publication: November 1st 2004 (first published August 26th 1999) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Society conspires against her from early infancy. Her brain is steadily filled with plaster until it sets. ‘’If you’re not…
Tokyo Ueno Station
Title:Tokyo Ueno Station (original title: JR上野駅公園口) Writer: Yū Miri (translated by Morgan Giles) Publishing House: Tilted Axis Press Date of Publication: March 4th 2019 (first published March 19th 2014) Rating: 5 stars ‘’I used to think life was like a book: you turn the first page, and there’s the next, and as you go on turning…
Revenge
Title: Revenge (original title: 寡黙な死骸 みだらな弔い) Writer: Yoko Ogawa (tr. by Stephen Snyder) Publishing House: Vintage Date of Publication: January 2nd 2014 (first published 1998) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Why was everyone dying? They had all been so alive just yesterday.’’ Yoko Ogawa creates a dark wonder of sadness, loneliness and unsettling desires in Revenge, a collection…
Convenience Store Woman
Title: Convenience Store Woman (original title:コンビニ人間) Writer: Sayaka Murata (translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori) Publishing House: Grove Press Date of Publication: June 12th 2018 (first published July 27th 2016) Rating: 5 stars ‘’It is the start of another day, the time when the world wakes up and the cogs of society begin to move. I…
Hotel Iris
Title: Hotel Iris (original title: ホテル・アイリス ) Writer: Yoko Ogawa (translated by Stephen Snyder) Publishing House: Vintage Publishing Date of Publication: April 7th 2011 (first published 1996) Rating: 5 stars ‘’He first came to the Iris one day just before the beginning of the summer season. The rain had been falling since dawn. It grew heavier at…
It Would Be Night in Caracas
Title: It Would Be Night In Caracas Writer: Karina Sainz Borgo, translated by Elizabeth Bryer Publishing House: HarperCollins Date of Publication: October 15th 2019 (first published March 7th 2019) Rating: 5 stars *ANY political comments will be deleted. I do NOT discuss politics or religious or social issues with strangers. If you attempt to do…
People In The Room
Title: People In The Room (original title: Personas En La Sala) Writer: Norah Lange Publishing House: And Other Stories Date of Publication: August 9th 2018 (first published 1950) Rating: 5 stars ‘’To me, it always seemed unnecessary to watch a storm. This time, though, I had no chance to be angry because I forgot about…
