Category: A LIFE IN BOOKS

A Nobel Double Two by Svetlana

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I have in the last few days received two books from last years Nobel winner. This the first book that arrived Second hand time is a selection of interviews she has taken to form a piece on the post soviet world and how it has formed a new world and in her use of many voice to individual monologues see how the post soviet society is affecting the every man and woman on the street. This is the first new work from her since the Nobel win to reach us in English and is out from Fitzcarraldo editions. Penguin are also releasing new editions of her previous books I have reviewed this one in its earlier release as Voices of Chernobyl I had reviewed this last year as it was the only book I could get before the Nobel prize was announced .So as with Patrick Modiano the year before we now have a number of books from this wonderful Non fiction writer whose ability to work the people she talks to into a chorus of voice on the soviet and post soviet world she grew up in .

Have you read any books by her ?

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From Brazil to Egypt recent buys

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I’m not in mood to review a book so will go through a few recent buys from Oxfam first is the third book by Joao Ubaldo Ribero I have brought so I think a review of one of his books is over due this is set during the police state years of Brazils history.

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Next up is a Cuban classic Explosion in a Cathedral a classic I have been trying to read for a while so this old Penguin was a great find . The story of Hughes who becomes a revolutionary.

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Another writer I have read a Breyten Breytenbach before
Intimate stranger which Archipelago published they also have a copy of this book. A story of one man’s time in prison and how it can effect ones vision of time.

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I grew up reading Hunter like many men in my generation this collection of his later journalist pieces is one I hadn’t read. It captured the best of the late years of his work .

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A month in the country is a classic gem and I have his other book how steeple Sinderby won the FA cup on my tbr pile which given Leicester dream season I may just read if they win the league this year. I also Brough this as it shares it’s title with the arthur Ransome Biography I read a  few years ago.

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And in the end to Egypt in the 1930 and 40s with a modern classic of Arabic fiction.

Sunday score and some open letters

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Well I have spent the last seven year not scoring my books but I feel I need to change this as I have enough reviews I feel to go back and  over time show my taste and books I really like over those I simply like. I am aim to use a similar scale to Michael from complete review with A through to C with plus and minus so we go from
A+ as an essential read a true ground break book
A a book that should make end of year lists
A- a good strong book
B+ worth trying
B borrow or loan
B- OK
C+ just not for me
C I struggled to finish
C-don’t touch with a barge pole
Most of what I read will be in the a- to b zone a few a and maybe four or five a+ a year.I feel this may help make clear what I like really I tend be nicer about books than I should be at times. But I do really know the ones that fit my idea of cannon works.

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I was lucky to get two more titles from the American publisher Open letter The first is Loquela by Carlos Lane. He was in the Granta best Spanish writers collection 8s from Chile and this is a Latin American novel that is part Paul auster and Borges it seems. Then another comic novel from Bulgaria as the comic books from Bulgaria I have read have.all been fun this is another darkly funny look at the madness of the Soviet era as the country tries to throw of the shackles of this regime.

The Republic of Consciousness Prize for small Presses announcement

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I Have published the announcement of a new prize on the UK for small presses. I am really happy to see this prize as many of the Publishers I review books from are from small publishers. I feel the passionate people I know Like Susan from Istros Stefan from And other stories and Jacques from Fitzcarraldo editions need to be acknowledged for the hard work they do in opening the eyes of readers to challenging literature .

Judges Announced for The Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses

http://www.republicofconsciousness.com/prize/

Submission Deadline: 31st October 2016

Longlist Announcement: 30th November 2016

Shortlist Announcement: 2 January 2017

Winner Announcement: 16 February 2017

Prize: min of £3000: £2000 to the press, and £1000 to the writer, plus a bottle of Amarone each.

The Republic of Consciousness is delighted to announce the selection of judges for the first Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses.

Launched earlier this year, by award-winning novelist Neil Griffiths, the prize seeks to celebrate “small presses producing brilliant and brave literary fiction”.

The judges of the award are made up of a selection of independent booksellers and bookshop owners from across the UK and reflect the award’s aim to highlight the important role that booksellers play in helping to bring quality literature to the attention of readers. It’s often those hand-sold copies or bookseller recommendations that will be a reader’s first introduction to the world of independent publishing, and the relationship between the booksellers and independent publishers cannot be overstated.

“We wanted the judging panel to comprise independent booksellers because the spirit behind the prize is to support the more vulnerable sections of the publishing community, and given the prize is for independent presses, it made sense to approach booksellers who share a similar ethos. This we did, and we are thrilled with the response. Across the 9 judges we have a strong regional spread, with a good a mix of urban and rural locations. Each judge brings something different to the prize, but they all share experience, dynamism and a willingness to take risks, perfectly mirroring the kind of presses the prize aims to support.’” Neil Griffiths, founder of The Republic of Consciousness & co-chair

Submissions for the prize are now officially open – to UK and Irish publishers with a maximum of five full-time people working for them – and will close at the end of October. Each publisher is allowed to submit one novel or single author collection of short stories for this year, with one wild card call-in allowed per judge.

A shortlist of eight novels will be announced in January 2017, followed by the winner announcement in February 2017.

Neil Griffiths is also putting out an appeal to fellow authors and readers alike to help support the prize with donations which will go towards the final prize money. Already a great financial boost to most small presses, an increase in the amount will make an immense difference to the winners.

Judging Panel:

Neil Griffiths (President of The Republic of Consciousness & co-chair)

Awarding-winning novelist of Betrayal in Naples (Penguin), winner of the Writers’ Club First Novel Award and Saving Caravaggio (Penguin), short-listed for the Costa Best Novel Award 2007. His new novel Family of Love will be published in 2017.

Marcus Wright (co-chair)

Tax inspector, bibliophile, and sometime writer on jazz.

Sam Fisher – Burley Fisher Books (London)

Sam Fisher has worked at Camden Lock Books for the last three years and together with Jason Burley opened Burley Fisher Books – specialists in new titles by independent presses – in Kingsland Road this February.

Gary Perry – Foyles (Charing Cross Road, London)

Assistant Head of the Fiction Department at the Foyles flagship store on Charing Cross Road, Gary has been with Foyles for six years and works hard to promote fiction in translation and independent publishing.

Anna Dreda – Wenlock Books (Shropshire)

Owner of Wenlock Books and founder of the Wenlock Poetry Festival, Anna Dreda was also one of the judges for the 2014 Costa Poetry Awards.

Helen Stanton – Forum Books (Northumberland)

Owner Helen Stanton previously worked for Waterstones, Headline and Canongate before taking over Forum Books nearly 5 years ago.

Lyndsy Kirkman – Chapter One Books (Manchester)

Former NHS stem cell scientist, Lyndsy Kirkman, is one half of the dynamic sibling duo (along with Christine Cafun) who opened Chapter One, a bookstore, café and performance space, in Manchester last summer.

Emma Corfield – Book-ish (Crickhowell, Powys, Wales)

Owner of the independent family run bookshop based in the rural market town in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Book-ish is one of the regional winners of the British Book Industry Awards’ Independent Bookshop of the Year. Praised for being a “small shop that punches well above its weight” they were also awarded a James Patterson Bookseller Grant of £5000 for their book bus project.

Gillian Robertson – Looking Glass Books (Fife, Scotland)

Founder of independent bookshop Looking Glass Books, Gillian is committed to using the shelves in her shop to shine a light on the gems offered by the many brilliant small independent presses in the UK & beyond.

Man booker international prize prediction post 2016

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Well today is the day before the Man booker announce the first Man booker international prize longlist, the new name for the Indpendent foreign fiction prize. I don’t see much change in the books being picked this year Boyd is still the chair and so I feel the list may have a similar feel to other years. Last year i was miles of the mark with my predictions so lets see how I do this year with my 13 choices .

1.

The great swindle by Pierre Lemaitre

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This won the French Prix Goncourt slow burning book but very much an homage to french writing of the time the book is set ww1 and just after . My review 

2

The Meursault investigation

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I said this when I reviewed it every few years a book in translation seems to break free and become a  favourite of every one and this book is one such example. A retelling of Camus outsider from the Arab point of view .My review

3

Exiles by Ciler Ilhan

This was my favourite short story collection from last year and Ciler bravely touch many taboo subjects in Turkish society such as Honour killings . My review  

4

Submission by Michel Houellebecq

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A dystopia france where a Arab led coalition has taken charge seen from a laid back lectures point of view who doesn’t see whats happening to it is too late. This is the one that was on the cover of Charlie Hebdo the week the magazine was attack My review

5

The vegetarian by Han Kang

A triptych of stories around a womans choice to become vegetarian and also her sexual awakening in a way. I like this book although was a tad over hyped by some. My review 

6

She is not me by Golnaz Hashemzadeh

 

She Is Not MeI think one World edition title should be pn the longlist they took uk by storm publishing 21 titles last year most of those in translation I loved this tale of trying to fit in as a teen in Sweden.My review 

7

Wilful disregard by Lena Andersson

 

A love story a woman falls for an artist and it is down hil from there . I loved the beauty of the writing in this one .My review 

8

What became of the white savage by Francois Garde

 

A man become shipwrecked in the 1840 and goes native in the Australi of the time . This is the story of that time ansd what happened when he returned to france a Priz Goncourt first novel winner .My review 

9

Signs preceeding the end of the world by Yuri Herrea

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A sister takes two messages to her brother in the US a mythic like trip as Yuri has removed any sense of place or time to the story. My review 

10

My documents by Alejandro Zambra

Another short story collection this time by the Chilean Aljandro Zambra, I loved these I said when I reviewed his novellas he would be a great short story-teller . My favourite was one about a disgraced footballer that fake an injury during a world cup match . My review 

11

Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila

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A high octanne look at  life in Congo as there is no law and people trying to make money steal money and some just to get by the best they can in this mad world . My review

12

The boy who stole Attila’s  horse by Ivan Repila

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Two boys fell down a well this is the tale of what happened after that .Well written .My review

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Well I decide to name a trio of Spanish books that just on the edge in my opinion two I reviewed on I am part way in .

Out in the open by Jesus Carrasco

The Ilogic of Kassel by Enrique Vila-Matas

In the night of time by Antonio Munoz Molina

 

Winston weekend Bye Umberto and how many books have I left ?

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I could not mention the sad loss of Umberto Eco which was announced on Friday I was due to review Numero Zero as part of my MBIP2016 possible this week so I will still do so. As I have only Prague cemetary under review here fter it was on the IFFP a few years ago , I actually own all his novels baring that and Numero zero which is a library book. He was a talented writer that liked to play with Genre of Fiction and also raise genres like the thriller to a higher lit level. He was also a talent academic and expert in semiotics.  His loss is sad from those early William weaer translation that showed what great books and great translators can do !

The loss of Umberto makes me thing of time and how many books we have left to read , I read this piece on times flow stemmed .Books that made my ears burn  where he finishes the piece of with his estimate total of books he has left to read. Well I had a quick add together of saying 100 books average a year , I read 120-130 the last fie years a 100 seems a fair guess and I have said another 40 years for me which seems fair we are long lived in my family so that is maybe 4000 books I have left maybe more. a few more journeys around the globe.But which books , That is becoming a point I seem to want to try more exotic books all the time those translated gems that many miss and I feel more of these will appear as 40000 isn’t enough to waste time on poor books or even hyped books .As I aim to read my 4000 and have  a few more .

How many books have you left ?

An ode to Brim library

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well guardian has love letter to libraries on the website today. for me a a reader and a blogger wth out my local library I would be a poorer reader.

To Brim Library

Not cute or big  but

a 100 paces from my door

You too this reader

A 100 miles and more in the mind

Dear brim library

you have filled my mind to the brim

Taken me as  a reader to the rim

 

 

I love my library I use it every week near enough without it I wouldn’t been able to have done the last three shadow IFFP juries as they have always had some if not most of the books I wanted. In a time when we are talking about kids not read we need keep open our libreaires our shining beacons in the dark world of tech.I love the fact a click away is nearly every book I could ever want and the journeys I take in the world of translated fiction .

Stu library user .

Goals

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I haven’t ever thought about moving the blog forward more just blogged week to week and slowly the blog grew. I tried different things some worked others didn’t over time. But the blog has got to the stage and as a fellow blogger noted the other day about seven year which is the age of this blog I maybe need to start dangling a carrot and maybe neaten a few loose trails on the blog. When I started the blog I had no real idea of how to blog and over the years my knowledge has grown but I have also never gone back and neaten things off on the blog. So I started a page of Winston’s goals to try and reach some totals blog wise like reviewing 100 french books and 50 German books both of which i am fairly near too and could be reachable this year. How do you keep yourself going when you have been blogging for a long time. I not losing interest in the blog I just find it has maybe come an endless cycle of doing the same thing week in week out and maybe by setting goals I can change that some what . I also feel I have lost a little influence on twitter the last year or twonot sure if it is me being less involved or just twitter is different now than when I first joined it.I sometimes miss Translationthurs  and I started it, I need to try and be on there a bit more .

 

Winstons books Sheffield and Chesterfield

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Well I did review yesterday The boy who stole Attila’s horse which was one of three books I brought earlier this week from Sheffield as I have been off this week and we both had monday off we went for the day and as there waterstones has a slightly better selection of translated books I always love a look round.

20160129_160447First up is a trilogy of Novels by Samuel Beckett , which mix’s my wanting to read more Irish fiction and still reading translation add to this I see that World republic of letters have two translation of the same book out a Gaelic classic , I feel I be reading both Irish lit and Translated books. The second book is A school for Fools by Sasha Sokolov, which grabbed me for two reason first it is from NYRB classic a name I trust the other reason is a quote on the back if James Joyce had written in russian this would be the last two chapters of Ulysses.Another for my russian list this year.

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Then I meet Amanda after work yesterday and we spent a few hours in town I found three books, the first two in Oxfam Two Adolescents by Alberto Moravia is made up of two novella Agostino and Disobedience , I remember someone  reviewing last year  the first novella Disobedience , which is a NYRB classic book now. The second book is a book by Roland Barthes on how myths are made and semiotics have come to me so much.

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Strange how books I get connect in some way talking Myth and semiotics, the one writer we may think of is Umberto Eco and I happen to get this Baudlino is the one of two novels by him I don’t own I haven;t Numero Zero but I have read it over christmas but I want to have all his books on my shelves.

What books have you brought recently ?

 

 

One book bookshop how about one book a week book blog?

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I was listening to a recent edition of books on the nightstand podcast and they reminded me of a story I had seen a few weeks ago in the guardian again about this Japanese bookstore that has turned choice on its head by choosing one book a week to be  highlighted and sold in its shop and every week the art work events during the week all focus on the one book of that week .Well I was on nights last night and pondered would this work as a way to Blog. By choosing  one book a week.Using that  one book to quote, review, interview the writer / translator / publicist , other ways to connect other  books to the single book, recipes pictures of the places in the book. For example. I have often wondered if there is a way to expand beyond a simple review format without getting to pretensious .But I have want to show a book is  more than just a book. I want to  place it in context with other books and even other media. A way of discovering the writers feelings about the book , also  the readers feeling and also its place in the grand scheme of fiction. I think of how Holmes Mind palace is displayed in the television show  Sherlock. The way ones mind can jump from place to place and your own memories and experience in life and in books form a backbone of a reading. Whilst reading so each reader is on their own journey with a book. I still not sure if this would be overkill or a new and different way to focus on one book a week that gives a single book more of the spotlight but also allows for more focus on each book. I still thinking of this as an idea. Do you think it would work or be overkill for a book ? I do think it may be helpful for a lot of the smaller publishers I review books for to have their book in focus for a week on the blog.

Doing David Bowie’s reading list ?

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When David Bowie died this list which I had seen before did the rounds a list of books David drew up a few years ago of a hundred books every one should try to read well. The list has books I have read books I wanted to read and a few I don’t know well I fancy trying to fill this list in I fancy doing a few books a time off this list could change my reading as it is a real mix of books on it. I have eye the 1001 books but that is so huge but this is a nice target and I’m not putting a date on completing the list I have three already under review at the blog which on the page I have made I have indicated I have read. I own about another 15 books of the list. There is three magazines  collection mentioned I shall replace them with other titles conected to Bowie in time. There is this Jake arnott article that has a few books mentioned on it. Have you read any books on this list would you add any Bowie connected books to the list ?

David Bowie’s top 100 must-read books

The Age of American Unreason, Susan Jacoby (2008)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz (2007)
The Coast of Utopia (trilogy), Tom Stoppard (2007)
Teenage: The Creation of Youth 1875-1945, Jon Savage (2007)
Fingersmith, Sarah Waters (2002)
The Trial of Henry Kissinger, Christopher Hitchens (2001)
Mr Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder, Lawrence Weschler (1997)
A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1890-1924, Orlando Figes (1997)
The Insult, Rupert Thomson (1996)
Wonder Boys, Michael Chabon (1995)
The Bird Artist, Howard Norman (1994)
Kafka Was the Rage: A Greenwich Village Memoir, Anatole Broyard (1993)
Beyond the Brillo Box: The Visual Arts in Post-Historical Perspective, Arthur C Danto (1992)
Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson, Camille Paglia (1990)
David Bomberg, Richard Cork (1988)
Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom, Peter Guralnick (1986)
The Songlines, Bruce Chatwin (1986)
Hawksmoor, Peter Ackroyd (1985)
Nowhere to Run: The Story of Soul Music, Gerri Hirshey (1984)
Nights at the Circus, Angela Carter (1984)
Money, Martin Amis (1984)
White Noise, Don DeLillo (1984)
Flaubert’s Parrot, Julian Barnes (1984)
The Life and Times of Little Richard, Charles White (1984)
A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn (1980)
A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole (1980)
Interviews with Francis Bacon, David Sylvester (1980)
Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler (1980)
Earthly Powers, Anthony Burgess (1980)
Raw, a “graphix magazine” (1980-91)
Viz, magazine (1979 –)
The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels (1979)
Metropolitan Life, Fran Lebowitz (1978)
In Between the Sheets, Ian McEwan (1978)
Writers at Work: The Paris Review Interviews, ed Malcolm Cowley (1977)
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, Julian Jaynes (1976)
Tales of Beatnik Glory, Ed Saunders (1975)
Mystery Train, Greil Marcus (1975)
Selected Poems, Frank O’Hara (1974)
Before the Deluge: A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s, Otto Friedrich (1972)
n Bluebeard’s Castle: Some Notes Towards the Re-definition of Culture, George Steiner (1971) Octobriana and the Russian Underground, Peter Sadecky (1971)
The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll, Charlie Gillett(1970)
The Quest for Christa T, Christa Wolf (1968)
Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock, Nik Cohn (1968)
The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov (1967)
Journey into the Whirlwind, Eugenia Ginzburg (1967)
Last Exit to Brooklyn, Hubert Selby Jr (1966)
In Cold Blood, Truman Capote (1965)
City of Night, John Rechy (1965)
Herzog, Saul Bellow (1964)
Puckoon, Spike Milligan (1963)
The American Way of Death, Jessica Mitford (1963)
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace With the Sea, Yukio Mishima (1963)
The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin (1963)
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess (1962)
Inside the Whale and Other Essays, George Orwell (1962)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Muriel Spark (1961)
Private Eye, magazine (1961 –)
On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious, Douglas Harding (1961)
Silence: Lectures and Writing, John Cage (1961)
Strange People, Frank Edwards (1961)
The Divided Self, RD Laing (1960)
All the Emperor’s Horses, David Kidd (1960)
Billy Liar, Keith Waterhouse (1959)
The Leopard, Giuseppe di Lampedusa (1958)
On the Road, Jack Kerouac (1957)
The Hidden Persuaders, Vance Packard (1957)
Room at the Top, John Braine (1957)
A Grave for a Dolphin, Alberto Denti di Pirajno (1956)
The Outsider, Colin Wilson (1956)
Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov (1955)
Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell (1949)
The Street, Ann Petry (1946)
Black Boy, Richard Wright (1945)

 

First book of 2016 three days of Thomas Mann

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Well the first book has arrived it was published last year though. But is one I was interested in when I first heard about it last year at london book fair from the people at Haus. The book follows three days in 1936 where the writer Thomas Mann after he denounced the Nazis facing up to what he had done and why. This period he didn’t cover in his own diaries so Britta Böhler fills in the gap. Britta herself is an interesting figure being a well known lawyer in Holland representin Volkert van der Graaf the assassin of Pim Fortuyn.

Winstonsdad’s Books of the year

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Well it was a busy reading year if not reviewing year at winstonsdad I managed to read 128 books but as said yesterday managed to review a far fewer books so the ones I have chosen I have reviewed as well barring one .All the books this year are translations I have picked twelve in no particular order .

 

Farewell cowboy by Olja Savicevic – I met Olja this year her book follows a sister return to her home town in former Yugoslavia to find out what happened to him. We see how much the years she was away have effect her hometown and those she left behind.

Bridge over the Drina by Ivo Drina – Yugoslavia again and a vital crossing in the region is used as the cornerstone of a collection of stories through time. I found this was so forward-looking as the simmering undertensions that later erupted into the wars of the Balkans.

 

My documents by Alejandro Zambra – I had read his novels short books that lead me to think he would be a great short story writer. A collection that follows someones first days on a computer to footballing moments remembered from Chile’s past .

What became of the white savage by Francoise Garde – A lost gem of this year this prize winning french novel based on the real life tale of a french sailor who went native in the 18th century after his ship sank .What happens when you return to the world you left behind many years ago.

Street of thieves by Mathias Enard – A boys journey to manhood from Algeria to Europe as we see how he has to change to survive in the modern world .From the buds of the Arab spring to the wilting flowers of life on the streets of Barcelona .

Ventoux by Bert Wagendorp – Four friends go back to the great tour de France climb of Ventoux after twenty years and the loss of a friend on an earlier trip to the region. Funny and dark in places, I can’t wait to see the film of this one.

Fall of man in wimslow  by David Lagercrantz – The death of Alan Turing told by the detective investigating his death. The book before he took on the Milenium series .First of two books I connect with due to location in the top ten.

 

20150828_151617The illogic of Kassel by Enrique Vila- Matas – The story of when Enrique was asked to be an art piece sat in a chinese window in the city of Kassel for the Documenta. A city I spent time in years ago another connection to my own life .

 

The egghead republic by Arno Schimdt – I had long want to try Schimdt and strangely found an edition in my library system as a taster before his huge opus Zettels dreams is due out in English this year .This followed a reports trip to a strangely floating city of scientist .

Tram 83 FINAL FC

Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujilla – A city told through the eyes of two friends as civil war rages and diamonds, sex , people are sold nightly at the night club Tram 83 .A vibrant trip to Congo DR in a great debut novel .

 

Til kingdom comes by Andrej Nikoladis – I have met Andrej twice now this is the third book from him and also the one that features events of the first day I met him when we saw a man being photograph in Red lion square the home of Istros books. Part of the tale of a man uncovering the truth behind his parents .

 

Oh and the on I haven’t reviewed or finished –

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The epic Zibaldone by Gicamo Leopardi the notebooks of the Italian poet as he takes you through his thoughts of what he reads , thinks and every thing in his life from the origins of myths to Italian .I have been sipping this all year round. I will be reviewing this when I finish this masterpiece just say it is maybe the greatest book of its time.

 

So that is it ask me tomorrow it would be twelve  different books There have been some great  books this year .

 

Grass Proof ? It’s a cat and mouse chase

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Well here is a mystery I picked this up at the flea market today. It is a Gunter Grass paperback from 1963 but has no price and not the orginal cover so is it a proof ? It is similar to other proofs I get sent just missing the legal bits you have on them. It’s a mystery I have reviewed this on the blog but as I plan to reread tin drum next year may rereview this. But till then anyone know what this edition is ?