Category: A LIFE IN BOOKS

looking back and looking forward the year that was and the year to come

~ winstonsdad ~ 24 Comments

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Firstly hope everyone had a good Christmas , I did although working Amanda and I had the afternoon and evening together and although we had a tight budget I got a new reading lamp from my darling wife .I was just happy to have a nice day with my wife and eat some lovely food .So I got my annual report from WordPress , I haven’t published these I just like to see them for myself but the good point was the growth in number of post from last year ,also more comments than last year .My longest tun of post was 13 in a row .But beyond the figures , I enjoyed doing the Shadow IFFP  again and will be doing that again next year .It was a sad year with the loss of my dear boy and faithful hound  the name sake of this  blog Winston Allen .I also managed to reach to milestones of 500 reviews and a 1000 posts this year .So out with the old and in with the new  a new year is just around the corner and where is the blog going , well as ever trying to keep up with reviews to reading is a big thing so the first few months of 2015 I’m going try to slow my reading blog a bit more catch up on remainder of 2014 and get 2015 reviews going as bok read book reviewed not book read a month later I get to it as it has been the last few months .I will be adding a new page next year along side my books read , I ‘ll be doing films watched as well , I just signed up for MUBI a curated film streaming service that has a lot of films from around the world on to try to widen my film watching experience , but you will also see my love of bad movies as much as I love art house cinema ,I also have a love of the kitsch bad movies from the likes of sy fi channel or asylum films .The more surreal the idea behind the film , the better I like them .Next year will also see another IFFP shadowing , I have been trying to find a number of books I missed recently so I have as many from longlist read as possible when it comes out .I think another spanish lit month may be on the cards as well given my poor participation and running this year (due to the loss of  my boy ) .I hope to bring more interviews next year as well it is something I have dabbled with before and I wish to carry more with both writers and translators .I’m also looking to have a few more guest posts in the next year from around the world of Translated fiction .So happy new year to you all I will be back 1st January .

How was your year ?

What you looking forward too next year ?

Winston’s books of the year

~ winstonsdad ~ 19 Comments

Well its been a bumper year and I always find picking my books of a year hard so here we go with 12  from what I’ve read the year .of course there is many more I would have added but a dozen  seems a good number and  the dozen I chosen have challenge me in some ways and maybe pushed me as a reader .I also include a similar book this year on each book .

1.Heaven and hell / The sorrow of angels by Jon Kalman Steffanson

The first two books of a trilogy of novels that I finally got to read this year set in Iceland follow a young man’s journey through Iceland ,.Both these need two readings by myself but in the end I feel in love with Stefansson poetic vision of the world . also butterflies in November by Audur ava Olafsdottir

SOrrow of angels

2 The search warrant by Patrick Modiano

Well a quick jump in his betting before winning the Nobel prize prompt me to try the only book that was readily available at the time . A man trace a young Jewish woman’s journey during the war , but also finds intersections with his own life .Great that he won the Nobel so now we can get more of his book to read ! also The safety net By Heinrich Boll

 

 

 

 

3 Zone by Matihas Enard

Zone follows a man’s train journey through Italy as he remembers how europe fell apart and how he has in his case the secrets to this and the chance to redeem himself by selling this to the vatican also the tower by Uwe Tellkamp

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4 The corpse washer by Sinan Antoon

A gem discovered via this years IFFP prize a young man in Iraq’s dreams shattered as he returns to his father’s career as a corpse washer during the war . also The Iraqi christ by Hassan Blasim

The Corpse Washer

5 The ingenious gentleman and poet Federico Garcia Lorca ascends into hell by Carlos Roja

Well it wins the title for the longest title this year a clever novel that follows the spanish poet Lorca through hell as he relived parts of his life .also The sermon on the fall of Rome by Jerome Ferrari

Carlos Rojas the ingenious gentleman and poet Federico Garica Lorca ascends to hell

6 Bilbao – New York – Bilbao by Kirmen Uribe

A writer think ing about his novel he is writing about growing up in a small fishing port on a flight to New york . A clever ode to a dying world of his family and their fishermen lives . also A notebook by Agota Kristoff

 

 

7 A french novel by Frederic Beigbeder

Auto fiction a story of a night after he won a prize and was arrested and then remembering the relationship he has had with his brother . also Liveforever by Andres Caciedo

a french novel

8 The false apocalypse by Fatos  Lubonja

The collapse that followed capitalism dawning in Albania is captured and told on the national and personnel level by one of the leading minds in the country . also Sworn Virgins by Elvira Drones

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9 The Neruda case by Roberto Ampuero

A young solider is enlist by the great Chilean poet to trace the woman in Neruda’s life to find out what happened to them a journey that takes him around the world . also twilight of the eastern gods by Ismail kadare

10 Zenith Hotel by Oscar Coop -Phane

Well I am on the cover of this book quote a woman sits in  a hotel as the flotsam and jetsam of the local city sleep with her we hear her story and their stories .also The people in the photo by Helene gestern

zenith hotel cover

11 Dead lake by Hamid Ismailov

The story of a man that stayed a child after swimming a lake in the former soviet unions hinterland .Also Solar plexus by Rustam Ibragimbekov

the dead lake

12 Harraga by Boualem Sansal

Two women bought together in a house one young a modern arab woman the other dreamy and quiet a typical arab woman see the changing world of Algeria outside them .also Barbarian spring by Jonas Luscher

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Hot chops in space and burnt moby dick the world of book stunts

~ winstonsdad ~ 2 Comments

Well in the space of 24 hours the net has been alive with two books stunts of course book stunts have been about for years , from Georges Simenon once wrote a book whilst sealed in a glass box .The stunts in last two days have seen the wonderful Nikesh Shukla doing a stunt by sending a tandoori lamb chop into space to promote his book Meat space which I reviewed and I still think is one best comic looks at the internet and how people interact with it in the modern age .A fun way to highlight a great book .

The second stunt is worrying as it sees James Patterson burning books to highlight the drop in reading in the US , now the cause is right like the UK people read fewer books than they once did , from my own knowledge the main problem in the US is diverse literature for kids , it is hard to identify with books if the people you read about aren’t the same as you , well I could say maybe more books from the Spanish-speaking world for kids translated may help and more African fiction .What got me is him burning good books , his own well I know people love him, but for me he has become the Andy Warhol of fiction , he has ideas gets others to write the book on the whole and then puts his name on the cover .I wish someone would do a stunt like this that gets the papers attention to translated fiction !! Maybe I need to think up some mad idea ?

How would you get people reading books , it is an eternal question how often do you see a book on tv shows ? Now libraries are closing here I worry how the next generation will get on .

 

Long nights and longer books

~ winstonsdad ~ 13 Comments

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Well a few weeks ago the clocks went back here in the UK and the darker evenings of winter started a time to spend more time in the house reading and this winter has seen the chance to read two huge books in translation .The first is the German  book prize winning The Tower by Uwe Tellkamp a family saga set in East Germany just in the years before it fell apart ,a timely time to translate the book as it marks 25 years since the Berlin Wall fell (is it really this seems like yesterday to me ) .The second book is one that had been on my radar for a good while Giacomo Leopardi book Zibaldone is well one of those books that can’t really be pigeonholed so easily it is the first full translation of the 4500 odd pages Leopardi wrote in his notebooks over a number of years .The books is collection of thoughts, ideas ,quotes and aphorisms what would have at one time been called a commonplace book (a book that people collect quotes and their reactions etc ) .Now this book has taken seven years two editors seven main translators and a whole collection of experts to bring to English .I think it will take me to new year to work through the 2500 pages of it alongside a few other books .It’s worth the effort to put on the blog what is considered a masterpiece of Italian literature so look out for a number of posts in the new year about Zibaldone and a post about the tower later this month

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What books are you reading this winter ,

1000 posts not out

~ winstonsdad ~ 20 Comments

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I love milestones on the blog ,but also worry getting  near to them. But today sees a big one a 1000 posts have been  featured on the blog it has only taken Five years and five months to reach this point I remeber being blown away years ago when my friend Rob or robaround the books reached this point .well  for me what has changed in those fiver years well a lot really I’d struggle to get a couple of hundred words written on a book five years ago now I tend to write seven to eight hundred words on a book .I have also started the wonderful #translationthurs meme via the blog that happens every week on twitter  and has even made a cover of a book .I also started a shadow jury for the IFFP orize , which has seen me attend the prize for a number of year ,something that which out the blog I wouldn’t have done .people I have meet many wonderful people bloggers , writers ,translators and even publishers .I have in my way discovered the writer in me as I find it easier to write about things now than I  used to year ago , still not great on grammar and maybe find it hard to find the right word sometimes but it is a lot easier than it was .Confidence is another thing I have gained in myself , I feel that is the main thing that I have gained in speaking about books in translation I have been able to gain a voice in other parts of my life .I can’t wait to reach another milestone probably a thousand reviews only 499 more to go !!

International Translation Day – state of the translation nation

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Now the picture above is Saint Jerome one of the first people to translate the bible and has since become the patron saint of Translation ,well this year seems a great time to do a state of the nation type piece from my view (as thou anyone is listening I imagine but ) ,well as I recently passed the 100 books in translation read for the year ,I get sent books in translation and in the five years of this blog ,yes things are changing but it is rather like turbo in the film its a snail’s pace ,what we want is a nitrous oxide injection .Now I was struck by Katy Derbyshires piece on a female prize in translation being need , I agree,  but I may also add it isn’t the only prize that is really need ,we have a lack of book prize in translation and also a lack of coverage of prizes in translation in the press .I’m not sure which is the chicken or which is the egg to change this situation ? more prizes more coverage would seem to be something to me , also publishers then able to sticker mention prizes and in that way attract the general buying public to books in translation .I have been talking slowly to Susan from Istros about sorting a European book prize of some sort a sort of european booker ,early days and it is slow mainly as I am very nervous about this both through excitment about this but also scared of messing it up as I am actually just a care worker ,who loves books in translation .But I feel my passion is the best part I bring to this any way Susan mentioned it in the post she did for me last year  .I want a prize not just for uk publishers as one of the main things I have seen in the time I’ve been blogging is publishers outside the uk coming to the uk market ,with spanish ,czech publishers and in the future a Dutch publisher doing this I see this as a trend indviduals or big publishers just bypassing the uk / us publishers and translating books at the source .I would also love in the ebook market maybe more out of print books in translation being made available ,I’m not sure how many of you have tried to find some great books that are out of print secondhand some of these books cost a lot in fact the first two Murakami books due for new translation are perfect examples the hear the wind sing is available at £80 secondhand (bargain not ) one of the great things about ebooks is the fact the cost is very little to bring these books back ,I know there are rights problems that need to be sorted ,but someone should try and get on this as for me it seems a small but possibly valuable corner of the market that isn’t being fully used yet .So in year one to five  of winstonsdad – books in translation doing well but could do more (god it sounds like every single one of my school reports lol ), needs more prizes ,more media coverage and maybe a way to get the every day reading  public keener and less scared of books in translation .So back next year for year 6 of books in translation ! . Image via Wiki

What are your thoughts on recent years in translation ?

Change is good but also refocusing is better for me reading wise

~ winstonsdad ~ 9 Comments

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I’ve noticed a couple post by bloggers i love in recent days about changing reading habits ,I think we have all written similar posts if we have been blogging for any length of time ,one of the problems with blogging is getting drawn into the new  and shiny  also hype but be honest i never go for hype why be a sheep that is the last thing i would ever want to be follow the flock in reading .but that said I am a as bad as everyone ,who doesn’t love new books ,I know I do. But from time to time we need to think about the older or even out of print books  ,I have always reviewed a few older books over the course of the blog and will carry on doing this I feel I have a fairly good mix and will be trying to add a few more  older books .I feel for me the real problem is focusa and  making clear the focus of the blog for me now it is just  fiction or non fiction in translation nothing else book wise of course i still want to do pieces about me and my life and loves but for the books its just translation from now on !!!,I’ve updated my about me page into about me and review policy explaining that from now on I will only be accepting books in translation for review  but also trying to get further content about translation, translation and publishing books in translation ,I still get a number of books sent that aren’t translation most of (in truth none )which don’t appeal to me ,which is a shame so i change the page to make this clear to people out there in the future .I agree the balance of reading blogging etc is hard but I have made efforts myself this last few months to sort this ,using my wordpress app for most of my comments now during the day its fast and can be done in a spare few minutes throughout the day ,the chromebook saves me ten minutes in boot up times I think so i can use my laptop before work on my early start ever so often .So as slowly I am getting near to the 1000th post on winstonsdad ,I feel like it is a new start I have done part one of the journey ,now i need to carry on and try and find part two not sure what that is but I feel there is another level to which I can get to at some point blogging wise .

Winstons books – A bumper week

~ winstonsdad ~ 8 Comments

Well last week no books arrived for me ,but this week I have had five arrive .

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First up from And other stories By the mountains burn by Juan Tomas Avila Laurel ,a writer from Equatorial Guinea (A first for this blog ,the only spanish speaking country ) a childhood on a remote island of the west african coast ,cholera ,superstitions and fire destroy crops sounds great .Then The alphabet of birds by S J Naude one of the best Afrikaans writers a collection of short stories with recurring motifs ,from London via Milan to Johannesburg .

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Now to a writer I have reviewed before Philippe Claudel his new book is a memoir formed up of Smells so each chapter is a smell and what it means or meant to him .I really like the idea of a smell memoir a quick flick and cigar is one ,I have this a smell with my father when younger .from MacLehose press

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Next up are two novels from German the first in the shadow is a price to pay by Alex Capus a Swiss- French writer that writes in German (only via books in translation do you find story’s like that a franco swiss writer in German !!!) the story is of three characters whose paths cross in 1924 on a station in Zürich this leads them in different directions all after this chance meeting .The other is The glory of life by Michael Kumpfmuller ,the story of the last year of Kafka’s  life caught in the relationship he had with Dora a young women he meet whilst recovering by the Baltic sea .both from Haus publishing

What books have you got this week ?

 

Choices for The Argentinian and Uruguayan lit of Doom

~ winstonsdad ~ 5 Comments

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Well on Saturday I mentioned on Saturday my joy at finding The Peron novel for Richards Argentina based lit challenge from now to December .So I decide to share some choices I have to try from first up along side Te Peron novel is Hopscotch a book I want to have on the blog at some point as it is Considered Julio Cortazar’s masterpiece and a great piece of Experimental fiction .Now the rest of my choices are on my kindle so first up

Cesar Aira triple pack of novels

I already Had an episode in the life of a landscape painter the new direction version ,I have since downloads Ghosts and the Literacy conference from the Penguin collection pictured above I haven’t read and these three short novels will be a great intro.

the planets Sergio Chefij

The planets by Sergio Chejfec ,a novel set in seventies Beuno Aires from Open letter the us publisher .

the mad toy roberto Arlt

Now another classic of Argentinianlit Arlt debut novel follows a criminal that operates on the streets of Beunos Aires .

I have a few others to surprise you with ,are you joining in the challenge ? I hope to get two read amonth for the next three months (set bar lower than usual as I’ve a backlog of reviews and tend to go OTT with challenges )

 

 

Down the rabbit-hole the publishing world of istros books

~ winstonsdad ~ 7 Comments

the son Andrej Nikolaidis

I was so pleased that Susan from Istros books had agreed to do a piece on being a publisher in the modern world of publishing books in Translation .I agree with her on the point about scope for a new Book Prize .

A few weeks ago – more than I care to remember(!) – Stu asked me if I would like to write a guest post on his blog. As he has written so many posts in honour of Istros’ titles, I could hardly refuse, but the title made my heart sink a little – ‘The Experiences of a Small Publisher’. Well, my first thought was that ‘Trails & Tribulations’ or simply ‘Frustrations’ might have been better, but then I stopped myself: ‘Don’t be negative!’

missioon London Cover Alek Popov

So maybe I should begin at the beginning, as Lewis Carroll’s king advised, and tell you how I came to be a small publisher championing the cause of the people of the Balkan wonderlands….. Well, after living for some years in Croatia and Slovenia, and travelling extensively in Bosnia and Romania, and quite apart from all the friendships and contacts I have across the region….well, there came a point where all these strands of my eclectic life seemed to be wanting to draw together and make some kind of pattern; something of substance. As a writer and lover of literature, that thing of substance turned out to be Istros Books: a small voice in the land of publishing giants.

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Now into its third year, the successes of Istros for me have been the following: working with some of the region’s most accomplished and interesting authors; building relationships with some dedicated and talented translators; being supported by an informal network of enthusiasts in the form of literary bloggers; being invited to take part in festivals and fellowships programmes and therefore being introduced to many others who share the same passions.

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As things are, and very probably because of the way I am too, my greatest successes have been the quiet ones – the grant application approved, a regional prize awarded to one of the authors, a translation sold to another interested world publisher… The clanging sounds of PR and marketing have not been ringing around Istros, and this has to do with lack of funding as well as lack of aptitude, and seems to be a constant issue. Small publishers really have to struggle to get the word out about their books, and having no budget for such activities simply means that the effects are very limited. Add to this the huge competition to gain reviews from the handful of reviewers who are interested in translated fiction, and you end up with a constant fight on your hands.

And so this raises the inevitable question ‘What is to be done?’. I have reached the point where I don’t think I can do much more on my own: I need the help of others, in one way or the other. Could we do with the instigation of a new literary prize for European Literature in English in order to profile and publicize works which are now neglected? A prize that bubbles up from the bloggers and the publishers at the grassroots level and serves to promote good writing from a continent which we are – and will always be – intimately connected to? Should small publishers band together and work out a strategy for marketing that means we can do a whole lot more for less, simply because we share the financial burden? One way or the other, we have to fight for our place on the market, or we shall loose it.

As someone who has worked in refugee collective centres, wartime Bosnia and teenage cancer units, I have been witness to the cry of of despair. That is why I try to remain positive and focus on my mission of bringing the forgotten voices of S E Europe to the British public, and not too much on the frustrations of marketing, distribution and the garnering of reviews – all of which can easily become bywords for ‘frustration’. But just sometimes (mostly when surveying the sales figures at the end of the month), I have been known to let out the odd squeal of desperation.

Can I also add that as of today most of Istros books are now available a e books for the first time  here 

Meatspace by Nikesh Shukla

~ winstonsdad ~ 4 Comments

meatspace

Meat space by Nikesh Shukla

British fiction

Source – review copy

The machine does not isolate man from the great problems of nature but plunges him more deeply into them.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Read more at

Now I don’t read many British writers ,but when the chance came round to review the second novel by Nikesh ,I jumped at the chance as I really enjoyed his first novel Coconut Unlimited I reviewed it .So I must first say I have met Nikesh on a couple of occasions before I review the book .

The first and last thing I do everyday is see what strangers are saying about me .

I pull the laptop closer from the other side of the bed and press refresh on my inboxes .I have a google calendar alert that tells me I have no events scheduled today ,an assortment of twitter and Facebook notifications ,alerting me to 7 new followers ,a favourite tweet thanking someone for liking my book ,an invite to an event I’ll never go to ,spam for play and guardian jobs .#

The opening lines of Meat space

Meatspace is a term in the internet world for the real world .The story is the tale of a few months in the life of Kitab Baisubramanym ,he is a guy whom life is at that point where it’s about to implode or explode .His long-term girlfriend has left him ,he has just lost a job for writing a book on the firms time .So he has come to live with his brother Aziz  .He has alll this time on his hands and being a modern man he has descend into the rabbit hole of the internet and ends up doing the think many of use has done and search for a doppelgänger the  namesake  online and in his case he finds one chap in the US that shares his name and the next thing he knows is this chap turns up at his door and this leads Kitab into a world of madness both online and offline as this doppelgänger is a little of  the rails .As they descend into a world of swingers and sex .

History :

The perfect CV – Google 

kitab Balasubramanyam – Facebook 

Hayley Bankcroft – Google images 

[104} – twitter 

The start of each chapter starts with the search history of Kitab .

Now I am a later come to the tech age I didn’t get my first laptop til seven years ago and ever since have felt like I’ve been playing catch up or at least get it ,I still don’t fully get the net but everyday seems more as thou I do .Now that said Nikesh is a child of the net this book is what it is like to live and breathe the net to tweet ,tumblr ,Facebook and get it .Kitab is the Everyman of the net ,but he hit that rabbit hole like in Alice he pressed the return button on something he shouldn’t have .The wit and realism drips of the page ,Nikesh is one of the funniest writers I’ve read in recent years .Now I was remind the time I read Fever pitch for me Nikesh has done for the net here in this book the same as Nick Hornby did for football and that is put on paper the Everyman experience of something .SO if you love the net and want be laughing and crying at times ,this is the book you need to read ,Nikesh missed the costa  with coconut unlimited ,but this should be a prize winner ,if there is any justice out there ,daring new and funny .The book comes out 3 july .

Five years happy birthday winstonsdad

~ winstonsdad ~ 34 Comments

HAPPY FIFTH

Well I nearly missed this if it hadn’t been the fact I saw the notification of my anniversary today .Well five years for me is a milestone I never thought I’d reach and finally feel like a proper blogger now .So in Five years there has been 910 posts written , 452 books reviewed .94 countries covered in the blog ,10,500 comment left and replied ,5 shadow juries ,a lot of book pictures .I want to thank everyone who has visited the blog ,left a comment ,rt a post I written ,been inspired to read a book in translation.I now look forward too five more years getting to 500 books under review ,100 countries ( one nearer yesterday with an Estonian novel ) .I will return to reviews tomorrow with a promised Brazilian novel Blood drenched beard .Many thanks again blogging has given me so much more than I ever expected .

More bloody foreigners lunch

~ winstonsdad ~ 18 Comments

hardys brasserie

Well Last month when I was in London Daniela from Europa editions and Susan from Istros books mentioned this event was happening and it would be great if I could come ,as I can usually only afford one trip to London a year I had to turn them down ,then Daniela said they may have the money to get me a train ticket to come for the Lunch .I said I’d love too and thanked them very much ,so yesterday I boarded the train to London arrived just about in time as we ran a bit late ,dashed across london on the tube to Baker street and then  walked to Hardy’s.

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Three of the writers from the event the night before were there .Ben Pastor ,whom I only got to talk to briefly is Italian writer ,who lives in America and her books are about the German Detective Martin Bora .Her latest is A dark song of Blood   ,her books are published by Bitter Lemon Press who are this year celebrating ten years of publishing Frank their publisher was saying ,they had put their first book out ten years ago .

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Now I got more chance to talk to the other two writers ,I was sat away from the writers  initially but swapped seats ,sat next too Jake Kerridge ,who is the Crime reviewer for the Telegraph on one side and then Andrej Nikolaidis on the other ,opposite was Marco Malvaldi ,I have just read his book the Art of Killing well ,that Maclehose press ,Europa editions have brought out another book by him game for five in their World Noir series  .Marco was quizzed about the food by Barry Forshaw who was sat next too him ,Marco was Polite but this lead into a mention of how Pellegrino Artusi the character of his Book the art of Killing Well ,he was a successful businessman whom later in his life decided to write a book about the food he loved ,because he loved eating and had a wonderful cook but then discovered no-one had written down how to make these dishes  .So Pellegrino spent time travelling round Italy writing this book ,which he initially published as a book for his friends then for friends of friends then an Italian publisher got hold of this book and ask to publish it ,it became an instant bestseller and was in nearly every Italian household at the turn of the century .Marco book is set just as Pellegrino has finished his journey round Italy and is spending the weekend at the house of a Baron ,whilst there the Butler is killed and Pellegrino helps find the killer .I also quizzed Marco about his thoughts on the forthcoming England italy match over the weekend .

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Now to the last writer ,but actually the first I spoke to on Arrival I saw Susan from Istros book she said Andrej Nikolaidis was outside so I went and had a smoke with Andrej and introduced myself ,I have reviewed both his book The coming and The son  , he also wrote a piece for my Thomas Bernard week about his shared love of the Austrian writer Thomas Bernard  .Andrej spoke to me about Bernard ,football ,putting together his playlists for his books which I had put together on a playlist on spotify .The meal was lovely I had a game terrine followed by Roast pork and finished off with a Chocolate fondant and coffee .I then spent afternoon wandering across London with Susan and Andrej ,talking books ,Tirana ,Kadare ,Russia and the Ukraine some  great stories from Andrej about writers and events around Europe some of  which  were quite eye-opening .We also bumped into two other writers from the Balkans (Not every day you bump into the cream of European lit  which had just arrived for an event today called Balkans day and we finished off with Moroccan mint tea in the cafe near Istros books office at red lion square  chatting away .A lovely day which for me showed the power of books in translation ,the way on one level we can all connected via novels about crime as Violence is violence wherever !  Many thanks for the Art council with out whom I wouldn’t have been able to have come yesterday .

Who am I who is the man behind the blog

~ winstonsdad ~ 11 Comments

Well as it’s two weeks before I go yet again to london for the IFFP , and think back at how I’ve met many folks some get on some seemed to have completely blanked me after meeting so inspired by the books of Karl Ove I’ve decided to talk about myself and who I am well most of you know I Stuart I prefer stu actually I’m forty plus well just over , I was born in Northern Ireland , my dad is Irish my mum is English I lived in Northern Ireland til I was just over one so I’m told then we lived in hazel Grove this is my first memories of my brother being born when I was three I got a police car off my grand parents , I don’t remember my brother but the car I do remember sorry Duncan, when I was seven then we moved to Poyton a small village outside manchester I loved it here fireworks at a lake every year , going to youth club discovering the library and the endless battles and fun with my younger brother .Then my parents split both remarried with in a couple of years this gave me a new brother and sister and my step father we moved to congleton a small town between manchester and Stoke , this was the first set back in my life really I dropped back from being top of the sets at high school to bottom ! When we moved schools ,Something I never really recovered from but I eventually enjoyed school discover music my first real passion via beat route a wonderful small indie shop finished school with lower grades than expect just below what I need to carry on .So I joined college studied electrical engineering but problems at home meant I never quite achieved what should done moves between my mum and dad over a three-year period set me back I was just an angry young man at the wrong time with beauty of hindsight, it would have been different but then we all say that during a lot of this time I had volunteered at play groups with people with disabilities .So I decided to work in care ,first with old people , the day centre I worked at was a great start I helped get a green house built to grow plants , set up a quiz league and helped a man who
was blind find his way round the town to do his shopping ,all these things I am so proud of doing .I then yet again decide to move with impulse to Germany after meeting a German girl on an exchange with work impulsive but maybe where the seed of this blog was planted work with refugees in a factory to earn money whilst there some fun times playing word games in my basic German or discussing football .We then returned to England and set up home but we eventually we broke up and I stayed in Northumberland where my dad was living then and worked in a day service for people with learning disabilities had my first dog and life was a very quiet one but then a series of problems brought me to chesterfield where my dad was living at the time a reunion with my brother who had lived these years with my mum and to carry on working with people with learning disabilities I now work I. A house with six people in and have for twelve years this is 300 meters from my home now .I meet my wife via internet whilst here we’ve been together ten years married seven soon . My whole life happens in chesterfield I very rarely travel outside it this coming trip is the second time this year I’ve been outside chesterfield .So yes I have a northern accent , maybe don’t know quite how to put myself across at times , but at heart I’m just a simple chap that took a chance set up a blog and sometimes like my trip to London gets to see a different world ,one where maybe I don’t fully know the rules heck that be a great idea a rule book for being a book blogger from the publishers lol .
Why do you blog ?
Well a lot of my life I struggled to get across what was in my head due to my handwriting being virtually unreadable .But my wife suggest we get a laptop and I discover first twitter and then blogs and the rest is history

When did books become important to you
Well always really my dad is a huge reader ,but when I was twenty in Germany I really want to read and my dad sent me some more literary books to read and that started me off bit by bit of course in my twenties I loved going out , football ,movies and drinking so maybe could read more but marriage has quieten me down and now I just read and still watch football .
What do you do apart from read ?
Well love football , movies ,walking winston and baking
What are your dreams
Well apart from world turning upside and a job where you have people fate in your hand and their hopes and dreams to help become true ,suddenly being seen for a job worthy of decent pay .Maybe a chance to help translation get more appreciation and value via the blog .Ny dreams are small I do live in the real world
So if you see me say hi if your about on 22nd may

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That’s me all six foot four