World Literature Forum http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/ World Literature Forum is an online discussion board considering world literature in all forms and the latest literary news en Tue, 21 May 2013 06:32:09 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/images/misc/rss.png World Literature Forum http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/ Best Spaniard novel in the XXI century http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59887-Best-Spaniard-novel-in-the-XXI-century?goto=newpost Mon, 20 May 2013 21:14:46 GMT This is the title of the article created by Spaniard newspaper, ABC; of course it is a bit pretentious as the century only has 13 years so far, so I guess a better title would be the best novel of the first decade of the XXI century, but whatever.... This is the title of the article created by Spaniard newspaper, ABC; of course it is a bit pretentious as the century only has 13 years so far, so I guess a better title would be the best novel of the first decade of the XXI century, but whatever.
Of course this is only for Spain, and they are claiming Vargas Llosa as their own, but this list of course would be richer and more interesting if it would have included all Latin America.

Here's the article with the list at the bottom:

http://www.abc.es/cultura/libros/201...305191751.html ]]> General Discussion Daniel del Real http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59887-Best-Spaniard-novel-in-the-XXI-century How Poles Helped Germans to Murder Jews http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59814-How-Poles-Helped-Germans-to-Murder-Jews?goto=newpost Fri, 17 May 2013 14:27:20 GMT My comments on this extraordinary Polish book are at: http://pages.csam.montclair.edu/~kowalski/glicz.html Please share this link with those who might be interested, especially with your Polish friends. My comments on this extraordinary Polish book are at:

http://pages.csam.montclair.edu/~kowalski/glicz.html

Please share this link with those who might be interested, especially with your Polish friends. ]]> Non-Fiction kowalskil http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59814-How-Poles-Helped-Germans-to-Murder-Jews <![CDATA[Portuguese Poet Nuno Judice awarded Queen Sofia's Poetry Prize]]> http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59795-Portuguese-Poet-Nuno-Judice-awarded-Queen-Sofia-s-Poetry-Prize?goto=newpost Thu, 16 May 2013 16:35:11 GMT I recently wrote somewhere else (cough, Concocted Forest, cough) about what a mean and exacting judge of literary merit the great poet Philippe Jaccottet is. Well, Jaccottet's favorite Portuguese poet, Nuno Judice has been granted Spain's Queen Sofia's Prize for Poetry:

http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/20...49_282000.html

Former winners include the very summits of contemporary Spanish and Portuguese language poetry.

Gonzalo Rojas (Chile)
Claudio Rodriguez (Spain)
Joao Cabral de Melo Neto (Brazil)
Jose Hierro (Spain)
Angel Gonzalez (Spain)
Alvaro Mutis (Colombia)
Jose Angel Valente (Spain)
Mario Benedetti (Uruguay)
Nicanor Parra (Chile)
Sophia de Mello Breyner (Portugal)
Jose Manuel Caballero Bonald (Spain)
Juan Gelman (Argentina)
Antonio Gamoneda (Spain)
Blanca Varela (Peru)
Jose Emilio Pacheco (Mexico)
Ernesto Cardenal (Nicaragua)
Nuno Judice (Portugal)

And so that you can judge Judice by yourself, a clumsy translation by yours truly:

Plano/Plan

I'm writing a poem about a hypothesis:
the first half of love poured into life's cup
we could drink in one gulp. The bottom half
is like a cloudy wine, and leaves a bitter taste
in the mouth. I ask where they went, love's glass
clarity, its initial liquid purity, the impulse
to drink the whole bottle, and the answer
are these glass shards cutting our hands,
the dirty table of the soul full of debris, harsh
words, a feeling of exhaustion. I return, then,
to my first theory. Love. But without hurry
this time, waiting for time to fill your glass up
so that it can be raised against the light of your body
and perceive through it, the whole of your face.


Trabalho o poema sobre uma hipótese: o amor
que se despeja no copo da vida, até meio, como se
o pudéssemos beber de um trago. No fundo,
como o vinho turvo, deixa um gosto amargo na
boca. Pergunto onde está a transparência do
vidro, a pureza do líquido inicial, a energia
de quem procura esvaziar a garrafa; e a resposta
são estes cacos, que nos cortam as mãos, a mesa
da alma suja de restos, palavras espalhadas
um cansaço de sentidos. Volto, então, à primeira
hipótese. O amor. Mas sem o gastar de uma vez,
esperando que o tempo encha o copo até cima,
para que o possa erguer à luz do teu corpo
e veja, através dele, o teu rosto inteiro. ]]> News Discussion Cleanthess http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59795-Portuguese-Poet-Nuno-Judice-awarded-Queen-Sofia-s-Poetry-Prize Lost Auden Journal rediscovered http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59750-Lost-Auden-Journal-rediscovered?goto=newpost Tue, 14 May 2013 18:46:44 GMT Anglo-American poet Auden's lost papers found.

The journal, once considered lost forever, has been rediscovered and will eventually go to auction.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...t-8613065.html ]]> News Discussion Hamlet http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59750-Lost-Auden-Journal-rediscovered <![CDATA[Adam Johnson: The Orphan Master's Son]]> http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59673-Adam-Johnson-The-Orphan-Master-s-Son?goto=newpost Sat, 11 May 2013 17:37:27 GMT The Orphan Master’s Son is not a factually accurate novel. I’ve read reviews on the web stating that it’s picture of North Korea is not completely realistic, and some have trashed the book for this reason, but I didn’t mind. After all, it’s a novel about North Korea written by an American who was only able to spend a few weeks in North Korea while on a tour of the country. While there, he was not able to ask any of the natives questions (a guide “answers” everything they asked), and while have escaped the country, these people are far and few.

The book is the story of Jun Do, the son of a man who runs an orphanage. Very quickly he leaves behind his father and enters the military, and afterwards is given lessons in English. The first part of the book reads like a picaresque adventure as Jun Do works a variety of occupations for the regime, slowly rising through the ranks: translator and interpreter, spy, kidnapper. It is amazing how much time this first part covers in 180 pages while never sounding rushed, giving each of the events its own due.

In the second part, however, things completely change gears. The first part exclusively followed Jun Do in a limited third person perspective; the second part introduces two new narrators: a man working in a torture facility in Pyongyang and a propaganda story told over the radio. Though similar stories told over the radio make occasional appearances in the first part, the sudden changes in the narrative are a bit jarring, and though logically the plot from the first part flows into the second, I felt that the shifts in narrative prevented the two parts from being properly wedded. It does not help that the story following Jun Doalso changes pace. Whereas a few months’ time could be described early on in a single paragraph, the second half of Jun Do’s life consists of a few weeks. Not that this is a bad thing, nor will it irritate all the book’s readers, but I found it a bit jarring.

The Orphan Master’s Son, however, is one of the best books I’ve read in 2013 so far, second only to As I Lay Dying (and Johnson’s book gives that a run for it’s money). The characters are endearing and loveable, and Jun Do is not easily forgotten. It’s one of the few books where I felt a bit sad when it was over, as I wanted to stay in its world. The last part is part love story, part thriller, but is still just as amazing as the first part, and a fun page-turner. Johnson’s prose is not so beautiful that you’ll find yourself rereading random passages, but his narrative-building skills are so great you’ll stay mesmerized nonetheless.

Last month it won the Pulitzer prize, a choice that some will deride, saying that the book only won the award because of all the news about North Korea at the time, and I agree, I don’t think it would have won without those threats coming from Kim Jong-Un. This is not a mark against Johnson’s book, though, and more about the requirements for winning a Pulitzer. The guidelines state that preferably it should deal with “American life,” and though the book is amazing, only about 30 pages takes place in America, in Texas.

There seems to be a bit of a stigma against recent Pulitzer Prize winners on this board, but The Orphan Master’s Son is a near masterpiece, the kind of book that legitimizes the Pulitzer again. Not everyone will like it, but it is definitely worth a read, no matter what your tastes are.

***** ]]> Americas Literature redheadshadz http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59673-Adam-Johnson-The-Orphan-Master-s-Son J. M. Coetzee: The Childhood of Jesus http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59655-J-M-Coetzee-The-Childhood-of-Jesus?goto=newpost Fri, 10 May 2013 16:55:33 GMT J. M. Coetzee's recently published novel The Childhood of Jesus is being discussed by Peter Craven in Avuncular Question Marks. Apparently, the book has already been translated into other languages (that was quick!). American edition to become available in September.

Meanwhile, from Poland with love:

]]> Liam http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59655-J-M-Coetzee-The-Childhood-of-Jesus <![CDATA[Microsoft considering purchase of Barnes and Noble's ebooks business]]> http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59654-Microsoft-considering-purchase-of-Barnes-and-Noble-s-ebooks-business?goto=newpost Fri, 10 May 2013 16:52:14 GMT http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/08/microsoft-mulling-nook-media-llc-purchase-for-1-billion/ Dang this bad economy, killing entire cultural ecosystems. http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/08/mic...for-1-billion/

Dang this bad economy, killing entire cultural ecosystems. ]]> News Discussion Cleanthess http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59654-Microsoft-considering-purchase-of-Barnes-and-Noble-s-ebooks-business <![CDATA[Svetlana Alexievich War's Unwomanly Face]]> http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59637-Svetlana-Alexievich-War-s-Unwomanly-Face?goto=newpost Thu, 09 May 2013 19:00:22 GMT Svetlana Alexievich writes:

„During the most terrible war of the 20th century a woman had to become a soldier. She not only rescued and bandaged the wounded; she also fired a sniper's rifle, dropped bombs, blew up bridges, went reconnoitering, and captured identification prisoners. A woman killed.
She killed the enemy who, with unprecedented cruelty, was attacking her land, her home, her children. One of the heroines of the book, trying to convey all the horror and the cruel necessity of what had happened, says: "Woman was never destined to kill." Another woman wrote the following on the wall of the Reichstag: "I, Sofia Kuntsevich, came to Berlin to kill war." Woman thus made tremendous sacrifices to bring about Victory and at the same time they accomplished an immortal feat whose magnitude we can grasp only gradually in time of peace.”

"After my insistent requests [the husband] reluctantly gave up the spotlight with the words [to his wife], "Tell everything the way I taught you. Without tears and girly insignificant stuff: I wanted to be beautiful, I cried when they cut off my hair". Later, she confessed to me, whispering, "All night, he was studying the 'History of the Great Patriotic War' with me. He was worried about me. And he's afraid now that I will remember the wrong thing. That I will tell it not the way I'm supposed to."This happened many times, in many different homes.
Yes, they cry a lot. They scream. After I leave, they swallow their heart pills. Call the ambulance. But they keep asking me, "Please, come. Definitely come. We've been silent for so long. We were silent for forty years..."

The book consists of testimonies of hundreds of women. Alexievich found them and recorded what they had to say.

"At the age of nineteen I had a medal "For courage". At the age of nineteen, my hair turned grey. At the age of nineteen in my last battle I was shot through both lungs, the bullet went in between two vertebrae. My legs were paralysed... They thought I was dead... At the age of nineteen... My granddaughter is this age now. I look at her in disbelief. Such a child!"

"When the war was over, I wished for three things: first - I finally will not have to crawl around on my belly but will ride in a trolleybus, second - to buy and eat an entire loaf of white bread, and third - to sleep in a white bed, on crispy sheets. White sheets..."

"Once, during exercises... I cannot help crying when I think of this. It was spring. We had finished firing practice and were walking back. I picked a small bunch of violets and attached it to the bayonet of my rifle, and I was walking along like that. "We came to the camp. Our commander made us form up and called me out. I stepped forward, forgetting about the violets on the rifle. He began scoffing at me. 'A soldier's a soldier, and not a flower picker..,' It seemed strange to him that one could think about flowers in a situation like that. "However, I didn't throw the flowers away. I took them quietly off the rifle and put them in my pocket. I was punished fort his and had to do three extra spells of duty. Another time, when I was at my post and my replacement came at two o'clock in the morning, I wouldn't go off duty. 'I'll continue and you can relieve me for the daytime,' I said. I was wring to stay there all night long, till daybreak, just to be able to hear the birds sing.”

"Our scouts captured a German officer. He was greatly surprised that so many soldiers had been put out of action in his lines, all of them exclusively with head wounds. 'A simple marksman,' he said, 'would be incapable of such an accurate shooting. Show me,' he asked, 'the marksman who had killed so many of my soldiers. I had received great reinforcements and been losing up to ten people a day.' The regiment commander said, 'Regrettably, I cannot meet your request: it was a young girl sniper and she was killed.' It was Sasha Shlyakhova. She was killed in a sniper duel, betrayed by her red scarf. She was very fond of it. But a red scarf on the white snow is a very revealing thing. When the German officer heard that it had been a girl he hung his head, not knowing what to say... „

"Our uniforms were always covered with blood so that there were never enough clean ones for us. Senior Lieutenant Belov was the first wounded man rescued by me; the last was Sergei Petrovich Trofimov, sergeant of the mortar platoon. In 1970 he came on a visit to me and I showed my daughters the wound in his head-there was still a big scar there. In all, I rescued 481 wounded from under fire. One reporter calculated that I had rescued a whole rifle battalion!"

"In a German village we were billeted for a night in a castle. There were lots of rooms, real halls. What rooms they were! The wardrobes were full of pretty clothes. Each girl chose herself a dress. There was a yellow one I liked, and a dressing-gown, too, I can't describe to you how beautiful it was long and light... Feather-down. But we were terribly tired and it was time for bed... We put on the dresses we liked and immediately fell asleep. I went to bed in the dress, with the dressing-gown on top. In the morning we got up, took everything off and put on our field-shirts and trousers again. We didn't take anything with us. It was forbidden. You could take a spoon, that was all..."

An amazing and important book. I highly recommend it. ]]> Non-Fiction pesahson http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59637-Svetlana-Alexievich-War-s-Unwomanly-Face <![CDATA[Edgardo Cozarinsky, Eng. translation of "Natalia Franz"]]> http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59397-Edgardo-Cozarinsky-Eng-translation-of-Natalia-Franz?goto=newpost Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:48:35 GMT Hello,

I just posted an English translation of Edgardo Cozarinsky's short story, "Natalia Franz," at Contemporary Argentine Writers:
http://contemporaryargentinewriters....do-cozarinsky/

"Most of the women were heavily made-up, their faces covered by colorful crusts, their hair immobilized in highly stylized constructions or burnt in a confusion of miniature curls. The excessive exterior traits of femininity made them look like transvestites and did not endow them, by any means, with any semblance of youth. ... Compared to these masks, Natalia Franz’s plastic surgery, I told myself, belonged in a class entirely its own: an artificiality that was brutal, but also almost ascetic. It grabbed my attention, in a most morbid way, no doubt, whereas the faces of the others made me turn away sharply, in whatever direction, as if out of fear of contagion."

Let me know what you think.

Visit the blog's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ContemporaryArgentineWriters



 ]]> The Blogosphere dbard http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59397-Edgardo-Cozarinsky-Eng-translation-of-Natalia-Franz The best love song of the last 20 years? http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59347-The-best-love-song-of-the-last-20-years?goto=newpost Sun, 28 Apr 2013 14:10:57 GMT So, last night I was at this little get-together with some friends: web-designers, painters, literary people, and other assorted artists. I'm usually the philistine of the group, being a humble engineer; but since I tutored a couple of them on math during their college days, they put up with me.

Somehow the subject of which was the best love song of the last twenty years came up, and after a couple of hours of heated debate and a lot of Youtube videos, we came to a grudging, exhausted agreement: 'E o amor' by Zeze di Camargo was arguably the best recent love song, at least in the languages we knew (and we spoke seven different languages among those attending the party). Here it is performed by Zeze and his daughter Wanessa:



Who woulda thunk it? A sertanejo song! Music, as someone said at the party, for maids and taxi drivers! :

You are My Sweet love, my happiness,
My fairy tale, my imagination;
The peace that I need to survive.
I am your passionate lover
With a transparent soul,
A demented fool,
completely reckless,
An affair too complicated to understand.

And it is Love that messes with my head
And leaves me like that,
it makes me think of you
And forget about myself;
it makes me forget
That life was made for living.

Você é
Minha doce amada, minha alegria,
Meu conto de fadas, minha fantasia;
A paz que eu preciso pra sobreviver.

Eu sou o seu apaixonado
De alma transparente,
Um louco alucinado,
Meio inconsequente,
Um caso complicado de se entender.

My two favorites were discarded as too old to qualify:

Nada So So, as performed by Alan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4op1SDyp4AA

Aitai/会いたい/I Miss You, as performed by Chikako Sawada :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=Eyf54l_UnTQ

I got the lyrics for Aitai from:
http://www.kiwi-musume.com/lyrics/sa...kako/aitai.htm

We spent days and months together
In desks next to each other
In a classroom we could see buildings from
We learned a little English
And a little bit of basketball
And I learned about love from you

Even after we graduated
You treated me like a child
'Don't go too far away', you said
Half smiling, half straight-faced
As you held me

On a winter night when low clouds spread out across the sky
Like a dream
You went away.

Didn't you promise me
We'd go to the beach again
And watch lots of movies again this year?
Didn't you promise me that?
I miss you…

Walking along the beach, right by the waves
I suddenly give up and head back
Walking alone on the beach
Not knowing
Whether to get mad or to cry

When someone calls out, I turn to look without thinking
If that was you,
If only it was you...

I'd grab your shoulders as you pretend to be distant
And scold you for being stupid
Then I'd kiss you gently
And hold you, saying it's not true
I miss you…

I'd tell you don't go too far away
Please don't leave me all alone
Hold me tight
Live by my side

Didn't you promise me
We'd go to the beach again
And watch lots of movies again this year?
Didn't you promise me that?
I miss you… ]]> General Chat Cleanthess http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59347-The-best-love-song-of-the-last-20-years Seshendra http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59314-Seshendra?goto=newpost Sat, 27 Apr 2013 05:27:09 GMT Attachment 489 (http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=489) Seshendra Visionary poet of the millennium http://seshendrasharma.weebly.com (http://seshendrasharma) Seshendra Sharma better known as Seshendra is... Seshendra.jpg


Seshendra Visionary poet of the millennium
http://seshendrasharma.weebly.com


Seshendra Sharma better known as Seshendra is a colossus of Modern Indian poetry. His literature is a unique blend of the best of poetry and poetics. This site presents essence of the millennium in a powerful poetic style. Please add this site to your esteemed portal. He was honored by DrManmohan Sigh, Beloved Prime Minister in golden jubilee celebrations of sahitya akedemi.
Attached Images
]]> Writers saatyaki http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59314-Seshendra Women Writers on Christian Spirituality http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59232-Women-Writers-on-Christian-Spirituality?goto=newpost Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:24:44 GMT http://www.amazon.com/Womens-Writing...ture+anthology

NEW. 2013
-- seems to offer quite a wide range of writing from Medieval to the Modern. I like Dover Thrift, nicely presented little volumes. ]]> General Discussion Hamlet http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59232-Women-Writers-on-Christian-Spirituality José Manuel Caballero Bonald http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59221-Jos%C3%A9-Manuel-Caballero-Bonald?goto=newpost Wed, 24 Apr 2013 02:46:59 GMT Today, Caballero Bonald received the Cervantes Prize 2012 and for the occasion he gave a great speech when receiving the prize. Here it is in case you can read Spanish or you want to have translated by Cleanthess (who seems to enjoy being a... Today, Caballero Bonald received the Cervantes Prize 2012 and for the occasion he gave a great speech when receiving the prize.
Here it is in case you can read Spanish or you want to have translated by Cleanthess (who seems to enjoy being a translator at his free time):

http://ep00.epimg.net/descargables/2...e2cef470f3.pdf

Here is also a very good article about an interview one day before picking up the prize.

http://www.informador.com.mx/cultura...-cervantes.htm

Need to find the volume of his collected poetry, something that it's not going to be easy outside Spain. ]]> Writers Daniel del Real http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59221-Jos%C3%A9-Manuel-Caballero-Bonald The Death of the Novel http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59219-The-Death-of-the-Novel?goto=newpost Tue, 23 Apr 2013 21:50:13 GMT I don't think I've come across this subject in WLF, but it might be interesting to put together a list of responses to this debate? I know that many writers have chipped in on this and it's been discussed and still is being discussed in academic circles, but what is really going on, and is the novel in any real danger or likely to expire? ]]> General Discussion Hamlet http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59219-The-Death-of-the-Novel Giacomo Leopardi: Zibaldone http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59209-Giacomo-Leopardi-Zibaldone?goto=newpost Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:55:26 GMT Awesome-looking new (well, forthcoming) book (2500+ pp. long, for those of you who like weighty tomes!):

"Giacomo Leopardi was the greatest Italian poet of the nineteenth century and was recognized by readers from Nietzsche to Beckett as one of the towering literary figures in Italian history. To many, he is the finest Italian poet after Dante. (Jonathan Galassi's translation of Leopardi's Canti was published by FSG in 2010.)

"He was also a prodigious scholar of classical literature and philosophy, and a voracious reader in numerous ancient and modern languages.

"For most of his writing career, he kept an immense notebook, known as the Zibaldone, or hodge-podge, as Harold Bloom has called it, in which Leopardi put down his original, wide-ranging, radically modern responses to his reading.

"His comments about religion, philosophy, language, history, anthropology, astronomy, literature, poetry, and love are unprecedented in their brilliance and suggestiveness, and the Zibaldone, which was only published at the turn of the twentieth century, has been recognized as one of the foundational books of modern culture.

"Its 4,500-plus pages have never been fully translated into English until now, when a team under the auspices of Michael Caesar and Franco D'Intino of the Leopardi Centre in Birmingham, England, have spent years producing a lively, accurate version. This essential book will change our understanding of nineteenth-century culture.

"This is an extraordinary, epochal publication."

]]> European Literature Liam http://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/showthread.php/59209-Giacomo-Leopardi-Zibaldone