Recent Purchases/Borrowings

[alik-vit]

I read The Sailor from Gibraltar immediately after completing The Lover many years ago. Although I liked the latter, I did not care for the former. Unfortunately, the only thing I can recall about The Sailor from Gibraltar is that I had to push myself to finish it. I hope the book speaks more to you than it did to me in my mid twenties.

The same is here. I did read it in my early twenties (20 or 21) and even didn't finish. And I love Duras. Even her earlier books.

 

[Leseratte]

If it weren't for the difference in font size, I'd think Richard Carvel had written a biography of Winston Churchill.

View attachment 2350

Me too. It seems that author and title have have exchanged positions.

I read The Sailor from Gibraltar immediately after completing The Lover many years ago. Although I liked the latter, I did not care for the former. Unfortunately, the only thing I can recall about The Sailor from Gibraltar is that I had to push myself to finish it. I hope the book speaks more to you than it did to me in my mid twenties.

I enjoyed The Lover but didn´t like the other books by Duras as much.

 

[tiganeasca]

Hmmm. I bought the Duras because I too liked The Lover. Hope this purchase wasn't a mistake!

 

[Stevie B]

The same is here. I did read it in my early twenties (20 or 21) and even didn't finish. And I love Duras. Even her earlier books.

Great minds think alike, alik. We'll see if Dave joins our greatness. I never went back to Duras after The Sailor from Gibraltar. Is there another book of hers you'd recommend?

 

[Stevie B]

Hmmm. I bought the Duras because I too liked The Lover. Hope this purchase wasn't a mistake!

I can't recall specifically what it was that put me off. I think I just wasn't engaged by the story. Again, I hope you have a different reaction, but the fact that alik also found the book to be tough sledding, I'm not optimistic.

 

[alik-vit]

Great minds think alike, alik. We'll see if Dave joins our greatness. I never went back to Duras after The Sailor from Gibraltar. Is there another book of hers you'd recommend?

Well, it's difficult question, because I really love almost all her oeuvre. Some of her shorter late pieces are great ("The Atlantic Man", "The Malady of Death", "Emily L."). They are more abstract, almost like transcripts of her movies (and her movies are miracles). "The Vice-Consul" is more "realistic" narrative and setting is close to "The Lover". Maybe only one book, which I can't recommend, it's "The Man Sitting in the Corridor". Which is few pages about blow job and kinky prelude. You know.

 

[Daniel del Real]

I'm back after nine exhausting days at the Guadalajara Book Fair with the European Union as guest. Here are my purchases:

?? Circe Maia, Transparencias (poetic anthology)
?? Ishihara Shintaro, The Eclipse of Mishima Yukio
?? Scholastike Mukasonga, La Femme aux pieds nus
?? Misuzu Kaneko, Bitter orange flower
?? Dazai Osamu, Eight views of Tokio
?? Dazai Osamu, Flowers of buffoonery
?? Assia Djebar, La Femme sans sépulture
?? Short stories from the banks of the Padma river (various authors)
?? Aminata Sow Fall, La Grève des bàttu
?? Kakuta Mitsuyo, Paper moon
?? Dacia Maraini, La Lunga vita di Marianna Ucrìa
?? Valerio Magrelli, Nature e venature
?? A Lai, Mushrooms Eden
?? Yusuf Atilgan, Motherland Hotel
?? Mizubayashi Akira, Petit éloge de l'errance
?? Joseph Roth, The hundred days
?? Milton Hatoum, Relato de um certo oriente
?? Mónica Ojeda, Las Voladoras
?? Serhiy Zhadan, The Orphanage

 

[Benny Profane]

?? Milton Hatoum, Relato de um certo oriente

Daniel, as a Hispanic speaker, do you have some difficulties with your reading in Portuguese?

 

[Phil D]

?? Mónica Ojeda, Las Voladoras

Interested in this book, looking forward to your thoughts.

 

[Ben Jackson]

Purchases:

?? Patrick White - Voss;

Delphi Classics:

??Mary Webb;
?? Charles Williams;
?? Jean Racine;
?? Winston Churchill (North American writer)

I hope you enjoy Voss, it's one of the best novels written by a Nobel Laureate and one of the best reads for me this year. An explorer's determination to find the soul of the continent in 1850s Australia. Such brilliant stuff.

 

[Ben Jackson]

Well, it's difficult question, because I really love almost all her oeuvre. Some of her shorter late pieces are great ("The Atlantic Man", "The Malady of Death", "Emily L."). They are more abstract, almost like transcripts of her movies (and her movies are miracles). "The Vice-Consul" is more "realistic" narrative and setting is close to "The Lover". Maybe only one book, which I can't recommend, it's "The Man Sitting in the Corridor". Which is few pages about blow job and kinky prelude. You know.

Duras works, as I have discovered, are into three categories: the more autobiographical ones like The Lover, the Noveau Roman experimental phase (The Malady of Death) and the realistic phase. I'm a big fan of The Lover as well, and I loved the novel because of its honest and more conventional style. I did try reading Malady of Death and Moderato Canterbile (I think when I was 16 or 17), but later gave up (I wasn't ready for her then). But reading The Lover, I feel I must return to Duras.

 

[Daniel del Real]

Daniel, as a Hispanic speaker, do you have some difficulties with your reading in Portuguese?

All those books are in Spanish translation (or Spanish). I try to put its original titles becase there's a lot of people here that read those languages.

 

[Daniel del Real]

Interested in this book, looking forward to your thoughts.

Me too. I've never read her but I've heard good things about her.
Will report later.

 

[kpjayan]

?? Short stories from the banks of the Padma river (various authors)

Daniel,

Who was the editor / Compiler of this ? Is it Rifat Munim ? Earlier this year, They released a book "Bangladesh: A Literary Journey Through 50 Short Stories" in India and Bangladesh. Wondering if this is a different collection or repackaged. I'm yet to read the book.

 

[Daniel del Real]

Daniel,

Who was the editor / Compiler of this ? Is it Rifat Munim ? Earlier this year, They released a book "Bangladesh: A Literary Journey Through 50 Short Stories" in India and Bangladesh. Wondering if this is a different collection or repackaged. I'm yet to read the book.

Hi Jayan,

Don't know who is the compiler, but all these stories were translated by Anisuz Zaman, who translated One Hundred Years of Solitude to the Bengali. I bought in the stand of the republic of Bangladesh, and I loved the fact it was a direct translation. They also had a compilation of poetry but that one was retranslated from the English.
Also, I realized I have never read an author from Bangladesh so I think it will be a great way to start exploring their literature.

 

[Benny Profane]

Purchases:

?? Josué Montello - Complete Novels and Novellas [Aguilar Edition in 3 volumes] - About this collection, I'm so happy about this find, guys!
These Aguillar books are so expensive and rare here. I just ordered by only 150 reais, almost 50$ (still expensive, but, in normal times, they cost 400 or more);
?? EM Forster - Complete Works [Delphi Classics]

 

[Leseratte]

Purchases:

?? Josué Montello - Complete Novels and Novellas [Aguilar Edition in 3 volumes] - About this collection, I'm so happy about this find, guys!
These Aguillar books are so expensive and rare here. I just ordered by only 150 reais, almost 50$ (still expensive, but, in normal times, they cost 400 or more);
?? EM Forster - Complete Works [Delphi Classics]

Congrats, Benny! Aguilar complete work editions were always very expensive. I had just one, an used Dostoievsky edition. And I also like Foster.

 

[kpjayan]

In Colombo, hence a few Sinhalese titles ( in translation, Of course)

1.W G Silva - Vijayaba Kolleya : Coup in Kotte Kingdom of Sri Lanka - Historical novel set on the 16th Century Sri Lankan Empire.
2. Sanjiva Wijesinha - Not Our War : Short Story Collection , includes one story which was apparently runner up in BBC Commonwealth Short Story Competition.
3. Ashok Ferrey - The Unmarriageable Man : The new hot shot in Sri Lankan Literature. Writes in English, published by Penguin Random House.
4. Martin Wickramasinghe - The Uprooted Trilogy. ( Gamperaliya in Original) - 3 books ( The Village , The Age of Kali and Destiny ). He is considered as one of the leading writers in Sinhalese Language. This book (s), originally published in 1944, is considered as the land mark in Sinhalese Literature.

@alik-vit : Wickramasinghe has been translated to Russian as well. You may want to check him out.

 

[alik-vit]

In Colombo, hence a few Sinhalese titles ( in translation, Of course)

1.W G Silva - Vijayaba Kolleya : Coup in Kotte Kingdom of Sri Lanka - Historical novel set on the 16th Century Sri Lankan Empire.
2. Sanjiva Wijesinha - Not Our War : Short Story Collection , includes one story which was apparently runner up in BBC Commonwealth Short Story Competition.
3. Ashok Ferrey - The Unmarriageable Man : The new hot shot in Sri Lankan Literature. Writes in English, published by Penguin Random House.
4. Martin Wickramasinghe - The Uprooted Trilogy. ( Gamperaliya in Original) - 3 books ( The Village , The Age of Kali and Destiny ). He is considered as one of the leading writers in Sinhalese Language. This book (s), originally published in 1944, is considered as the land mark in Sinhalese Literature.

@alik-vit : Wickramasinghe has been translated to Russian as well. You may want to check him out.

Thanks, jayan! Yes, there are his novel, novella and collection of short stories. All translations from 1950-1960s.

 

[Benny Profane]

My new toys have arrived!!! I HAVE NO WORDS!!!




I also ordered Selected Poems (Brazilian Edition) by Vasko Popa and Complete Works by Castro Alves, the Brazilian bard [Aguilar Edition],