( I ) — “The Flying Creatures of Fra Angelico,”
When Antonio Tabucchi passed away, in March of two-thousand and twelve; the literary world was devastated by the loss of a giant of world literature. Italy itself was forced to say farewell and thank-you to their greatest living writer; who had taken up the mantel of Italo Calvino. Yet to say that Tabucchi and Calvino were similar in every aspect would be misleading. Where Italo Calvino was generally seen as apolitical – after his youthful ideology years, in which he belonged to the communist party; Tabucchi was engaged in the social and political sphere. One of Tabucchi’s most well-known books “Pereira Declares,” (or “Pereira Maintains,”), which discusses the awakening of an overweight journalist to the difficulties and arbitrary inhumanity of Salazar’s, Portuguese dictatorship. This is just one example of Tabucchi’s politically engaged work. “Pereira Declares,” was often used as a symbol of resistance, against the Italian president and convicted fraudster, Silvio Berlusconi and his subsequent government. Further separation came from Tabucchi’s love of Portugal, after his discovery of the poet Fernando Pessoa. Tabucchi even wrote a book in Portuguese, to celebrate his admiration of Pessoa, and love for Portugal.
“The Flying Creatures of Fra Angelico,” was the first book to be published in English translation, after Tabucchi’s death. It was published by the amazing Archipelago Books. It’s a small square pocket book. It fits naturally in the hands. It’s a small book of stories. Tabucchi himself had called them: “drifting splinters, survivors of some whole that never was.”
The titular story “The Flying Creatures of Fra Angelico,” is the first sweet taste of the beautiful splinters that Tabucchi, divulges. It’s a gentle tale; a wistful charismatic fable. That portrays an Italian monk in a monastery, in the poignantly warm and time of dusk, collecting onions. While fulfilling his duty, this monk – who will become the greatest fifteenth century painter; encounters a large bird. A large bird with different coloured feathers: orche, yellow, deep blue and emerald. Reminiscent of the prismatic kingfisher. Other such birds, visit. While the monk is sleeping in his cell, a dragonfly visits him. He commands the monk to paint his visitors.
In this same vein, Tabucchi has done what the monk has. He has taken dream like impressions and solidified them with ink, and words. Other splinters and fragments of stories are letters. Emotional betrays and subtle details all mixed in with flights of fancy and fantasy. Calypso writes to Odysseus. There is the prince of Portugal, whose deep seated love becomes an adequate form of revenge. Mademoiselle Lenormand also makes an appearance. The famed fortune teller, of the Napoleonic Era. The mystic herself, offers a monologue on the perpetual dusk of her own shadow world. A place that she best describes as a dream, in which you are well aware is a dream. Where truth is all that more pure; and reality is so much sharper. This short monologue had to have been one of my favourites.
All the brief sketches, in this small book, are vignettes and simply written short reflections. The only one that best be described as a short is the titular “The Flying Creatures of Fra Angelico.” Still these lactescent stories, offer a glimpse into the authors own preoccupations, with identity, mystery, history and other personal obsessions. These fragments. Memories of dreams. Impressions and nostalgic laments. Each of them carries a small weight to their punches. Yet their depth surpasses the superficial minimalism of their surface.
( II ) — “The Woman of Porto Pim,”
I once saw a picture of the Azores Archipelago. I saw a verdant hill, populated by few trees, surrounded by the ocean and the mist. In the background was Mount Pico. A shark tooth of a mountain. It appears to rise out of the sea; pushing through the mist and haze of the ocean and obstinately jab its peak right towards the heavens. I never knew about the Azores, until I started reading “The Woman of Porto Pim.” Still, we never gave much thought, to the Falkland Islands until the short Falkland war was started and resolved. Much like “The Flying Creatures of Fra Angelico,” – “The Woman of Porto Pim,” is a small pocket book of stories, its small, and fits comfortably into the hands of any reader. “The Woman of Porto Pim,” is best described as being inspired by Tabucchi’s travels within the Azores Archipelago. These small volcanic islands under the stewardship of Portugal – Tabucchi’s inspirational and adopted home.
Despite this romantic title, “The Woman of Porto Pim,” is not about women – as it is about whales and whaling. I remember reading a children’s version of “Moby Dick,” when I was younger. A shocking moralistic fable of a book; about mans’ ever intense quest for revenge; and how revenge consumes all. At the time, from my faded orange tinted sepia photographs of memory; I can’t say that I was entirely shocked by the desire to get revenge for loosing ones leg. Yet now that I am older, I can now understand the quest for the death of the white whale, was nothing shy of a tale of our inhumanity, and personal vendettas; and the adequate consequences that are sure to be fall all of us. The only reason that I bought “The Woman of Porto Pim,” was because Antonio Tabucchi himself had written it. Without his name attached to the book, I would have seriously reconsidered, not buying this book. If only because it dealt with whaling. What Tabucchi has done though is created quite a neat and fascinating book of stories, which traverse between travel diary, and fiction.
At first these stories appear like puddles. Without thinking twice; gumboots and all – we find ourselves jumping into a pothole of a sea. What lies hidden beneath the casually small and short surface is a world we never thought about looking at twice. Take for instance the titular story of this collection. It’s about a mysterious woman, who lives beneath her means in a hut. Then comes along the naïve sailor. He sings her a song to get her attention. With this story Tabucchi writes some of his most gorgeous prose:
“The moon was coming up in a veil of red, a summer moon. I felt a great longing, the water lapped around me, everything was so intense and so unattainable, and I remembered when I was a child, how at night I used to call the eels from the rocks: then an idea came to me, I couldn’t resist, and I began to sing that song. I sang it very softly, like a lament, or a supplication, with a hand held to my voice.”
One can picture the eels crawling out between the crags of the rocks. Called out like children, to the pied piper. The way the warm water cradles, someone, like the amniotic fluid of the womb. What comes from this man’s song; is much like the eels. A varied experience of: wonder, betrayal and violence. Though of course with every fragment that Tabucchi has written, one is left absent minded, and drifting about on the waters. Constantly mulling over what we have just read, and what it pertains to what is left unsaid and unanswered. We constantly look for the certainties, of the world. The salt sea water; the gentle southern breeze. The way sailors praise the new land or the old land, the way they feel the warmth of the home; find salvation in the rum bottle. So do we. We try to find answers in their now still sails. Their forgotten songs that only the eels remember. We rub our hands on the deadwood barnacle, covered shipwrecks. We cradle the forgotten mermaid. We hold her scarred salted face to our chest. We tell her we will love no other. Just divulge your history. We scour the empty rum bottles, littering the beach; smashed up on the rocks. Yet still we circle the unknown, and the uncertainty. Just as we grasp at the reflection of the moon in the water – we never truly hold it; and so is the same with Tabucchi’s fragments and reflections. We scoop up the reflections. We listen to the ripples. Yet it is still what has already been stated before. This is what makes Tabucchi such a wonderful writer. He never tells. He never condescends by feeling that all answers must handed over. We are left to read the text, mull it over, and spin our own inclusive theories.
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
*And Remember: Downloading Books Illegally is Thievery and Wrong.*
M. Mary
Thursday 26 September 2013
Thursday 19 September 2013
Booker Prize ‘Doomed,’?
Hello Gentle Reader
I had stated in my announcement of the Booker Prize shortlist for this year that “after the Booker Prize crisis of two-thousand and eleven, it would appear that the award is back on track.” However new revelations, have revealed that my comments were premature. The crisis of two-thousand and eleven, was a mere appetizer to the current, shocking news. Whereas the former Booker Prize controversy, arose when the judges had chosen readability over literary merit; and the subsequent public relations meltdown, where that years chair of judges (Stella Rimington) compared, the critics to the former KGB. It was a rather disappointing, year for the Booker Prize. Before that though there was the Man Booker International Prize, controversy. Which began with, one Chairman – Jonathan Taylor; had gone on to state that the Booker Prize, had reached a more global status, then that of the Nobel; which he called “Political at best.” Then there was the Man Booker International Prize, going to the absent figure of Philip Roth. Earlier John le Carre, requested his name be removed from the shortlist. Then Carmen Callil, abdicated her seat from the judging panel after the award was given to Philip Roth. This all happened, before the usual Booker Prize, had started its own controversy. It was a grand head on collision. The kind of collision, and wreck, one cannot turn away from; yet watches with absent glee and restrained horror; and a steady supply of disbelief. That being said, you can’t help but roast marshmallows, over the flames, and eat popcorn, watching the mess continue to unfold. Yet two years later, the shortlist has been praised for its variety, and its integrity for taking in all factors; from gender, to nationality to literary merit.
Now a new controversy has been set a flame. The Booker Prize, which has been exclusively, awarded to a novel from the UK, Commonwealth countries, as well as Ireland and Zimbabwe; is now opening its doors, to any, English language publication (as long as it has been published in the UK). In other words, the prize is now open to include American authors. This has people dived straight down the middle. Some claim that the Booker Prize can now truly live up to its horn tooting “most important literary award in English-Speaking world.” Others however call it a complete and utter mistake; that has doomed the integrity of the Booker Prize.
It is hard not to see the future of the Booker Prize being dominated by American literature. Not by America’s literary taste, but simply because America has a vast quantity, of books published, and would flex that economic-super power muscle; dominating the newly revised prize. Just look at previous awards: The former Orange Prize, now Women’s Prize for Fiction, the winners has been dominated by American authors. The Man Booker Prize international has been awarded twice in a row to American authors. This is not, The Russian Booker Prize, or the German Book Prize, or the Man Asian Literary Prize, nor is it the Camões Prize, or Miguel de Cervantes Prize, or the Akutagawa Prize. This is the Booker Prize. The very prize, that has taken the place of the Commonwealth Writers Prize. Yet now it might as well be called the Pulitzer Version 2.0.
The Booker Prize is a crowded horse race as it is. Now it is far more crowded, the possibility of the judges reading, all nominated novels is now, certainly impossible. Now what it comes down to, is what novels are going to be overlooked, by the sheer quantity of the novels, and prize going to well established writers. The fact is, this ‘makeover,’ comes over, on attempt at showing that English speaking countries, are a bit more international, then they are given credit for. It’s an attempt rivalling other prizes; and being a bit more international. Still the feeling is, that the Booker is losing its own credibility. It’s now just become a glorified game of literary bingo, if you win you win, hip hip hurray. Though it’s too early to see how this new format, will change the prize itself, it does leave one feeling a bit on the uneasy side. As if this is just an attempt, at more favourable marketing, in a changing globalised world.
The entire, change however, comes in an interesting time, as the literary world is shifting. Publishers are leery of publishing. Writers are self-publishing – for free; if it’s popular with the reading public, then it’ll be considered to be published by an actual publisher. Literary merit is on the decline. Libraries are shutting down. Google’s prospect of claiming copy-right of out of print books. In fact the ‘profession,’ of writer may as be called a thankless hobby at best. Prizes like The Booker Prize, and other awards, are trying to stay afloat. One can only wait and see if the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize, will take the same route – if they take the same route.
For further reading:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/sep/18/booker-prize-us-writers-end
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/18/man-booker-prize-allow-us-american-entries
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2011/jun/30/booker-prize-international-embarrassment
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
*And Remember: Downloading Books Illegally is Thievery and Wrong.*
M. Mary
I had stated in my announcement of the Booker Prize shortlist for this year that “after the Booker Prize crisis of two-thousand and eleven, it would appear that the award is back on track.” However new revelations, have revealed that my comments were premature. The crisis of two-thousand and eleven, was a mere appetizer to the current, shocking news. Whereas the former Booker Prize controversy, arose when the judges had chosen readability over literary merit; and the subsequent public relations meltdown, where that years chair of judges (Stella Rimington) compared, the critics to the former KGB. It was a rather disappointing, year for the Booker Prize. Before that though there was the Man Booker International Prize, controversy. Which began with, one Chairman – Jonathan Taylor; had gone on to state that the Booker Prize, had reached a more global status, then that of the Nobel; which he called “Political at best.” Then there was the Man Booker International Prize, going to the absent figure of Philip Roth. Earlier John le Carre, requested his name be removed from the shortlist. Then Carmen Callil, abdicated her seat from the judging panel after the award was given to Philip Roth. This all happened, before the usual Booker Prize, had started its own controversy. It was a grand head on collision. The kind of collision, and wreck, one cannot turn away from; yet watches with absent glee and restrained horror; and a steady supply of disbelief. That being said, you can’t help but roast marshmallows, over the flames, and eat popcorn, watching the mess continue to unfold. Yet two years later, the shortlist has been praised for its variety, and its integrity for taking in all factors; from gender, to nationality to literary merit.
Now a new controversy has been set a flame. The Booker Prize, which has been exclusively, awarded to a novel from the UK, Commonwealth countries, as well as Ireland and Zimbabwe; is now opening its doors, to any, English language publication (as long as it has been published in the UK). In other words, the prize is now open to include American authors. This has people dived straight down the middle. Some claim that the Booker Prize can now truly live up to its horn tooting “most important literary award in English-Speaking world.” Others however call it a complete and utter mistake; that has doomed the integrity of the Booker Prize.
It is hard not to see the future of the Booker Prize being dominated by American literature. Not by America’s literary taste, but simply because America has a vast quantity, of books published, and would flex that economic-super power muscle; dominating the newly revised prize. Just look at previous awards: The former Orange Prize, now Women’s Prize for Fiction, the winners has been dominated by American authors. The Man Booker Prize international has been awarded twice in a row to American authors. This is not, The Russian Booker Prize, or the German Book Prize, or the Man Asian Literary Prize, nor is it the Camões Prize, or Miguel de Cervantes Prize, or the Akutagawa Prize. This is the Booker Prize. The very prize, that has taken the place of the Commonwealth Writers Prize. Yet now it might as well be called the Pulitzer Version 2.0.
The Booker Prize is a crowded horse race as it is. Now it is far more crowded, the possibility of the judges reading, all nominated novels is now, certainly impossible. Now what it comes down to, is what novels are going to be overlooked, by the sheer quantity of the novels, and prize going to well established writers. The fact is, this ‘makeover,’ comes over, on attempt at showing that English speaking countries, are a bit more international, then they are given credit for. It’s an attempt rivalling other prizes; and being a bit more international. Still the feeling is, that the Booker is losing its own credibility. It’s now just become a glorified game of literary bingo, if you win you win, hip hip hurray. Though it’s too early to see how this new format, will change the prize itself, it does leave one feeling a bit on the uneasy side. As if this is just an attempt, at more favourable marketing, in a changing globalised world.
The entire, change however, comes in an interesting time, as the literary world is shifting. Publishers are leery of publishing. Writers are self-publishing – for free; if it’s popular with the reading public, then it’ll be considered to be published by an actual publisher. Literary merit is on the decline. Libraries are shutting down. Google’s prospect of claiming copy-right of out of print books. In fact the ‘profession,’ of writer may as be called a thankless hobby at best. Prizes like The Booker Prize, and other awards, are trying to stay afloat. One can only wait and see if the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize, will take the same route – if they take the same route.
For further reading:
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/sep/18/booker-prize-us-writers-end
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/18/man-booker-prize-allow-us-american-entries
http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2011/jun/30/booker-prize-international-embarrassment
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
*And Remember: Downloading Books Illegally is Thievery and Wrong.*
M. Mary
Wednesday 11 September 2013
The German Book Prize Shortlist
Hello Gentle Reader
As well as the Booker Prize Shortlist being announced so have the six finalists of the German Book Prize. Three men and three women. The prize’s previous contenders include Nobel Laureate in Literature Herta Müller for her novel “Atemschaukel,” – published in English as “The Hunger Angel,” and “Everything I Posses I carry With Me,” or “Everything I won I carry With me.” Austrian writer, Clemens J Setz for his novels “Indigo (Translated as “Indigo,”) and “Die Frequenzen,” Translated as “The Frequencies.” Stephan Thome for “Fliehkräfte,” or “Centrifugal Forces,” and “Grenzgang,” translated as “Border Walk.” Austrian Marlene Streeruwitz for her novel “Die Schmerzmacherin,” translated as “The Huntress,” or “The Painmaker.”
Previous winners include:
Eugen Ruge – “In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts,” translated as “In Times of Fading Light.”
Kathrin Schmidt – “Du stirbst nicht,” translated as “You’re Not Going to Die.”
Melinda Nadj Abonji – “Tauben fliegen auf,” translated as “Falcons without Falconers,”
Ursula Krechel – Landgericht Translated as “Regional Court,” or “Court of Justice.”
This year’s shortlisted authors are as follows; along with a slight blurb about author and their respective novel. Each author is in the running for the most prestigious German language literary award.
Mirko Bonné – “Nie mehr Nacht,” translated as “Never Again Night.”
According to the German Book Prize website, only serious literary readers will recognize Mirko Bonné’s name. Bonné, the forty-eight year old author; writes about a man, who takes a trip to the French coast, with his nephew. The character is sent by a magazine to do a report on the bridges of Normandy, which was a decisive victory for the allies. Yet the main character flees the tragic death of his sister – one who he shared a relationship beyond, the confides of platonic sibling love. In this novel Bonné writes about the personal and historical.
Reinhard Jirgl – “Nichts von euch auf Erden," translated as “Nothing of You on Earth.”
Life on mars, may not be a pipe dream or science fiction concept after all. With an independent Dutch company, looking to put people on Mars to start a colony, it would appear space colonization maybe in our futures. Reinhard Jirgl writes about our desire for conquest – over the odds, over the elements, the environment and ourselves. In this dystopian novel, Jirgl writes about, a drugged populace left on earth; others enslaved on Mars in an underground city run by higher and more influential and wealthy people. The goal? To make Mars an inhabitable space. Jirgl writes a novel that forces us to look into the mirror and question everything.
Clemens Meyer – “Im Stein,” translated as “In Stone.”
The Austrian writer Meyer is often called the Enfant Terrible of Austrian Literature. Meyer’s is literature that breaks free from constraints. He creates a collage of inner monologues, and dreams, detailed descriptions, and a vast overload of information. In his novel “In Stone,” Meyer writes about the shadowy and morally incompetent world of prostitution and pimps. What he creates, is a novel that is ripe and full novel about love and romantic endearment.
Terézia Mora – “Das Ungeheuer,” translated as “The Monster.”
Terézia Mora is a Hungarian writer, whose literary language is German. She is one of this year’s favourites to win. Mora writes about, the personal tragedy of Darius Kopp an IT specialist, whose wife has committed suicide, after he loses his job. What Kopp discovers via his wife’s diary a world of loneliness, and humiliation, along with volatile affairs. Kopp travels to Hungary (where his wife grew up) and seeks answers and dredges up memories.
Marion Poschmann – “Die Sonnenposition,” translated as “The Position of the Sun,”
Marion Poschmann, was primarily a poet. According to the German Book Prize website, it shows with this novel. It’s a slim down refined language, with an economy of precise words. The book turns on the axis of a rundown castle. Its populated by a group of bizarre characters. With bold free association of language and imagery, Marion Poschmann shows the poets affinity with language in a novelistic form.
Monika Zeiner – “Die Ordnung der Sterne über Como,” Translated as “The Order of the Stars above Como,”
Monika Zeiner has written a six hundred page debut. It concerns itself with the intricate romantic triangle of three people living in an apartment. Monika Zeiner has a PhD in medieval poetry and is a singer in an Italian swing band. Her language is melodic; as is the speech that melds with the music that hangs over the novel. (Again according to the German Book Prize website). A novel of youth and lightheartedness.
There you have it Gentle Reader, The German Book Prize shortlist. From the personal to the historical. Poets turning to prose; and different ways of using language. The writers contemplate our potentially doomed futures, and our scared and tragic pasts. It’s a fascinating and diverse shortlist. It’ll be exciting who wins.
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
*And Remember: Downloading Books Illegally is Thievery and Wrong.*
M. Mary
As well as the Booker Prize Shortlist being announced so have the six finalists of the German Book Prize. Three men and three women. The prize’s previous contenders include Nobel Laureate in Literature Herta Müller for her novel “Atemschaukel,” – published in English as “The Hunger Angel,” and “Everything I Posses I carry With Me,” or “Everything I won I carry With me.” Austrian writer, Clemens J Setz for his novels “Indigo (Translated as “Indigo,”) and “Die Frequenzen,” Translated as “The Frequencies.” Stephan Thome for “Fliehkräfte,” or “Centrifugal Forces,” and “Grenzgang,” translated as “Border Walk.” Austrian Marlene Streeruwitz for her novel “Die Schmerzmacherin,” translated as “The Huntress,” or “The Painmaker.”
Previous winners include:
Eugen Ruge – “In Zeiten des abnehmenden Lichts,” translated as “In Times of Fading Light.”
Kathrin Schmidt – “Du stirbst nicht,” translated as “You’re Not Going to Die.”
Melinda Nadj Abonji – “Tauben fliegen auf,” translated as “Falcons without Falconers,”
Ursula Krechel – Landgericht Translated as “Regional Court,” or “Court of Justice.”
This year’s shortlisted authors are as follows; along with a slight blurb about author and their respective novel. Each author is in the running for the most prestigious German language literary award.
Mirko Bonné – “Nie mehr Nacht,” translated as “Never Again Night.”
According to the German Book Prize website, only serious literary readers will recognize Mirko Bonné’s name. Bonné, the forty-eight year old author; writes about a man, who takes a trip to the French coast, with his nephew. The character is sent by a magazine to do a report on the bridges of Normandy, which was a decisive victory for the allies. Yet the main character flees the tragic death of his sister – one who he shared a relationship beyond, the confides of platonic sibling love. In this novel Bonné writes about the personal and historical.
Reinhard Jirgl – “Nichts von euch auf Erden," translated as “Nothing of You on Earth.”
Life on mars, may not be a pipe dream or science fiction concept after all. With an independent Dutch company, looking to put people on Mars to start a colony, it would appear space colonization maybe in our futures. Reinhard Jirgl writes about our desire for conquest – over the odds, over the elements, the environment and ourselves. In this dystopian novel, Jirgl writes about, a drugged populace left on earth; others enslaved on Mars in an underground city run by higher and more influential and wealthy people. The goal? To make Mars an inhabitable space. Jirgl writes a novel that forces us to look into the mirror and question everything.
Clemens Meyer – “Im Stein,” translated as “In Stone.”
The Austrian writer Meyer is often called the Enfant Terrible of Austrian Literature. Meyer’s is literature that breaks free from constraints. He creates a collage of inner monologues, and dreams, detailed descriptions, and a vast overload of information. In his novel “In Stone,” Meyer writes about the shadowy and morally incompetent world of prostitution and pimps. What he creates, is a novel that is ripe and full novel about love and romantic endearment.
Terézia Mora – “Das Ungeheuer,” translated as “The Monster.”
Terézia Mora is a Hungarian writer, whose literary language is German. She is one of this year’s favourites to win. Mora writes about, the personal tragedy of Darius Kopp an IT specialist, whose wife has committed suicide, after he loses his job. What Kopp discovers via his wife’s diary a world of loneliness, and humiliation, along with volatile affairs. Kopp travels to Hungary (where his wife grew up) and seeks answers and dredges up memories.
Marion Poschmann – “Die Sonnenposition,” translated as “The Position of the Sun,”
Marion Poschmann, was primarily a poet. According to the German Book Prize website, it shows with this novel. It’s a slim down refined language, with an economy of precise words. The book turns on the axis of a rundown castle. Its populated by a group of bizarre characters. With bold free association of language and imagery, Marion Poschmann shows the poets affinity with language in a novelistic form.
Monika Zeiner – “Die Ordnung der Sterne über Como,” Translated as “The Order of the Stars above Como,”
Monika Zeiner has written a six hundred page debut. It concerns itself with the intricate romantic triangle of three people living in an apartment. Monika Zeiner has a PhD in medieval poetry and is a singer in an Italian swing band. Her language is melodic; as is the speech that melds with the music that hangs over the novel. (Again according to the German Book Prize website). A novel of youth and lightheartedness.
There you have it Gentle Reader, The German Book Prize shortlist. From the personal to the historical. Poets turning to prose; and different ways of using language. The writers contemplate our potentially doomed futures, and our scared and tragic pasts. It’s a fascinating and diverse shortlist. It’ll be exciting who wins.
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
*And Remember: Downloading Books Illegally is Thievery and Wrong.*
M. Mary
The Booker Prize Shortlist 2013
Hello Gentle Reader
On September tenth, the Booker Prize shortlist, for twenty thirteen had been announced. It has so far been called one of the most varied and most interesting shortlists, since two-thousand and four’s shortlist. What is unique about this year’s Booker Shortlist is that it has, more women writers to the ratio of men. That being said, the soon to be retired, Jim Grace is, in the running with his novel “The Harvest.”
The shortlist is as follows:
“The Harvest,” by Jim Grace
“We Need New Names,” by NoViolet Bulawayo
“The Luminaries,” by Eleanor Catton
“The Lowland,” by Jhumpa Lahiri
“A Tale for the Time Being,” Ruth Ozeki
“The Testament of Mary,” by Colm Tóibín
Robert Macfarlane the chair of this year’s Booker Judges, has called this years, Booker Prize short list the most diverse in recent memory. After the Booker Prize crisis of two-thousand and eleven, it would appear that the award is back on track. The writes, are from New Zealand, Canada, Zimbabwe, Ireland and England. A Diverse list indeed, with strong and various women contenders.
Congratulations to the judges, for picking a diverse and interesting list.
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
*And Remember: Downloading Books Illegally is Thievery and Wrong.*
M. Mary
On September tenth, the Booker Prize shortlist, for twenty thirteen had been announced. It has so far been called one of the most varied and most interesting shortlists, since two-thousand and four’s shortlist. What is unique about this year’s Booker Shortlist is that it has, more women writers to the ratio of men. That being said, the soon to be retired, Jim Grace is, in the running with his novel “The Harvest.”
The shortlist is as follows:
“The Harvest,” by Jim Grace
“We Need New Names,” by NoViolet Bulawayo
“The Luminaries,” by Eleanor Catton
“The Lowland,” by Jhumpa Lahiri
“A Tale for the Time Being,” Ruth Ozeki
“The Testament of Mary,” by Colm Tóibín
Robert Macfarlane the chair of this year’s Booker Judges, has called this years, Booker Prize short list the most diverse in recent memory. After the Booker Prize crisis of two-thousand and eleven, it would appear that the award is back on track. The writes, are from New Zealand, Canada, Zimbabwe, Ireland and England. A Diverse list indeed, with strong and various women contenders.
Congratulations to the judges, for picking a diverse and interesting list.
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
*And Remember: Downloading Books Illegally is Thievery and Wrong.*
M. Mary
Monday 9 September 2013
Ladbrokes Nobel Odds
Hello Gentle Reader
The season has now started. Autumn is the season of the awards and prizes. The Booker Prize, the German Book Prize – and the most lucrative literary prize and most prestigious (if a bit eccentric one) The Nobel Prize for Literature. The betting site Ladbrokes has now offered, their own rough estimate, of who has the odds to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
One again, the Japanese pop literature novelist is the front runner to win the Nobel Prize for literature, with an estimated chance of 3/1. I personally don’t think Murakami has the qualifications to win the award. That being said; some of have argued with the release of his monumental novel “1Q84,” he was able to leave his own, town of talking cats; and begin to really expand as a writer. That still being said, I don’t think personally he has the qualifications. Murakami is an interesting – if a bit entertaining writer; but I don’t think the merit is all there just yet to be honest. Then again I certainly do not think last year’s winner had any merit whatsoever either.
The next runner up is Joyce Carol Oats. She’s a factory of mass production of writing. This brings into question quantity over quality. She has written most likely well over a hundred novels. Does an author have anything uniquely say, when they’ve written so much? Do they risk repeating themselves, over and over and over again? Many feel that Joyce Carol Oates does not have a chance; based on her large catalogue of novels, short story collections, poetry collections, essays and memories, and other novels and works written under her pseudonyms. Oats odd are 6/1.
Peter Nadas is next in line. The Hungarian novelist is known for large, and philosophically drenched, and demanding works. His novel “Parallel Stories,” is a phone book! It runs to about one thousand, one hundred and fifty two pages. “A Book of Memories,” runs to seven hundred and twenty pages. That being said, Peter Nadas is known for an interesting, oeuvre of work. A strong high quality of writing, and philosophical discussion. He is one of Hungary’s leading writers. The odds for Nadas: 7/1
Perennial poet and highly speculated South Korean poet Ko Un, runs in at 10/1. There is not much I can say about the poet, that I have not already said. I own his collection of poems “Three Way Tavern,” and am surprised by his interest in the exterior world, not the interior world – and his ability to use poetry as a form to tell other peoples stories – not just his own observations.
Here comes Canada’s best bet to winning the Nobel Prize for Literature: Alice Munro. A master of the short story; whose only true rival in to that claim is William Trevor. I personally hope for Alice Munro to win – for a few reasons; but to see the short story being taken more seriously not just as the poor cousin of the novel. Munro’s odd are 12/1.
Further down the line is Irish short story writer and novelist William Trevor at 33/1. Seamus Heaney, Ireland’s living Nobel Laureate, recently passed away. Is William Trevor going to pick up the mantle? – I sometimes like to fantasise, Trevor and Munro sharing the award.
At 14/1 is Adunis, the Syrian poet, and the grandfather of Modern Arabic poetry. Syria has been in the news a lot, over the years. With its rising civil war, the alleged use of chemical weapons, and increased pressure from western nations to cease fire – while some are calling on strikes; and others saying any illegal strike, will be met with the regime being supported by other nations. It’s a tricky diplomatic situation.
Assia Djebar is also at 14/1. Many feel she is a strong contender. She’s from a North African country, she is female, and feminist and political oriented body of work. I have not read anything by, Assia Djebar but I know she won the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in nineteen-ninety six.
Next comes the usual bemoaned bride’s maid, of not getting the Nobel, Philip Roth. Roth has been actively seeking the Prize. In fact it’s such a touchy subject with him, that he has not won the Prize (‘yet’,) that interviewers are often advised, at not referring to the contentious discussion, with the begrudged author. Some have called on the Swedish Academy, to award the prize to Roth, as a ‘retirement gift,’ – but then again missing the universal squabbling and outrage of an American not winning the award, and the “Who?” that follows, would be sorely missed.
Amos Oz is at 16/1 as well. The liberal Israeli thinker, and writer, just won the Franz Kafka Prize in two-thousand and thirteen. Maybe it’s his year.
Ngugi wa Thiog’o is at 20/1. Speculation has been on the rise that a African will win this year, after the death of Chinua Achebe. That and Africa (as a continent) is seriously lacking in representation.
Then there is the American conspiracy theorist, postmodern satirist – and in my opinion, overhyped, red eyed, psychedelic odd ball Thomas Pynchon, with his odds set at 20/1.
Milan Kundera, another perennial Nobel contender, comes in at 25/1. His greatest literary weight rests on “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.”
At 40/1 comes Dacia Maraini, an Italian feminist, novelist and playwright. She was also the companion to Alberto Moravia. With such high speculation, that a woman will win this year, many are looking at Dacia Maraini. It has been over a decade since Italy won a Nobel in Literature – and it went to a dud Dario Fo. I do not know a lot about Dacia Maraini. She’s not that well represented in English – and what is, is out of stock, usually.
Nuruddin Farah the Somalian writer is at 40/1 in his odds. This may change as we get closer to the Nobel time.
From there on out, big name novelists, compete against lesser known, on slots, from 50/1 odds all the way to 100/1 odds. Bob Dylan is also included. But his odds (should be) are slim, to non-existent.
There you have it Gentle Reader the Nobel Prize for Literature, speculaton by Ladbrokes. I am hoping for a bit of a surprise this year, with the award, much like Herta Müller was when she had won the prize.
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
*And Remember: Downloading Books Illegally is Thievery and Wrong.*
M. Mary
To view the full list, go to the following link:
http://sportsbeta.ladbrokes.com/2013-Nobel-Prize-in-Literature/Awards-N-1z0xxrmZ1z10gli/
The season has now started. Autumn is the season of the awards and prizes. The Booker Prize, the German Book Prize – and the most lucrative literary prize and most prestigious (if a bit eccentric one) The Nobel Prize for Literature. The betting site Ladbrokes has now offered, their own rough estimate, of who has the odds to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
One again, the Japanese pop literature novelist is the front runner to win the Nobel Prize for literature, with an estimated chance of 3/1. I personally don’t think Murakami has the qualifications to win the award. That being said; some of have argued with the release of his monumental novel “1Q84,” he was able to leave his own, town of talking cats; and begin to really expand as a writer. That still being said, I don’t think personally he has the qualifications. Murakami is an interesting – if a bit entertaining writer; but I don’t think the merit is all there just yet to be honest. Then again I certainly do not think last year’s winner had any merit whatsoever either.
The next runner up is Joyce Carol Oats. She’s a factory of mass production of writing. This brings into question quantity over quality. She has written most likely well over a hundred novels. Does an author have anything uniquely say, when they’ve written so much? Do they risk repeating themselves, over and over and over again? Many feel that Joyce Carol Oates does not have a chance; based on her large catalogue of novels, short story collections, poetry collections, essays and memories, and other novels and works written under her pseudonyms. Oats odd are 6/1.
Peter Nadas is next in line. The Hungarian novelist is known for large, and philosophically drenched, and demanding works. His novel “Parallel Stories,” is a phone book! It runs to about one thousand, one hundred and fifty two pages. “A Book of Memories,” runs to seven hundred and twenty pages. That being said, Peter Nadas is known for an interesting, oeuvre of work. A strong high quality of writing, and philosophical discussion. He is one of Hungary’s leading writers. The odds for Nadas: 7/1
Perennial poet and highly speculated South Korean poet Ko Un, runs in at 10/1. There is not much I can say about the poet, that I have not already said. I own his collection of poems “Three Way Tavern,” and am surprised by his interest in the exterior world, not the interior world – and his ability to use poetry as a form to tell other peoples stories – not just his own observations.
Here comes Canada’s best bet to winning the Nobel Prize for Literature: Alice Munro. A master of the short story; whose only true rival in to that claim is William Trevor. I personally hope for Alice Munro to win – for a few reasons; but to see the short story being taken more seriously not just as the poor cousin of the novel. Munro’s odd are 12/1.
Further down the line is Irish short story writer and novelist William Trevor at 33/1. Seamus Heaney, Ireland’s living Nobel Laureate, recently passed away. Is William Trevor going to pick up the mantle? – I sometimes like to fantasise, Trevor and Munro sharing the award.
At 14/1 is Adunis, the Syrian poet, and the grandfather of Modern Arabic poetry. Syria has been in the news a lot, over the years. With its rising civil war, the alleged use of chemical weapons, and increased pressure from western nations to cease fire – while some are calling on strikes; and others saying any illegal strike, will be met with the regime being supported by other nations. It’s a tricky diplomatic situation.
Assia Djebar is also at 14/1. Many feel she is a strong contender. She’s from a North African country, she is female, and feminist and political oriented body of work. I have not read anything by, Assia Djebar but I know she won the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in nineteen-ninety six.
Next comes the usual bemoaned bride’s maid, of not getting the Nobel, Philip Roth. Roth has been actively seeking the Prize. In fact it’s such a touchy subject with him, that he has not won the Prize (‘yet’,) that interviewers are often advised, at not referring to the contentious discussion, with the begrudged author. Some have called on the Swedish Academy, to award the prize to Roth, as a ‘retirement gift,’ – but then again missing the universal squabbling and outrage of an American not winning the award, and the “Who?” that follows, would be sorely missed.
Amos Oz is at 16/1 as well. The liberal Israeli thinker, and writer, just won the Franz Kafka Prize in two-thousand and thirteen. Maybe it’s his year.
Ngugi wa Thiog’o is at 20/1. Speculation has been on the rise that a African will win this year, after the death of Chinua Achebe. That and Africa (as a continent) is seriously lacking in representation.
Then there is the American conspiracy theorist, postmodern satirist – and in my opinion, overhyped, red eyed, psychedelic odd ball Thomas Pynchon, with his odds set at 20/1.
Milan Kundera, another perennial Nobel contender, comes in at 25/1. His greatest literary weight rests on “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.”
At 40/1 comes Dacia Maraini, an Italian feminist, novelist and playwright. She was also the companion to Alberto Moravia. With such high speculation, that a woman will win this year, many are looking at Dacia Maraini. It has been over a decade since Italy won a Nobel in Literature – and it went to a dud Dario Fo. I do not know a lot about Dacia Maraini. She’s not that well represented in English – and what is, is out of stock, usually.
Nuruddin Farah the Somalian writer is at 40/1 in his odds. This may change as we get closer to the Nobel time.
From there on out, big name novelists, compete against lesser known, on slots, from 50/1 odds all the way to 100/1 odds. Bob Dylan is also included. But his odds (should be) are slim, to non-existent.
There you have it Gentle Reader the Nobel Prize for Literature, speculaton by Ladbrokes. I am hoping for a bit of a surprise this year, with the award, much like Herta Müller was when she had won the prize.
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
*And Remember: Downloading Books Illegally is Thievery and Wrong.*
M. Mary
To view the full list, go to the following link:
http://sportsbeta.ladbrokes.com/2013-Nobel-Prize-in-Literature/Awards-N-1z0xxrmZ1z10gli/
Tuesday 3 September 2013
We find its September Again
Hello Gentle Reader
A few days ago, each of us woke up. To our awoken eyes, it is September again. The past few days of August, had been filled with a fluttering anxiety. The kind of anxiety that prey feels when it’s suspicious of being watched, with prowling eyes and empty stomachs, is at its most intense. Autumns orange eyes had been viewing the last days of summer keenly. Stores are packed with mothers and their grumbling children. Paper, pencils, pens – they take what they need. The kids try on clothes. Through the years, it’s becoming more personalized, with individual style. Still each of them is aware of their own ending freedom. Summer and time has betrayed them yet again. There is a tree in the back garden. It’s been anxiously awaiting the end. Turning its leaves yellow prematurely. The wild grass has lost its green waxy sheen. It is now thin and gold. Tuffs of oat like seeds, crowning their heads. Everything is sensing the impending, hibernation. The coats of animals are thicker and darker. Cows are fatter. Fields are beginning to ripen. Local corn is being sold. A golden vegetable, that each of us enjoy, during this special time of year. Still with baton of, yellow kernels, autumn is approaching. Its slipped its foot in the doorway. By October it will have taken residents.
Someone told me, a few days ago: “I hope we have a long fall [autumn].” I didn’t have the heart to tell, that person, that it doesn’t matter, if it’s a long autumn or not. Winter will take its debt either way. It’ll shorten the spring or it will shorten the autumn.
This last long weekend, was the last long weekend of summer. The last chance to go camping. The last change to enjoy those final moments of freedom. It’s the last hurrah. Hopefully it was spent well.
Kiki Dimoula wrote a poem titled: “Incompatibles.” – It’s a fitting poem for the current change in the season, and the restlessness that, one feels in the diming lights. The early dusks. The cooler evenings. The last fires of summer. The changing leaves of green to yellows fears and red eyes. To be discovered as translucent brown ghosts in the following spring.
“Incompatibles,”
All my poems about spring
remain incomplete.
Spring is always in a hurry,
my mood always long delayed.
That’s why I’m compelled
to complete
almost every poem I write about spring
with an autumn season.
By Kiki Dimoula, from “In Absentia,” (1958) – collected in “The Brazen Palagrist: Selected Poems.” -- All rights to Kiki Dimoula.
Its only in autumn do we truly miss spring.
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
*And Remember: Downloading Books Illegally is Thievery and Wrong.*
M. Mary
A few days ago, each of us woke up. To our awoken eyes, it is September again. The past few days of August, had been filled with a fluttering anxiety. The kind of anxiety that prey feels when it’s suspicious of being watched, with prowling eyes and empty stomachs, is at its most intense. Autumns orange eyes had been viewing the last days of summer keenly. Stores are packed with mothers and their grumbling children. Paper, pencils, pens – they take what they need. The kids try on clothes. Through the years, it’s becoming more personalized, with individual style. Still each of them is aware of their own ending freedom. Summer and time has betrayed them yet again. There is a tree in the back garden. It’s been anxiously awaiting the end. Turning its leaves yellow prematurely. The wild grass has lost its green waxy sheen. It is now thin and gold. Tuffs of oat like seeds, crowning their heads. Everything is sensing the impending, hibernation. The coats of animals are thicker and darker. Cows are fatter. Fields are beginning to ripen. Local corn is being sold. A golden vegetable, that each of us enjoy, during this special time of year. Still with baton of, yellow kernels, autumn is approaching. Its slipped its foot in the doorway. By October it will have taken residents.
Someone told me, a few days ago: “I hope we have a long fall [autumn].” I didn’t have the heart to tell, that person, that it doesn’t matter, if it’s a long autumn or not. Winter will take its debt either way. It’ll shorten the spring or it will shorten the autumn.
This last long weekend, was the last long weekend of summer. The last chance to go camping. The last change to enjoy those final moments of freedom. It’s the last hurrah. Hopefully it was spent well.
Kiki Dimoula wrote a poem titled: “Incompatibles.” – It’s a fitting poem for the current change in the season, and the restlessness that, one feels in the diming lights. The early dusks. The cooler evenings. The last fires of summer. The changing leaves of green to yellows fears and red eyes. To be discovered as translucent brown ghosts in the following spring.
“Incompatibles,”
All my poems about spring
remain incomplete.
Spring is always in a hurry,
my mood always long delayed.
That’s why I’m compelled
to complete
almost every poem I write about spring
with an autumn season.
By Kiki Dimoula, from “In Absentia,” (1958) – collected in “The Brazen Palagrist: Selected Poems.” -- All rights to Kiki Dimoula.
Its only in autumn do we truly miss spring.
Thank-you For Reading Gentle Reader
Take Care
And As Always
Stay Well Read
*And Remember: Downloading Books Illegally is Thievery and Wrong.*
M. Mary
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