The (Literary) Novel – Is it on the Brink of Extinction?

Hello Gentle Reader

It must be human nature, to be continually obsessed with the end; that definitive finality. For the past few years, words like: ‘the end is near,’ ‘the rapture is upon us,’ and ‘apocalypse now,’ and other such slogans have been passed around the internet, through word of mouth; and could be seen in television and in film trends. The entertainment world is populated by bleak dystopian futures, or disease induced apocalyptic endings. Even the real world, has had these pessimistic idealizations creep into the thoughts of others. There was after all the two-thousand and twelve fiasco, where many people had predicted (and dare I be so audacious (?)) had hoped for the end of the world. Environmental disasters caused by our own neglect and maltreatment of the world around us. Then there was a small controversy in two-thousand and thirteen or later in two-thousand and twelve, where a pastor had predicted the end for all was upon us; once again though it ended with nothing more than a puff; and a giggle of embarrassment with the sighs of disappointment from others. Still two-thousand and fourteen has, had its own flares up of people crying that this is the end. The red moon; the abundant meteor showers; a Friday the thirteenth, with a full moon on the same night; solar flares, that could have wiped out the fragile fabricate of our modern technology dependant world. People continually go on, how we are overdue for an ice age; how we are all doomed to see another grand scale of extinction. Many prep for what they see or call the inevitable Doomsday. Others slough such an idea off, as being a wasted venture and investment. If the end of the world is to happen; as so many proclaim with such enjoyment and volatility; then it will happen. Personal thoughts included: the end (apocalypse, rapture, end of the world) will happen when it happens. It’ll come around when it comes around and that will be that. There is no need to wave picket signs, with slogans: “the end is upon us,” “the end is nigh,” “repent or burn in hell,” “the rapture is now!” there is no need for such frivolous proclamations. Drop the sign; let go of the bible. If the end is ‘nigh,’ than mankind needs only to walk, hand in hand to the inevitable extinction, which would therefore await all.

I find it rather unfortunate, that this mass paranoia and desire for the great curtain call, seems to slip its way into everything. It’s a tedious nuisance on its own; which only breeds simpleton thoughts and general paranoia that leads to existential malaise. In this case however, it’s more of an annoyance. There has always been that chatter between the bookshelves of a big box bookstore – which is: the novel is declining. The narrative art on a written page is on the decline some say. Though others have refined this to being more specific of what is declining in the literary world: literary narrative art is on the decline. The popular novels that are populated by sparkling vampires, boy wizards, dystopian futures, and sadomasochistic pornographic fantasy for the everyday mother, and housewife – are still in popular demand. Yet literary fiction? The novel of artistic integrity and literary merit? Well it is on the decline according to some. Will Self, wrote an article on “The Guardian,” on May second, declaring that the literary novel, and its height and dominance of culture and cultural prestige and intellectual authority, have waned over the years. According to Self, the literary novel will become a ‘specialized field.’ Though Will Self brings up many good points in his long article; the digital revolution of the information age; Self also fails to realize the possibilities this revolution leads for the novel, as well as its tenacious desire to live – literary or not.

I am a reader who enjoys the literary novel. The mass marketed books of romances, or romantic comedic novels, and adventure novels, and suspense and thrillers, as well as fantasy and science fiction, no longer engage me the way that literary novels do. When I was younger, I certainly enjoyed graphic and gory murder mysteries. I read Dan Browns Vatican novels, when I was in in my younger years as well, as that was the craze then. Yet after the discovery of more intellectual novels, and the larger world and its own offerings, in regards to literature – provincial and international concepts; I became far more interested in a novel that frustrated me and pushed my patience to the breaking point. Numerous times I’ve been forced to put a novel down, cross my legs, flare my nostrils for a few minutes, and walk away; only to be drawn back to the novel, re-read what I could not fathom or comprehend before, and finally understand it. This continual tease and frustration is what brings me back to a book of literary fiction. It never reveals itself in a straightforward manner. A literary novel is like a childhood friend who knows a secret and won’t tell you that secret. It angers you, frustrates you, and makes you want to learn the secret even more – no matter how mundane or trivial it is. Literary fiction as a whole is well crafted, secret keeper. It’s deeply written, and written with everything the writer has in them at the time. That being said literary fiction – even to the highest degree is not without its shortcomings. This kind of fiction is often convinced of its own self-importance, and this arrogance can show, and deters readers from reading the work any longer or daring to go into further realms of literary fiction. It’s often contrived that it is better, then other books – and it maybe better than other books; this pompous assurance once again is off putting to some readers. My favorite shortcoming of literary fiction is it can become very patronizing to a reader. It’s generally written by a writer who only wishes to write to show how clever they are. Their word play; an overuse of polysyllabic words, and often repeating themselves in the same sentence with words that share the same meaning, creating a sentence that is in the end a redundant waste of language and vowels. No reader wants to feel like they are being talked down to; or are being demeaned by a condescending writer, who metaphorically pats them on the head while saying with such a smug tone: “you gave it a good go. Maybe next time you’ll be able to get it.”

If the literary novel is to survive it is to recognize its shortcomings; and realize that it balances between intellectual growth and understanding; and its contrite self-importance and arrogance. Literary fiction will need to adapt to a world of shorter spans for reading and the attention required to reading often becomes limited as well. It’s a world where technology is taking over. Conversations are becoming increasingly difficult for some people to manage. Dinner no longer takes place at a dinner table; but rather with a ‘TV tray,’ and microwave convenience food. Playing outside appears to be abandoned, by many. That being said technology has helped many people out in many ways. The ability to stay connected is a godsend to many. The world is capable of moving at a fast paced, and changing that pace at a moment’s notice. Inevitably though, technology has engrossed on other areas as well. Music can be digital downloaded for free, at the rage at the poor sucker who paid the money to record the song in the first place. Who could forget the court battle with Napster and recording musicians, who protested the free trade of their own work? Now the same is happening to books, and literary works. With the rise of the kindle, ipad, kobo, nook – all of the e-readers now threaten writers, publishers, and independent booksellers. As the music industry would tell you though, it grotesquely survived; as it continuous to churn out young people with little talent, but the ‘appeal,’ into the world, and their eventual spoiled nature, in regard to money and the eventual law conflict with one another. Then if one were to learn from the music industries near meeting with the end; then the publishing world is in semi-good company.

Will Self predicts the end of the novel – the literary novel, with his article with “The Guardian.” Tim Parks from “The New York Review of Books,” offers a more positive outlook on the lasting impression of the literary novel. Parks immediately admits the reality: the current environment is not all that favorable to reading. However, as Parks notes immediately the literary novel will adapt to these changes. As Parks notes in his article the current world and environment is filled with distractions. By that ask yourself how many times you check your phone for a text you sent five minutes ago; how many times a day on average do you check your e-mails; how many times a day on average do you check your facebook? Now one needs to ask themselves how invested are they into the replies? Surely there must be some investment as one continually checks the phone, checks e-mail, or the newsfeed. It’s a world of disrupted attention; and a very small attention span, trying to multitask and focus on continual points of interest at once. At the same time, people today are inclined to interruption. We are prepared for it, and often seek it. In a sense, there must be something new and shiny out there for each of us to feast our eyes on in some way or another; as the current fixation has become dull and less lustrous.

Yet as Parks notes once again, long novels continuo to be written. Karl Ove Knausgaard for example continuous to be something of an amazement to many readers, who pick up his gigantic novel (in volumes) and read each translated volume, with eager delight and pleasure. Looking around people still pick up the bloated “lord of the rings,” and devour it as they had done in their adolescents. Just recently literary novels are picking up their own word count and page count. They are now towering in at seven hundred pages, or eight hundred pages. Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer prize winning novel “The Goldfinch,” is almost eight hundred pages long, and was shortlisted as well as suspected to win the, Baileys Women Prize for Fiction; and has been tipped off by many critics as being a contender for this year’s ‘open,’ Booker Prize. There again just look at last years Booker Prize winning novel: “The Luminaries,” by Eleanor Catton, is just over eight hundred pages long. Larger literary novels do exist; though they are not for me personally. Anyone who needs to write over five hundred pages (and even that is pushing it) has nothing wroth saying. Shorter novels of more intense work and language I often find, have a greater depth and appreciation for language; which brings me to the end of Parks article. Parks predicts the novel (of literary inclinations) will break itself up into shorter chapters and shorter sections and parks, to offer a quick pause and break for the readers, in a world that is surrounded with distraction. Whereas the larger novel or rather the more popular novel, will simply fall into more repetitious patterns, and more of a similar formula that it will be copied over and over again, following the same dynamic of an elementary school teacher, teaching their class the parts o a story: the beginning (introduction) the conflict (problem) rosining action, then declining action and the end (conclusion). Where the literary novel will continue to thrive in its complexities – self-important or not; contrived or not; the more popularized novel will fall into a pattern of a heart monitor continually rosining and falling, with occasional flat lining; as its pace and rhythm.

I do think that both Will Self and Tim Parks make very good points. However I always put ‘predictions,’ to the wind, and think of more serious matters. There is no doubt that the current environment is going to respect a writers idea to write a eighty page chapter, that moves at a snail’s pace. Yet it is very audacious to state that the literary novel is dead. Yes there are plenty of novels out there, that are surviving, and excelling. However, the world at large, the literary world, is far from over, and I do not think it will ever end – at least not so easily. I personally hope that Parks prediction is true. May literary writers, learn a lot from the short story, and stop writing phonebooks – not everyone has a book shelf made out of steel or iron; and not everyone has the time or patience to read that kind of book. At least I do not have the time to invest in that large of a novel. Personal tastes dictate smaller more explosive works, that showcase their capabilities with a mixture of telling and leaving some unsaid, only to be discovered later. That and the language can be utilized far more appropriately and can be more intense with hindrance to the actual book itself. In my opinion the novel; literary and not; is not necessarily endangered or on the verge of extinction. It will learn to thrive in this new world. As poetry would tell you from its crows net on top of its ivory tower, nothing dies without a fight. Demand declines, but surviving and reinventing as well as renewal never hurt, to approach a ever changing world.

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 German Book Prize Shortlist

Hello Gentle Reader

Autumn is a season of awards – literary awards that is. The Booker Prize, The German Book Prize, The Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, and of course the Nobel Prize for Literature, which will announced early to mid-October; depending on when a consensus has been reached. Still here is the shortlist for the German Book Prize; I will leave a link to the website in which I have got this information, and you can read the list, and the blurbs about the books there.

Thomas Hettche, “Pfaueninsel,”
Angelika Klüssendorf, “April,”
Gertrud Leutenegger, “Panischer Frühling,”
Thomas Melle, “3000 Euro,”
Lutz Seiler, “Kruso,”
Heinrich Steinfest, “Der Allesforscher,”

There they are Gentle Reader, The German Book Prize shortlist, six authors, with six different viewpoints, tackling diverse subjects and themes.

http://www.dw.de/german-book-prize-announces-short-list/a-17911881

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

Wild Cat

Hello Gentle Reader

Well Gentle Reader, the technical difficulties are no more. The problem has been solved. However, as one will notice with this blog in particular, that it mentions a seasonal change; and I do apologize for the lapse in temporal, in that it is being posted later than it was originally planned. Either way Gentle Reader it is good to be back; and it is nice to have the technical problems all figured out, and working again.

[ I ]

Closed on Account of Nostalgia

Reading is an intense love affair that only bibliophiles and the most avid of readers, will understand. Sometimes after reading there is a need for an almost post-coital cigarette. Jacques Poulin’s novel “Wild Cat,” required just that. After reading a hundred pages, nonchalantly over the course of a few nights, the last seventy-eight pages were devoured in frenzied, manic enjoyment. When the book ended there was a bitter sweet and melancholic realization that: this affair between book and reader had come to a startling – if a bit; expected end. While enjoying my ritual cigarette, there was a sneaky suspicion that the book realizing then, the end of the affair, would quietly slip out of my home and into the warm humid August night. The scent of backyard fires stinging the nose; would be a constant reminder of our time together. Their eyes would glaze over with nostalgia, come future Augusts, and they would be reminded of that blazing night that outshone the moon, and yet was quiet and all that more tender. Nostalgia however is always tinged with melancholy. Our affair based around a shared passion for words, the literary, and the enjoyment of the quiet beauty in its most sublime; could never have held the weight of a long lasting and committed relationship. Where this affair (that’s what it was), was an intense forest fire – it lacked the necessary winds to stoke the coals. It had to end like a, August day: hot and oppressive, which eventually cooled with the onslaught of night.

Autumn is around the corner. Soon the north wind will blow. The leaves will no longer sway as they have with the south wind. They will shiver and change colour, and eventually fall. Autumn brings a sense of trepidation with it. Autumn is the red carpet, before the arrival of winter. Winter is on the horizon. Jack Frost will have already made his rounds to crisp up the ground, and freeze the windows. Yet autumn is my favourite season. With its: long evenings and nights, inviting bonfires; and vibrant colours always around the bend.

[ II ]

“Wild Cat,” by the Quebec author Jacques Poulin, is a novel that toes the line of sentimentality and melodramatic, very often. However, it often catches itself just before crossing, and retreats back into self-restraint. The novel is about Jack, a professional ‘public writer,’ who writes letters, and documents for a living. His life is quiet, and there is nothing special about it. People come to him, to compose letters, and he provides that service to them. Whether it is helping create a lexicon of translated sports words into French; or consultation on helping to write a speech; or the personal and intimate love letter; Jack is your mine. His apartment is shared with his friend and ‘lover,’ Kim a psychologist and psychotherapist; who generally, works nights, so her patients to come see her; and generally up the fire escape as to not wake Jake on the level below. That is the amount of detail one is to expect from Poulin. His writing is restrained, to the point that details or unnecessary or complicated information becomes obsolete; as it would be considered pointless and meaningless data.

Reading Poulin, is reading a novel that has been compressed to the point, that the characters act as if being observed. Personal histories and back stories become rarities. There are few flashbacks, and when there are, they are snapshots. It would appear that Poulin’s characters have a, certain distrust for nostalgia and dwelling on the past. They live in the here and the now; and cannot be bothered to open up about their prior experiences. Yet there is not a sense that they are cold or distant characters; they are warm and receptive. Jack for example is timid, and passive in character. Yet with their lacking back stories at times, it becomes difficult to understand the characters relationships with each other. There is at times a miscommunication between the book and the reader, of how the characters interact. There is no neat organized explanation of the characters relationship. In fact the characters relationships are at best superficial. Yet the writing is calm and meditative. It’s constantly deliberating in its next move. One that happens without action or surprise. It happens in the most mundane ways possible. “Wild Cat,” is a novel without a traditional story. The storyline of Macha and the mysterious Old Man, who Jack takes a interest in, loosely define the book; but there is something to the book then just that.

In a sense reading “Wild Cat,” often came down to Jack’s experiences. His own pathetic (his words) attempts at being a detective; and shadowing the Old Man, trying to find out details of this mysterious gentlemen, who had come to ask for Jack’s assistance on writing a letter. A love letter nonetheless, that is to be sent to his absent wife. The rest of the novel is made up of everyday observations and details. Pretty Cat, for example makes continually appearances. Often lounging in the ‘cat tree,’ or devouring kibble, and cleaning off the plates of Kim and Jack. Pretty Cat, much like Mister Blue from Poulin’s other novel “Mister Blue,” is more a part of the scenery, then the citadel of Quebec. The cats of Poulin’s novels, are treated with compassion and fondness, but are observed, just as if one were observing the passing seasons.

Yet it is Poulin’s observations by his fictional characters, that I enjoy the most. The mundane is soon rendered to the mystical:

“The night was just beginning. Between the illuminated towers of the big hotels west of the parliament and the green and yellow diadem crowning the Chateau Frontenac along the St. Lawrence, there was evidence of night life in the lit up windows, the car headlights pouring onto the streets, and the moonlight shimmering on the tin roofs. Kim had told me one day that in Manichean belief, the moon was considered to be a ship that had the mission of once a month taking on board the final spark of life of those who were about to die and transporting it to the sun, thereby preventing it from being lost forever.”

If you are looking for an easy yet literary read: Poulin is the author that can deliver. However, do not expect the book to end neatly with every loose end quickly tied up. “Wild Cat,” is a short book, which amounts to one hundred and seventy eight pages long. It holds literary merit, and aesthetic value, with its minimalist cover of: royal blue and a small window of golden light with a precarious cat sitting, regal and reticent staring off in the distance. Despite its length, and the sparsity of its prose, it is a novel that plays its cards close to its chest; and does not completely reveal its mysteries. The novel itself is simply written – in a style that is Hemmingway-esque, yet it is far more gentle then Hemmingway’s prose. It appears more sincere; and less journalistic. The novel itself is filled with the ruminations, and meditations of the main character Jack. A lot is left unsaid in the novel, and this can be frustrating. But redemption comes with patience, and I suspect re-reading. For the novel is filled with beautiful descriptions and poignant observations. It deals with love in a manner that comes close to sentimentality; yet distances itself just as quick. The mundane observations and the eccentricities of the landscape and its characters, make the novel come alive such as: The Watchman, and the waitress Maria. The novel stands and supports itself on its subtle writing, its rooted sense of place, and its deliberating observations. There’s a feeling that in a Poulin novel that anything can be considered possible. Just be aware that, the behavior and connecting the dots of the characters interactions and motives, can be difficult to pin point and come to understand.

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

Hello Gentle Reader

This year’s Booker Prize with its ‘global reach,’ has turned out to be rather disappointing. Of the six shortlisted authors, two are American; two are female – which is surprising, taking how few female authors had made it onto the longlist; and the other four are men. What makes the list disappointing however is that David Mitchell and his new ambitious novel “The Bone Clocks,” did not get on the shortlist, despite being favoured to possibly win by many. It has been reported to have been his best novel since his groundbreaking novel “Cloud Atlas.” Once again however, the Booker Prize judges have decided to play it conservatively and safely; rather than award such a genre bending unique novel, with ambitions that is upsetting the literary establishment. In the end the shortlist as follows:

“To Rise Again At a Decent Hour,” by Joshua Ferris
“The Narrow Road to the Deep North,” by Richard Flanagan
“We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves,” by Karen Joy Fowler
“J,” by Howard Jacobson
“The Lives of Others,” by Neel Mukherjee
“How to Be Both,” by Ali Smith

In the end its another disappointing dud of a year, with no book that truly stands out as anything but the conventional, that screams the usual, of what to expect from English language prose.

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

Claudio Magris wins FIL Prize

Hello Gentle Reader

[ a quick note Gentle Reader – I still have not recovered the lost data, but am still doing my best to recover it. ]

The Italian novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright and translator, has received this year’s FIL prize. The award itself goes to a romance language author, as a life achievement award. The Italian author and Germanophile Claudio Magris is the recipient of this year’s award. Many readers will know Magris for his monumental travelogue/drowned novel, “Danube,” that traces the Danube and its history; from its disputed beginning to its eventual conclusion. The book is rich with stories, culture, history, and a writing style that is engaging, warm, lyrical and not written in typical textbook style. Magris however has continued to write and translate, with novels, short stories, and essays under his best. The FIL jury released the following statement praising Magris:

“A thinker in diverse languages, Magris encapsulates the best humanist tradition by combining his own experience with the collective memory of the history of central Europe as a space for dialog between the cultures of the Danube and the Mediterranean.”

If “Danube,” states anything about Magris as a writer and a intellectual, it is that he is a thinker in the humanist traditions, of combining his own experience with the collective memory of history; but also taking the stories of history and the everyday and mixing them into a tapestry that showcases the diversity of the human experience.

Congratulations Claudio Magris

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

Technical Difficulties

Hello Gentle Reader

Currently I am experiencing some technical difficulties not only with my computer, but also with a memory stick, in which is primarily used to house all my data, in regards to: blog posts, book reviews, essays and other such writings. With this technological failure, and perhaps my own human error, future blog posts, and other saved book reviews, will have to be for the time being be with held, and halted until the problem is rectified. I do apologise for this Gentle Reader, and I do apologise for any, future book reviews and blogs posts, that appear off in their times and personal observations. Hopefully this technical error, will be resolved in a timely manner.

Thank-you Gentle Reader for your consideration and patience in this matter. I do apologise once again.

M. Mary

Iranian Lioness Simin Behbahani Passes Away 87

Hello Gentle Reader

Simin Behbahani was affectingly referred to as the Lioness of Iran. She was a poet, who wrote of the joys of love. She was Iran’s national poet; and a literary icon of Persian poetry and literature. Singers used her poems, as basis for their songs, which spoke of love. However Behbahani was more than just a poet of love. She was a writer, of societal change, and of women’s issues within her country. Simin Behbahani wrote of the challenges that Iran faced after its Islamic Revolution in the nineteen-seventies; and the issues that faced women after the revolution. She fought for women’s rights, was a translator, a political activist, and a poet. Her works however, also faced political challenges. A opposition newspaper was banned by Iranian political authorities, for publishing one of her poems. In two-thousand and six, Behbahani attempted to board a plane to leave, for a event in Paris; she was detained by the police. At the age of eighty two, Behbahani was interrogated all night long, much to the shock of her English translator, and many others. Despite her age, Behbahani remained a political force; she wrote about the disputed Iranian elections in two-thousand and nine, with harsh scathing words: “Stop this extravagance, this reckless throwing of my country to the wind.” Her message was made clear. Despite being nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature twice; the Lioness of Iran did not receive the accolade of Laureate status. Her political activism marches on. Yet it is her poetry and the joys of the poetry that is shared between poet and author that will burn the brightest.

Rest in Peace Simin Behbahani

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

An Empty Room

Hello Gentle Reader

According to the calendars at work, the seasons are split up into three months per season. The calendars however, are naïve in their idealistic endeavor to attempt to organize the year, and the seasons. In this corner of the world, winter can last – and generally does last six months of the year. Summer lasts at best for three months; but has the appearance of two months. Currently, we are in the month of August. Where June is wet, with rain and overcast skies; and July makes up for its predecessors, weeping disposition; August is a month of capricious weather. The storms are viciously violent, and temperamental. A normal rainstorm will become a thunderstorm. Were it once rained, it becomes hail – of varying sizes. With the winds gusts, it’s an onslaught of nature’s vandalism. Housing damaged; vehicles dented; windows cracked; siding pockmarked; gardens shredded; and trees stripped bare; petals scattered about. Such is the impulsive month of August. When August comes lurking about, the Autumnal anxiety, begins to twist inside of me. There is trepidation when August saunters around. Not just because of the storms that will surely arise; but because August begins to showcase the glow of the changing season. There is still the summer haze in the air; life is still abundant; but there is a gradual change slowing taking place. The crops are showing their maturation. The canola fields have ceased their blooming; and what was once green is now golden. The days have become shorter; and nights prolong their stay. The other night, the moon had taken on an amber flush to it. Could it have been from the wildfires? Perhaps. Yet upon looking at it, it only proves to showcase that Autumn is around the corner. The ochre sheen was reminiscent of the harvest moon of Autumn. It is a moon in which one could have bonfires under and warm themselves, while enjoying the company of others. I have become more aware of the slight changes of the landscape, and the seasonal changing of the guard. Mu Xin writes about the changing season with delicate prose, that discuss the passage of time, in the backdrop of the changing seasons.

“In the temperate zone, at the start of each season, a sacred aura delicately begins to insinuate itself in the wind. While winter lingers on, springs’s cold air feels tender and moist as it stirs up private, fleeting memories.”

Mu Xin, who has had twenty plus books published in China and Taiwan; has only this collection to his name, in the English language. “An Empty Room,” is a collection of thirteen short stories that have been taken from three previously published works. The end result: a surprisingly well melded book of short stories. Mu Xin who passed away in two-thousand and eleven, was a well respected Chinese author and painter. Xin was born in nineteen-twenty seven and had experienced World War II, as well as the Cultural Revolution. Many of his earlier works, and manuscripts from that period in his life were confiscated and destroyed. Most of his written works were done in exile in America; furthering the painful irony, and lack of translation of his work into the English language. It was only later on in life that, his works became more and more appreciated in his homeland; especially those of his paintings. However, Mu Xin was a master of Chinese cultural and heritage; before the desegregation the Cultural Revolution had inflicted upon a beautiful and rich history. Mu Xin was one of the only surviving great contemporary masters, of the era, preceding the Cultural Revolution.

“An Empty Room,” is written in a Chinese genre called: “sanwen.” Though the term is generally referred to as “prose,” the translator makes the comment, that with Mu Xin, it is a special form of prose, which breaches and blurs the lines between fiction, essay and poetry. Many of the stories that are featured in “An Empty Room,” have an appearance of being, memory exercises, which eventually had slowly began to take on the appearance of a story, bit by bit. The first story in this collection is titled: “The Moment When Childhood Vanished.” Once I had let go the preconceived conception, from the back of the book, to expect something like a poetic essay, and read it as a story; it began to become more enjoyable, as I became less scrutinizing. The story itself, deals with a child, and a trip to a monastery for a ritual. Though our young first person narrator, does not understand the ritual or what is expected of him; he does what is expected of him. Participating in the ritual brings honour to his family; as well as honours the ancestors. Though our narrator has some rather confused and conflicting ideas about why this matters. As the story progresses it begins to lead up to its climatic moment; and finishes just as fast. The true joy in the story however is the epiphanic ending, which is foreshadowed by the title.

The stories of this collection might have a sense of what one may call a Chekhovian nature; but they are something else on their own as well. The stories that have a sense of being a ‘story,’ do rely on epiphanies in order to comment, on the subject matter or strike it home. However if I were to compare, these stories to another famous short story writer: they have the aesthetic sense of Kawabata’s “Palm-of-the-Hand Stories.” In reality however, Mu Xin’s stories are his own, and towards the end the author had left his own mark on each of the stories. One aspect of these stories that I had found interesting, and did appear to go against the described: “builds an astonishing, linked bildungsroman,” was that one story in particular was out place (though not worth the read) against the others. “Quiet Afternoon Tea,” is a story that is not written from what I perceive to be a Chinese perspective. The story is narrated in the first person, but in actuality it is being told from the perspective of a English young woman, who is living with her aunt and uncle, and will inherit the house after they pass on. In the meantime, she waits on them – including making tea. I do not think this story for example fit into the traditional definition of what a bildungsroman is. It does follow the foot path of the other stories, by dealing with memory, and secrets; but other than thematic similarities it does not quite fit into the term: bildungsroman.

Miu Xin’s language is one of his defining characteristics in this book. It’s crystalline and subtle. It flows with grace, and a natural fluidity. The language is as contemplative, as the meditative work in which it is written into. Each word is carefully weighted and measured, before it is inserted in each story. No word is out of place; no passage is overtly verbose; everything in the end is compressed to the point of necessity; but not in a minimalist style. It’s a compression, which poetry utilizes; with the exception a story is being told. Yet, like poetry; the strengths of the stories relies on the remarkable use of language, that has been beautifully translated into English.

The later stories of this short story collection were a lot more interesting. The blurred lines between fiction and essay became less distinguishable. The works became more contemplative, and more philosophical. The outward gaze slowly turns inwards. The exterior landscape becomes a backdrop into the interior world. The later works became increasingly poetic, and philosophical in their discussions of varying subjects. There were times that the work itself, bordered on the sentimental. Yet it is Mu Xin’s cool style, and fluidity, that does not bring attention to over exaggerated emotion; which quickly extinguishes any feeling of forced emotion. Such as:

“Does love need appraisal? When the jewelry experts appraise the love between the Duke and the Duchess [Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson], what should be priceless will be given a price.”

“The Windsor Cemetery Diary,” is one of my favourite short stories of this collection. It’s a philosophical and subtle story that contemplates by the simple gesture of moving a coin, the realization of existence, and realizing the perception of someone else’s existence, without actually seeing them. However this is not a story that could be classified as existential; for the sole reason that this story, also deals with the concept of fate. It does not lecture the reader, on the fact that as individuals – cognitive beings – we are responsible to create meaning in our lives, and therefore give them purpose; and not fall into false theological devices and words like: “destiny,” or “fate.” Rather this is a story, that tackles varying subjects; but a simple gesture of turning a coin over soon becomes a ‘fated,’ action and a philosophical game in which one must continue, as in order to maintain in a sense the existence of each other.

“I, the head; the Other, the tail; after turning the coin several times, the message deepens:

“I exist.
I do not forget.
I am willing to continue.
As the heads-to-tails increases, the message acquires a new value:
I am the reason that the Other still exists.
How can I forget?
I can no longer discontinue this continuity.”

My Dear Gentle Reader, I have been putting off buying Mu Xin’s “An Empty Room,” for some time. Perhaps not intentionally; but it was put off. On this last book spree, there’s a level of confidence, and understanding, when I looked at the pile, and thought to myself: I’ve got a good pile here to work with, and to keep me engaged and delighted; while continually showing me that Literature is one of my greatest enjoyments and loves in this world. Mu Xin is a master at language and a master at writing in the short form. He evades ‘plot,’ traps, opens up for a new style, and says more in a short story of just a few pages, that it would take most writers, of a novel, to actually discuss in a novel of five hundred pages or more. The language itself is precise, and strikes without flinching, and is always dead on. This short story collection, has been one of my favourite books that I have read, as of late.

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

Nobel Speculation 2014

Hello Gentle Reader

The Beginning

The Nobel Prize speculation is already upon us. We lost once again an array of good writers this year. Some Nobel Laureates themselves: Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Nadine Gordimer; as well as some great talents like Tadeusz Rozewicz also passed on. Yet once again Nobel Speculation is upon us. Last year’s award went to: “The Master of the Contemporary Short Story,” Alice Munro. It was a huge achievement in Munro’s quiet career, as a writer, and an equally as great achievement for the short story. That makes Munro the thirteenth woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Speculation has already arisen for the usual suspects: Haruki Murakami, Philip Roth, and of course the perennial pain in the ass Bob Dylan. If I were to be honest, I wouldn’t mind seeing none of those authors win; and would be delighted in the singers fans to politely step back and realize that Dylan is not a writer, or a author, or a poet; but a musician; and has no business, being considered for the prize. Without further ado though, let the speculation begin. I have tried to be as varied, and as considerate I can with, the varieties of the world; and tried to make a compelling list. Until October however, we will never know who the Laureate of two-thousand and fourteen is.

Let's Start Shall We:

Africa –

[ There has not been a native African writer win the Nobel Prize for Literature since Nineteen-Eighty Six with the Nigerian playwright, poet, and essayists Wole Soyinka. Controversy had erupted last year with the death of Chinua Achebe; many calling for the author to receive the prize, even after his passing. My list of African native’s and potential authors to win the Nobel Prize for Literature is small, because of my lack of understanding of that area’s literature. However the scrounging and looking that I have been able to accomplish has lead to some interesting authors, certainly worth taking into consideration for personal reading. ]

Mia Couto – Mozambique – Mia Couto is not a native of Africa; his parents came from Portugal when Portugal had colonized Mozambique. Couto just won this year Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and has been considered a contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature. His works detail the African Experience, in a violent magical realism, and fairytale like manner. It is a world haunted by spirits, and a bloody history; but also amazing with its sites, and natural beauty; and untamed brutality of its natural landscapes. Couto has been called a ‘smuggler writer,’ because of his unique style of stealing words and meanings to make them available in other languages. All of this gives birth to Couto’s experience as a writer of foreign origin in a foreign land that has become home.

Nuruddin Farah – Somalia – The self-imposed exiled Somali writer, who writes in English, has been an international writer from, the continent. He has won numerous international awards, which includes the Neustadt International Prize for Literature. His most famous work is perhaps the “Blood in the Sun,” Trilogy; a coming of age story, in a post-independent world. It is in fact the first part of this trilogy “Maps,” that has cemented his reputation as a heavy weight champion, in contemporary literature. “Maps,” uses the second person narration, to discuss cultural identity and post-colonialism; set during and around with the Ogaden Conflict of nineteen-seventy seven. Farah writes about his exiled homeland, to make it more real to him, and to keep it alive.

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o – Kenya – Thiong'o is fascinating because he does not write his work in well known or easily accessible language. His novels are written in the tribal language Gikuyu /Kikuyu. Linguistically speaking this makes Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o a fascinating author in the use of language. His work are written in the magical realism style; where the horrors of his native Kenya are placed alongside the spirits of ancestors, and the war lords and dictators that rise and fall within the world around him. His works are both satirical and allegorical, but deal with political affairs much like the Latin American Boom authors such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Carlos Fuentes, and Mario Vargas Llosa had done so prior.

Ben Okri – Nigeria – Was once the youngest author to win the Booker Prize – until last year’s Eleanor Catton had won. Okri originally had won the Booker Prize for his novel “The Famished Road.” His novel depicts the detailed reality of his homeland, but also depicts the spirit world – another plane of existence where spirits reside. This often leads many to state that Okri is a magical realist. A term he often rejects; stating it’s a lazy word for critics to quickly pin his work down. Okri’s novels deal with the history of Africa (and his native Nigeria and its own civil unrest) but also take inspiration from the colonial worlds philosophies and ideas, as well as the oral tradition, of storytelling of his mother and ancestors.

Pepetela – Angola – Pepetela is a writer who has turned his gaze to the past of his homeland of Angola. Its historical trials – the most significant the Angola war of Independence or the Colonial Wars. But also of late, his work has become more socially critical of Angola’s ruling class, and the social problems of the country. However, as of late, Pepetela’s works have moved away from Angola, for the setting of his novels, and has since moved on to more international locations, and themes. His works have turned from their searching of the past, to the exploration of new horizons.

Corsino Fortes – Cape Verde – Cape Verde is considered part of the African continent. Yet in a global landmass way, it almost appears to engulf its own world entirely. It is an archipelago and not well known. Yet in a geographers mind it is as much a part of Africa as Cameroon or Chad are. Fortes is a poet; and like the great poets before him: Pabulo Neruda, Saint-John Perse, Czeslaw Milosz, and Octavio Paz; is also a diplomat. Corsino Fortes writes of the odysseys of the island(s) of Cape Verde that is reminiscent of Derek Walcott. His poems deal with the islands day to day life, and their hardships: such as droughts. His poetry also looks to a new and unwritten future for the nation of Cape Verde after Salazar had been overthrown; and Portuguese colonial rule waned. His poems also however deal with the emigration of the islanders of the country to the other corners of the world. But his poetry also gives voice to those who have stayed and wish to rebuild the independent country.

Wilma Stockenström – South Africa – Stockenström is a playwright, poet and casual novelist. She writes in her native Afrikaans. I have been aware of Stockenström for a while, but only because of her poetry. The way I always picture the author is, in a black and white photograph with a cat. She has appearance of being aloof or distracted by something; yet she sits with a regal and reticent pose. Whereas the cat, one paw raised; watches the camera with suspicion and paranoia. My first real introduction with Stockenström besides her poetry was her recently translated novel “The Expedition to the Baobab Tree.” The prose was dense, lucid, and lyrical. It has a certain playful manner of being a fairytale or a poetically shone tale of an African woman who had escaped to freedom, but finds a more frightening world in her freedom, in the African wilderness. It’s a beautiful novel filled with lyricism, metaphor, and a shifting sense of time, influenced by memory. Her poetry is unadorned and not overtly ornate. Her voice is satirical at times but always compassionate.

North Africa/Middle East –

[ Much like the stated African literary representation, a lot of Middle Eastern countries which can include North Africa, have also had a lack of representation with the award. The first Arabic language author to have received the Nobel Prize for Literature, was the Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz, in nineteen-eighty eight. ]

Assia Djebar – Algeria –Djebar is considered one of North Africa’s most astonishing writers and most recognized and revered. Over the years she has come to claim many literary awards like the German Book Trade Peace Prize, as well as the Neustadt International Prize for Literature, for her contribution to world literature. Djebar is often seen as a perennial contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Her work details the struggles of women, against the patriarch societies and the limitations that they impose on women. She has been elected to the Académie française; making her the first female writer, from the former French colonies of North Africa. Djebar is an international author, with an ever present international presence.

Amos Oz – Israel – Amos Oz recently won Franz Kafka Prize in two-thousand and thirteen. Other authors who have won the prize are Harold Pinter and Elfriede Jelinek. Both went on to win the Nobel. Politically speaking, Amos Oz in regards to Israel and the Arabic world has been cited as a left leaning intellectual. He supports the idea of a two state system between Israel and Palestine. Yet this does not foreshadow his own literary merit and output. He is known for his realistic characters, and ironic touch; with the accompanying landscape and life in the kibbutz. All wrapped up with a slight critical tone.

Ibrahim al-Koni – Libya – al-Koni is a prolific writer. He has written over sixty novels, short stories, poems, essays and aphorisms. Not bad coming from a writer who did not learn to read or write until he was twelve years old. He studied at the Gorky University, and had worked as a journalist in Moscow and Warsaw. His life and identity often play out in his work. The writer is a product of traditional nomadic life, and yet post-colonial circumstances. He was born in the Tuareg Desert. He is a rootless being, who looks to the culture and the world in which he was born, to which he writes about the strange world that he has come to leave behind, and yet imagines and remembers.

Adunis – Syria – Adunis is the Grandfather in many ways of modern Arabic poetry; and often seen as a perennial contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature. In two-thousand and eleven there was criticism, that Adunis was not recognized because of the Arab Spring. He is a rebellious figure that has broken though the already established poetic forms and expectations of the already set out formula for Arabic Poetry. With this Adunis has reshaped the poetic sphere of throughout the Middle East into something new and bewildering; and all that more international. His poems are sharp with political criticism; but also enjoy depicting the beauty of the world, as poetry is a place inhabited, between dreams and the clouds overhead.

H. A. Sayeh – Iran/Germany – An Iranian poet, who has been living in Germany since nineteen-eighty seven. He first published poetry while still a high school student. However Sayeh’s output has been small. He has an obsession with perfection – phraseology and philosophical discussion. This often leaves his poetry glittering in its well perfected craftsmanship.

Nawal El Saadawi – Egyptian – Saadawi is a psychiatrist and psychologist, as well as a writer. Her works take a feminist bent in a male dominated Muslim religious society. Feminist is often passed on to Saadawi as a mark of her character – as she has been often referred to as the “Simone de Beauvoir of the Arab World.” She is a writer who fights against oppression of any kind – especially those that have degraded women. Her non-fiction book “Women and Sex,” caused quite an, uproar with leading political figures and theological leaders, which lead to her removal from the Ministry of Health. Still she is one of the most respected authors in the Arabic world.

Europe –

[ I do apologize, that my European speculative list, is so long. Europe, is primarily my main focus as a reader, of translated literature, as its continent and history, and countries within it are so wide and diverse. My greatest regret with this entire list is the authors I do not know, the authors that I skip over or are completely oblivious of. This itself makes me realize my own parochial and insular, reading habits of the entire concept of world literature. ]

Ersi Sotiropoulos – Greece – A Greek poet, essayist, short story writer, and novelist. She is part of the Greek avant-garde literary world, but is still an accessible writer. Her works on the surface appear bare bone, and stripped of ornamentation; yet upon further reading into her works, one becomes more concerned with the lack of the beginning, the middle, or the end. To describe Sotropoulos works, would be a dark and surreal cul-de-sac in which a reader is led around and around, getting more lost in the familiarity of what is being read. Despite the lack of conventional beginnings and endings; her work has a natural lucidity to them. She is the first Greek writer to win both of Greece’s major literary awards: “Greek National Book Award,” and “Greece’s Book Critics Award.”

Leonard Nolens – Belgium – Leonard Nolens was tipped a few years back, as being a possible winner. Since that tip had come, I never forgot the poet and diarist; and always watched to see his name pop up again. He is in effect one of the greatest poets of the Flemish language. His earlier works were experimental and baroque; yet as he matured his work eventually became more and more sober. His works are considered the cream of the crop; and his oeuvre is astounding and prolific. What interests me most about Nolens is his journals; where the poet and the individual become intertwined, and his theme of trying to escape ones identity becomes all that more apparent.

Tua Forsström – Finland – Forsström is a Finnish poet who writes in Swedish. Her poetry is concrete with its attention to the everyday detail; but it is also existential. Relationships are analyzed in her poems; and all sense of the word relationship sits on the precarious thin edge of a knife’s blade. Her poems vibrate with the everyday objects that surround each of us; but what lies underneath is vulnerability in the awareness that everything is always at the mercy of time, and the inevitable obliteration. Forsströms world is threatened by loss. Everywhere the absence of individuals is more present then than their presences. Yet it is the epiphanies of life’s fullness that equally balance her poems. Forsström’s poetry engulf: the natural landscape and beauty of Finland, travel, and complicated human relationships.

Cees Nooteboom – The Netherlands – Is considered the best Dutch contender for the Nobel Prize for Literature. He is a varied author. Nooteboom has written travel writing and essays, novels, short stories, and poetry. The author’s novels have been compared to that of Italo Calvino and Vladimir Nabokov – writing post-modern fables, the engulf the oddities of twentieth century and the now early twenty first century in its ethereal, whimsical and cerebral disorganized self. His works painstakingly remind the reader, that all novels are an inherent self-absorbed act of human validation; but go on to tackle such themes as wanderlust, in a jet-fueled world. The idea of ‘home,’ becomes an almost academic thought. His travel writing is often considered his best pieces of work – coming out in five volumes alone. He is by all means a international author, one that deals with a sense of displacement in an ever greater connected and seemingly smaller world.

Olga Tokarczuk – Poland – Tokarczuk is one of Poland’s greatest writers currently writing. She is popular both among critics and readers alike. Her works can be best described as magical realism; which mixes the real world with stranger and eccentric oddities that become facts of life. Her best known work “Primeval and Other Times,” recounts a village where the joys and sorrows of life meet; but it’s the eccentric characters of the village and their humanity that makes the book come alive; from a woman who loves her dogs and is pursued by the moon; to a aristocrat that withdraws from the world, and plays a rabbi’s game, to discover the secrets of the world. What is most beloved by Tokarczuk is her accessibility, and her enjoyment in writing. As she has stated: “To me writing novels is telling fairy tales to oneself, moved to maturity.”

Jon Fosse – Norway – One of Europe’s most well known and revered playwrights, often compared to Beckett and Pinter, Fosse’s dramas have been performed throughout the world. His work is known for its sparse dialogue and sparse prose; but also its darkly comic wit. His work is claustrophobic, with air of damp dourness, reminiscent of his native homeland, Norway. His work depicts characters in self-induced isolation, which stems from their alienation of the outside world. Communication or the lack thereof; or too much; is central to his work. In two-thousand and thirteen Fosse was tipped to be the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, but it turned out to be Munro’s year. Still Fosse, from my short passing with his work with “Aliss at the Fire,” turned out to be a great short read, that is both troubling claustrophobic and filled with poetic impressions.

Svetlana Aleksijevitj – Belarus – Aleksijevitj is a investigative journalist, and writer. Her two known works to English readers are: “Voices from Chernobyl,” and “Zinky Boys.” The first deals with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of the late eighties, and “Zinky Boys,” details the accounts of conscripted soviet soldiers in the Afghanistan. Other than that, not a lot is known about Aleksijevitj work in English. Her output is small, but is well reviered and regarded by many who have read her work, both in English translation and Russian. She depicts life during Soviet occupation and post-soviet life, with the impartial eye of a journalist; but with the sympathetic ear for the emotional stories, that are told and transcribed in her work. In two-thousand and thirteen, she was speculated as the winner.

Tõnu Õnnepalu – Estonia – Õnnepalu is often considered a ‘eurowriter,’ by the hermetic literary elite of Estonia. His themes are open to the varied experience of an individual abroad. He rose to literary fame though with his debut in prose: “Border State.” A lyrically charged novel, about a expatriate who is by all means a unreliable narrator, discussing his life from the other country, and his new life in France. It’s a nuanced book, but because of its short length, and beautiful prose, it manages well. Õnnepalu though is often a poet as well as a prose writer. He is a ‘international writer,’ who has left behind the hermetic existence of being just a Estonian writer, has garnered some criticism because of it. He dropped national topics, and traditions, in favour of his own themes, and that of the other literary world

Magdalena Tulli – Poland – Magdalena Tulli has a small output of books. Four of her books have been translated into English; where a recently fifth book, published in Poland back in two-thousand and eleven titled: “Włoskie szpilki,” which translates roughly as: “Italian Studs,” “Italian Pins,” or “Italian Shoes.” Tulli’s novels so far, are inclined more towards the idea of creating worlds, and stories, in a metafictional universe. This leads her works to deal with the idea of stories and storytelling, and playfully in a fabulist way constructs and deconstructs them. She can be compared to Italo Calvino, Borges and the late Marquez. What is most delightful with Tulli is her prose and lyricism. Her sentences click with nouns, move with verbs, and are surpassingly astonishing with metaphors and descriptions. Though her ‘small,’ output maybe a hindrance. But her novels are well architected cities; whose base materials are cheap words that are refined and manufactured into great works of achievements.

Javier Marias – Spain – Marias is a beloved Spanish writer, and is well known in the English speaking world. Many well grounded and regarded English writes, have sung praise about his works. Is this perhaps because, Marias has an affinity with the English language – after studying English Philology – and translating some of the classics into Spanish; and lecturing at Oxford on translation? Perhaps; but no. I do think that Marias stands on his own ground, as a writer. His works deal with betrayal, the nature of time, forgery and translation. Marias strikes me as the kind of writer, who wishes to supersede and transcend the barriers and boundaries of culture and language; and write about the human experience – which could explain why his characters lose their own voice in favors of others, as they mimic or parrot the views of others. This is why Marias often calls his characters cousins or literary brothers, in their escape of their own identities and voices for that of others.

Kiki Dimoula – Greece – Greece has two writers, who have won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Both were poets; and both were male. The first was Giorgos Seferis in nineteen-sixty three; and Odysseas Elytis in nineteen-seventy nine. Kiki Dimoula a poet as well would be an interesting choice. Her poems are spare, and showcase a lot of white on the page. To the inclination in my mind, at preferring prose; I at first looked at this as a waste of space. Yet now I realize that the white of the page, equally recounts the nothingness in which Dimoula show cases in her poems, as always skirting about the edges. Faded photographs, lost memories, homes since moved out of and reoccupied by someone else. She writes of the disillusionment of the post-war era, the military dictatorship that followed the eventual oblivion of all and the insecurities of the modern man. Yet there always appears hope in Dimoula’s work. .

Péter Nadas – Hungary – Nadas has been compared to Proust, and other great writers. Perhaps he is often compared to Proust, because of his dealings with memory; or because of his absurdly long books. “Parallel Stories,” for example is absurdly long at a page count of one thousand, five hundred, and twenty pages; and it is no wonder that book alone took eighteen years to write. The length of not only this novel, but the time it took, and considering the works of prior work, often leave with a sense of biasness. Nadas writes large door stopper, books – does he have anything worth stating if that amount of pages. Yes his work is renowned for its stylistic tendencies, but it still leaves one with a feeling of suspicion.

Lyudmila Petrushevskaya – Russia – I, at times personally consider Petrushevskaya as a figure akin to that of Homer of Ancient Greece. Reading one of her stories often has the sense the story itself is being transcribed from over hearing someone else gossip or discuss the said action of the story that unfolds. The stories are like twisted dark fairytales, or heartbroken tales of love, and romance gone rotten. Petrushevskaya is not a political author; yet she was not able to publish during the Soviet period; for the sole reason that she did not meet party approved propaganda standards. She on the other hand displayed and wrote about the cruel truths of the ‘home,’ of the everyday individual and all their difficulties. For this she was accused of ‘darkening reality.’ Yet what has, been accomplished in the end is a witches brew of wisdom, irony and honesty.

Pierre Michon – France – Michon is an interesting author. His writing is dense and intense. It’s not poetic babble though; at the same time Michon is a writer that requires patience. His writing is filled with a unique blend of language, which can be a frustrating read. His work is dense, and if you are used to reading fast, then Michon’s merits would be lost on that reader; as I had learned from reading his novel “Small Lives.” Yet Michon is an author interested in the lives of artists as presented in his novella’s “Masters and Servants,” but also the artist filling their niche, in regards to their place in history like “Eleven.” Michon is also interested in history – in the not well known sense, and writes beautiful passages in regards to the obscure people he can write about: “Winter Mythologies & Abbots.” Michon explores the microcosm in its place to the grander macrocosm of not only the world but also the universe.

Doris Kareva – Estonia – Kareva is a master of Estonian Poetry. Between the two scales of Estonia’s poetry of feelings and the rational – between writing about the human spectrum of emotions and experiencing the world; or the intellectual texts that try to understand the world – Kareva aligns herself with the first. She is a priestess of love. Doris Kareva writes of love: be it unrequited; unattainable; forbidden or passionate. Time and time again Doris Kareva opens the world up to her emotions and her poetry embodies these emotions. The love and the emotions Kareva discusses in her works are not simple. They are not for public showcase nor are they mundane in their everyday regards. Her work is pure and ethereal; and is clear as viewing the world form the mountain as the air stings the nose. Her poems are filled with dreams, dedictated to the ambiguous ‘you,’ and display a experience of the world that has been felt.

António Lobo Antunes – Portugal – Antunes is a postmodernist writer; and as it seems to be with postmodernist writer, he has written rather lengthy novels. His writing style is best compared to that of Samuel Beckett, Thomas Bernhard, or László Krasznahorkai. They are large one manic monologue, which are dense and disorienting. Narrative voices, struggle to find a voice on the page, and compete to state their lines. Yet beneath the density of his work, there is a simmering rage. An anger that stems from Antunes own experience as a doctor during Portugal’s part in the colonial wars. His works often have manic narrators, recounting their histories, that showcase Portugal’s beauty but also its dark and brutal past; not only on itself with Salazar the fascist dictator of the country; but also the colonial brutality. Despite its vitriolic stream-of consciousness late-modernist experimentation of his work; as one commentator has stated there’s a sense of poetry to his work.

Adam Zagajewski – Poland – A Neustadt International Prize for Literature Laureate; Zagajewski is one of Poland’s most renowned contemporary poets. A compatriot of both Czesław Miłosz and Wisława Szymborska. In his younger years Zagajewski was a protest poet, of the communist regime. However since the end of the communist era, the dissolution of the Soviet Union; Zagajewski themes have become more mature and mellowed out. One theme that haunts him the most, is how the historical and the past often can reflect and influence the present – often in the most everyday ways.

Drajo Jančar – Slovenia – Jančar is Slovenia’s most prominent contemporary writer. The themes of Jančar’s works come from the early modernist traditions. His novels are characterized by the individuals struggle against oppressive institutions: prisons, psychiatric hospitals, military barracks and galleys or ships. However despite the heaviness of these themes, he is known for his laconic and highly ironic writing style; often utilizing tragicomic events, to lighten the mood and twist the novel into different directions. Most of his novel take place in historical era settings (presumably twentieth century) Eastern Europe, as a metaphor for the human condition. Even though Jančar is a novelist and short story writer, he is also known for his essays and political engagements and civic commentaries.

Claudio Magris – Italy – Scholar, essayists and novelist, Magris is known for his far reaching historical novels. He is most well known for his non-fiction book “Danube,” which traces the disputed origins of the Danube River, to its final destination. The travelogue/historical analysis traces, the cultural and literary histories of the countries, in which the river passes through. It also adds human elements and stories, into the book, through folktales and poignant observations. Magris in the novel has an eye for details, which give each visited town, and city its own personality. The language itself is poetic and graceful flowing with the Danube’s course with ease. His novels are equally as intense and philosophical in their discussions of the culture and history of the twentieth century.

László Krasznahorkai – Hungary – Krasznahorkai is the literary darling of the Hungarian literary scene; that has found a place not just in his home country, but also is well renowned in Germany and, in English speaking countries, who read his work. He is a follower of Samuel Beckett and Thomas Bernhard, in regards to the slight humour of his prose, and his avoidance of paragraph breaks; and the often long winding sentences, become slow moving rivers of black texts of lava. This often leads his work to have a sense of apocalyptic claustrophobia. Krasznahorkai is a difficult writer; but also a rewarding writer. He is the master of the apocalypse, and a poet of impending doom. Yet the language itself is a complete contrast the writers themes and works. It is beautiful winding and poetic.

Juan Goytisolo – Spain – Novelist, poet and essayist Juan Goytisolo is one of Spain’s most acclaimed and greatest contemporary writers. Both of his brothers: Luis Goytisolo, and the deceased José Agustín Goytisolo are also writes. Juan Goytisolo, was a fierce opponent of the Franco dictatorship that had engulfed Spain. For this opposition Juan Goytisolo found himself in exile in Paris, where he worked for many years. Despite the liberation after Franco’s death, Goytisolo has remained an adamant critic of Spanish society. He has found a love for the Middle Eastern cultures and Islamic traditions; as he has learned Maghrebi Arabic and Turkish. He has flayed the identity of ‘Sunny Spain,’ to reveal its Moorish heritage and Jewish roots. Juan Goytisolo has a keen sense of history that stems from his own life. His a vitriolic critic, and intellectually reaching; but is known for his avant-garde writing and often unapproachable work.

Mircea Cartarescu – Romania – Cartarescu is poet and prose writer. In Cartarescu’s youth he was a rebellious poet of the “Blue Jeans Generation,” writing quick playful poetry; however after maturation he has become a writer of more international standard. He is the most well known contemporary Romanian writer, of its current generation of writers – many of whom he has mentored and taught; one of them being the Romanian [prose] poet Doina Ioanid. Cartarescu’s work describes the chaos of life, with absolute confidence and precision. In a way the author is able to organize the chaotic mess that he writes about into a coherent form; allowing for the sense of chaos to be seen but not confuse the reader. Like many great writers before him, Cartarescu has a literary city – and that city is Bucharest; a city in his work that is described with mythological proportions, and a place where nightmares and dreams clash and come true. Much like Fernando Pessoa’s Lisbon, or James Joyce’s Dublin, or the Cairo of Mahfouz; or Kafka’s Prague.

Mikhail Shishkin – Russia (currently Residing in Switzerland) – Shishkin is a young author, but is a forced to be reckoned with. Though his debut in English with his novel “Maidenhair,” left little of an impression on me; many had called it the best book of twenty-twelve: ‘period.’ Its language was thick and poetic – which generally is not an issue, but it became unfortunate that the book eventually felt like it had gone into territories that it was not capable of handling, and without a concrete sense of plot, it felt aimless and wandering, and overtly connived of its own self-importance. However based on the themes of book, and the redemptive qualities of that book alone, it is understandable that Shishkin is a forced to reckon with and is one of the great contemporary Russian authors at work.

Australia and Oceania –

[ My knowledge Australia and New Zealand and other countries of this area is incredibly limited. This is why I will only include the one author once again, who is not well known throughout the rest of the world, but is considered one of the best authors working in the English language; but is obscure because of his own reclusiveness. ]

Gerald Murnane – Australia –Murnane is a reclusive author; to the point that reading about the authors limited travels, within his own country – only rarely leaving the state of Victoria; often gives one the image of a snail more interested in its own shell then the rest of the world. I wouldn’t say that Murnane has no interest in the outside world – but he appears to have found a place to call home, and has since never left. Murnane’s fiction is metaphysical and philosophical. His sentences are grammatically long, yet they deal with the themes of landscape, memory and the process of writing and telling stories. “Barley Patch,” deals with the self-interrogation of the author, as he writes about the real world around him, and the fictional characters that come to inhabit the writes mind before they are released on the page. His earlier works detailed adolescence and childhood – before subaria was changed with cars and televisions; and the sexual frustrations of living in a, devote catholic home.

Asia and The Indo-subcontinent –

[ When Mo Yan became a Nobel Laureate, I was not alone in my ambivalence and eventual contempt for the author. However that has since passed, and redemption can always be on the forthright. Despite its own, turbulent history Asia as a whole has produced some amazing authors – some who had become Nobel Laureates: Rabindranath Tagore of India, who was more than just a writer, but an artistic jack of all trades; Yasunari Kawabata, and Kenzaburo Oe of Japan. Yasunari Kawabata: known for his lyrical psychologically probing and delicate novels, of Japan during the early twentieth century. Kenzaburo Oe: a socially critical, and existential influenced write, who took personal tragedy and made it into a universal metaphor for human suffering, hardship and the eventual fullness of realizing one’s own redemption in a time of misfortune. ]

Ko Un – South Korea – Much like Adunis, Ko Un is a perennial favorite. He is a zen poet, and a very approachable poet. His poetry steps out of the ivory tower; and is the work of someone who has lived a varied life, and observed the horrors that have split his country apart. If you can count on anything from Ko Un, in his poetry it is gentle grace, wisdom, and a truly understood sense of compassion for everything. There is a lighthearted touch to the poet’s poems; but also a tangible sense of sorrow of events that have passed. Un is the kind of poet I turn to on the whims of a moment, for graceful honesty and a sympathetic ear, and empathetic understanding when needed. He is not a foreboding poet, but a approachable writer. To read his poems is like walking through a garden with the poet, and coming to a mutual understanding of the world.

Anita Desai – India – if Gabriel Garcia Marquez spear fronted the Latin American Boom, Desai led the way for what would become the Lyrical India. She is an Indian writer, whose literal language is English. She has admitted though she feels about India as an Indian, she thinks about as an outsider. Desai has been nominated for the Booker Prize three times. Her works often detail a vanishing or vanished world; a forgotten place. Time is not necessarily a ladder towards the future, but a descent into the past in which one finds the door to the future. Her works chronicle the forgotten, and the fading, often relying on the persistence of memory.

Oh-Jung Hee – South Korea – Hee is often dubbed the Virginia Woolf of South Korea. She takes a feminist stance, against South Korea’s prevalent patriarch and male dominated society. Her works in the beginning or imagistic, and fragmented, over time however they have softened, and their works turned towards domesticity and the lives of women in South Korea. Her works however are socially and historically aware, of the turbulent past of Korea. They detail t he effects of the war, and eventual crackdown on society, from children’s perspectives, but also perspectives from the home, and how the war had fragmented and split up families. In this sense, Oh-Jung Hee is more than just a chronicler of the home – from the windows of apartments and homes, views a arbitrary history, and society, that had infected the homes of many and destroyed the lives of many.

Hwang Sok-yong – South Korea – Hwang Sok-yong deals with the effects of the Korean War. Home for this author is more than just a place that one grows up in, and is mentally and emotionally attached to, via memory; it is a community. Sok-yong chronicles the affects of a war, which has destroyed the concept of home and community for its people. His works psychology probe the displacement of its people; and the loss of solidarity of what can be called a community and the hearth in which one grows up around; both symbolic and real. His works deal with the devastation of war, and the cold observational powers of history in times passage, and the loss of humanity in times of modernization and a military system. On the flip side Hwang Sok-yong deals with the theme of rebuilding and creating a new healthy live, rising from the rubble and ashes, and reclaim a sense of peace and control over one’s life, against the arbitrary movements of history and larger scale events.

Bei Dao – China – Bei Dao is not a strictly party approved Chinese writer. He is a lot like Gao Xingjian; he is a expatriated writer, who refused to bend and mould to the party approved concept of art, and culture. Rather than writing to a scripted formula; Bei Dao turned to the more obscure poetry to mask his social criticism and personal beliefs, towards the Cultural Revolution. He is the most notable poet of the Misty Poets – who were known for the oblique poetry. Yet Dao is not inaccessible in his obscurity and masked sensibilities. His poetry feels natural, and contemplative; but not overtly intellectually driven, to the point everything is rendered down to detached and obscured observations. His work has a sense of the surreal in the everyday; and hums with a solitary disposition; that invites well warrant company.

South and Latin America –

[ An interesting article had explained: in the entirety of Spanish language literature, as of now; is being produced in South and Latin America; as well as the most books consumed in the Spanish language are in these regions. With the exception of Javier Marias, contemporary Spanish language writes that pop into my mind, are from the Southern Continent. Writers like Cesar Aira, and Roberto Bolano, are among the first to pop in my head. A co-worker of mine, who often gets the unfortunate gabbing of my Nobel infatuation, believes this year it will go to a South and Latin American author. It is an interesting prospect, that most of Spanish language literature is now not coming from Spain, but from South and Latin America, where it also being consumed more. The reason for this: the global comic crisis, which had hit Spain hard. ]

Elena Poniatowska – Mexico – Poniatowska is the Grand Dame of Mexican letters. She is a journalist, who has an interest in the tragedies and atrocities of her home country. Her most famous book “Massacre in Mexico,” details the slaughter of students, at the hands of the army, because of their protests. However despite her fame from journalism, Poniatowska enjoys creative writing far more. Her creative work is a cross between literary fiction and historical construction. Just like her journalistic writings, her creative work, has a soft spot for the disenfranchised. Her writing style is colloquial and as realistic to the individuals being portrayed, as a fictional counterpart can get. The works deal with human rights and social issues. From farm labourers to women. Poniatowska writes about them all, and takes social injustices seriously. She is a writer whose work has been written in a ideal direction.

Rodrigo Rey Rosa – Guatemala – Rosa is an author who flies under the radar. His works are based around myths and folktales of his native Latin America as well as those of North Africa. His novel “The African Shore,” was shortlisted for the Best Translated Book Award. He has been praised by the late Roberto Bolano, as being of the best authors of their generation. His works are international, yet are grounded in the myths of his homeland and that of North Africa. He is not a typecast Latin American Boom author; but someone who rejects the term or idea of Magical Realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and instead goes into more mystical realms, of legend and myth. Rosa is an author whose work stands on its own; and his obscurity or rather the lack of information on his personal life, make all that much more difficult to comprehend as a writer. Though I have not read his work (yet) I have been watching his output closely.

Cesar Aira – Argentina – Aira is a prolific author – to the point of being a industrious writing factory, churning out words; like a factory churns out textile goods. Aira is known to publish between two and four novella length books a year. However what is unique about Aira is his writing style. Rather than edit and make revisions, Aira utilizes a technique he calls “flight forward.” When he begins to see that he is writing himself in a trap, he changes direction of the book. In a sense it’s a literary improvisation, as Aira’s style changes, and even using less literary genres like pulp science fiction, or a soap opera to help keep the story moving. His works are always in a continual movement never losing momentum.

Eduardo Galeano – Uruguay – Galeano a journalist who had turned to fiction, and creative writing; and is now considered the poet-laureate of the anti-globalization movement. Galeano offered poetic flare to his journalistic writings and non-fiction accounts. The author himself has stated that non-fiction writing and journalism is the darker (or nadir) side of the publishing world’ where novels or ‘book writing,’ is the zenith of such a pursuit. Galeano however, believes that all that is written including graffiti is constituted as literature. Eduardo Galeano is a writer, of realistic works. He is a writer with an impartial observational eye. He depicts the harsh realities of the world in his work, with a sober sense of a documenter; with a poets understanding of language. Eduardo Galeano is a writer of his continent and his country. He is a writer of the most ideal ambitions; and yet has realistic perspective to always keep them in check. He is a writer of historical stories and chronologies; as well as a journalist with an eye on political stories.

Ricardo Piglia – Argentina – Piglia is one of the most critically acclaimed South American contemporary writers of his generation. He has written novels, short stories, and criticism. He is a post-modernist, but also a post-boom writer. His works take the form of ‘paranoid fiction,’ where everyone and every character, is a suspect of the novel – which at times take the form of a detective style novel. However Ricardo Piglia does not fall into the already set out formula of the detective novel. Much like Pamuk with “The Black Book,” and “My Name is Red,” – the detective novel, is merely a format or a loose stylistic characteristic, which formats the novel or story. Piglia’s narratives mimic the hysteria of life; and the endless bombardment of chaos, and testimonies that contradict each other.

Ferreira Gullar – Brazil – Gullar is a poet, essayist, playwright, and television writer. Gullar is known for his most famous and political poem: “The Dirty Poem.” The poem alludes to his decision to stop writing poetry, to the increased persecution to those who had been exiled – most found dead; the poem also hypothetically alludes to his own theorized death. The poem itself contains two-thousand verses – in its entirety. It takes from memories of childhood and adolescents, to discuss the longing and pain of being away from ‘home.’ Ferreira Gullar is one of the most influential poets of twentieth century, in Brazil. He created the neo-concrete poetry movement in Brazil. He is a beloved poet in Brazil, and is one of the leading intellectuals in Brazil. He is a poet of political resistance tinged with saudade and melancholic nostalgia.

Nelida Piñon – Brazil – Is a Brazilian novelist and short story writer. Her family originally came from Galicia in Spain, before their relocation to Brazil. Her first novel “The Guidebook of Archangel Gabriel, concerns the protagonist discussing Christian doctrine with her guardian angel. After which in the nineteen-seventies Piñon is noted, for her highly erotic novels. After which however, came her greatest success “The Republic of Dreams.” The novel “The Republic of Dreams,” is her most autobiographical book, as it deals with a family immigration from Galicia to Brazil; throughout the novel the Grandfather and Granddaughter, converse and give testimony to the collective memory that, becomes threatened by the onslaught of time, and death. Piñon is one of Brazil’s most famous and renowned novelists. She was a friend of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Her novels though varied from Christian doctrine, to the erotic, to family memories, all showcase her broad range interests.

North America –

[ For the sake of variety, I’ve decided to include the North American Continent. However, North American Literature is predominantly English written. The purpose of this list is to present authors not well known, to readers. ]

Jacques Poulin – Canada (language French) – Poulin, is a writer who writes about love, and the beauty of Quebec; and deals with history – personal and political. Yet his writing does not hold a hint of sentimentality or melodrama at all. Poulin’s works are airy, and move in a landscape that can go from beautiful golden light and budding spring trees; to a ballet being performed by the snow, which goes quickly to a frozen white out. His novels are at times emotionally awkward; but are tender. These novels bring one close to the fireplace, and invite you to get lost in the world, that is equally as warm and inviting. Poulin’s works have a certain sense of a fairytale quality to them.

And The End

There you have it Gentle Reader, my Nobel Speculation list for two thousand and fourteen; fifty authors, from across the globe. I have done my best to find unknown authors, and possible contenders, for the Prize throughout the world. I have done my best to avoid the most usual suspects, as best as I could; and chose some of my own personal favourites, as my own contenders. From world renowned masters in their crafts, to the obscure hidden talents, of those tucked away in their parts of the world, each of them in a sense has their own equal chance. Some have greater chances then others perhaps, but it is always hard to say. The Swedish Academy is eclectic but is also solemn. Their tastes vary year after year. This year’s Nobel, I suspect to a degree has a high chance of going to a Poet or a Playwright/dramatist. The last poet to be awarded was Tomas Transtromer in two-thousand and eleven; and the last playwright was in two-thousand and five with Harold Pinter. Last year’s win, going to a writer exclusively writing in the short story format, was a huge delight.

In The End:

To describe speculation on the Nobel Prize for Literature, is best to akin it to that of a horse race – with some discrepancies. The Nobel Prize (if it were a horserace) is hidden by a large sheet. Bets are placed, and when the race starts, you have no idea if your horse crossed the line, let alone left the gate. Come October, Gentle Reader, we will learn who this year’s Nobel Laureate for Literature is. Until then, the speculation can only continue; with frustration and enjoyment; with debate and understanding.

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

Nobel Prize for Literature Speculation List coming Friday

Hello Gentle Reader

My personal speculative list for the Nobel Prize for Literature will be coming this Friday, August fifteenth. Fifty authors Gentle Reader, from all over the world, are named and discussed. Its warming up to being that time of the year.

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