Recent content by Phil D

I know some people don't like her, but I don't really get why. What specifically do people have against her? To be clear, I've read like 1.2 of her books, so not enough to form a strong opinion of my own.

My favourite thing about the Nobel is when it goes to someone I might never have heard of but who turns out to be terrific – like Wisława Szymborska, for instance. So I hope this year it goes to someone I've never read and gives me an opportunity to enjoy something new.

Reminded me of this lovely piece by Wisława Szymborska (justly recognised by the SA in 1996). Teenager (Translated by Clare Cavanagh & Stanisław Barańczak) Me — a teenager? If she suddenly stood, here, now, before me, would I need to treat her as near and dear, although she’s strange to me...

Would be more than happy to read him as a Wolfie nominee

🇭🇹/🇨🇦 Dany Laferrière - Comment faire l'amour avec un Nègre sans se fatiguer (How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired) - (++) Two poor young bohemian Black men – Vieux, our narrator, budding novelist, and Bouba, Freudian-Muslim-mystique – share a tiny apartment during a stifling...

You're welcome! I just remembered that the novela Los cachorros (The Cubs) and also Conversación en La Catedral (Conversation in the Cathedral), probably my two favourite works by MVLL, both have pretty important leaps in time as well. Los cachorros is only about 50-60 pages long, so you could...

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut is the first example that comes to mind for me. Chilean Poet by Alejandro Zambra also fits this description from memory. Both highly recommended. I'll keep thinking 🙂 Edit: The Green House by Vargas Llosa and The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner have...

Wonderful to have someone with knowledge of Catalan literature in the forum, Lullius! Benvingut! 😊

🇭🇹/🇨🇦 Dany Laferrière - Comment faire l'amour avec un Nègre sans se fatiguer (How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired) 🇧🇷 Chico Buarque - Budapeste (Budapest)

🇸🇩 Tayeb Salih - Época de migración al norte (trans. María Luisa Cavero) (Season of Migration to the North / موسم الهجرة إلى الشمال) (++) Chose the Spanish translation after some hesitation because it's much more recent (1999) than the English and seems to correct certain factual errors around...

Great to hear it's been re-translated. I'm a little surprised they kept the previous English title, rather than going with something closer to the Spanish. Zambra could hardly be more different to Carpentier as a novelist but I'd still be interested to know what he's got to say about it.

El siglo de las luces (Explosion in a Cathedral) is one of the most enjoyable reading experiences I've ever had. I've never understood why it isn't more famous in English. Spectacular novel.

🇺🇸 Raymond Chandler - Playback (++) Silly plot, but when the prose is this stylish who cares.

🇦🇷 Mariana Enriquez - Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego (Things We Lost in the Fire) (++) Short stories, mostly horror. Horror's not usually my thing but, aside from creating genuinely interesting monstrosities and disturbances, Enriquez (sic, no tilde for some reason) writes stories that are...

P.S. For those who don't know what Australian football ('footy' or 'Aussie rules') is, here's a short video that gives a pretty good explanation