Year in reading lists
With the year now officially over, presumably we've seen the last of the big year-in-reading-round-ups (my mind still has a bit of trouble wrapping itself around the idea: I don't really...
View ArticleThe year in reviews at the complete review
A closer look at the year that was will follow, eventually, but for now here an overview of 2013 at the complete review. 205 books were reviewed at the complete review -- well down (13%) from...
View ArticleThe Maya Pill review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of German Sadulaev's The Maya Pill, a wild little ride just out from Dalkey Archive Press. (A transliteration observation:...
View ArticleThe literary year ahead
The Guardian's 2014 in books: turn over a new leaf is entirely Anglo-(meaning UK-)centric, but I like the calendar presentation, and it does point to a lot of the major literary publications...
View ArticleThe decline of reading ?
In The Telegraph 'Social Affairs Editor' John Bingham reports that Reading becoming a minority activity, warns Ruth Rendell. Chiming in too: The Man Booker-nominated novelist Philip...
View ArticleJanuary issues
Among the January issue of online periodicals now available are: Words without Borders' January 2014: Kurdish Literature -- with some 'Polish Literary Reportage' bonus coverage The January...
View Article1914 review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Jean Echenoz's 1914. Note also that The New Press is bringing out a nice Echenoz-starter volume -- Three By Echenoz (see...
View ArticleNobel Prize in Literature 1963 - behind the scenes
The Nobel Prize archives are kept sealed for fifty years -- but that still means that every year another year's worth of deliberations are opened to public view. The Nobel Prize in Literature...
View ArticleThe Master of Knots review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Massimo Carlotto's The Master of Knots, just out from Europa Editions in a US edition. As I often note, many aspects of...
View ArticleC.T.Hsia (1921-2013)
Enormously influential Chinese literary critic C.T.Hsia passed away 29 December. Via Paper Republic I'm pointed to Didi Kirsten Tatlow's Q & A at The New York Times' weblog,...
View ArticleTolstoy's Resurrection
Brian Aldiss does not mince words in The Independent, writing: The greatest of all novels is Leo Tolstoy's final novel, Resurrection. Its effect upon a reader is immense and immediate. Even...
View Article2014 books in ... Australia
The 2014 previews continue (see also my previous round-up), and there are now two more with a down-under focus: The next chapter: books to watch for in 2014 by Stephen Romei in The Australian,...
View ArticleFirst Indian Bible
In The Hindu Graham Shaw has an interesting piece on the first Indian Bible (well, the first biblical translation -- Four Gospels and Acts of the Apostles -- in Tamil), and argues that it was...
View ArticleNBCC awards - member critics vote
The National Book Critics Circle Awards not only don't rely simply on publisher submissions and suggestions (as do awards such as the Man Booker and the (American) National Book Awards), but...
View ArticleLife's Good, Brother review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Nâzım Hikmet's novel, Life's Good, Brother, now also available in English, from Persea. It's interesting to read this so...
View ArticleLiterary site recommendations
At PolicyMic Daniel Lefferts collects 10 Literary Blogs Every 20-Something Should Read. I'm not really sure what the deal with the age-focus is (though presumably youth equals hipness,...
View ArticleCharun Homthienthong Q & A
The Bangkok Post has a Q & A with Charun Homthienthong, the newly-elected president of the Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand, in Publisher's publisher. Kind of...
View ArticleKorean literature abroad
In The Korea Times Chung Ah-young profiles Joseph Lee, "arguably the nation's [South Korea's] top literary agent", in Searching for literary bonanzas, noting that: Before Lee, a small number of...
View ArticleCoup de Grâce review
The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of Marguerite Yourcenar's 1939 novel, Coup de Grâce. I note with some amusement that the Farrar, Straus and Giroux publicity...
View ArticleWhitbread Costa Book Award category winners
They've announced (warning ! dreaded pdf format !) the category winners for the Whitbread Costa Book Award (from which one grand prize winner will now be selected, to be announced on 28...
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