Three interesting posts on SF needing to "catch up"

I don't have time today to respond to these in length, but here are three interesting posts on the topic of SF (the self-defined "community" aspect of it and not necessarily literary elements that might be associated with it) and how the form/community may be "lagging behind" other contemporary literatures that employ elements frequently associated with SF to greater effect than those writers/communities who self-identify as "genre."

David Hebblethwaite - "Science Fiction Playing Catch Up"

Nina Allan - "On Playing Catch Up"

Ian Sales -  "Fables of the Deconstruction"


If I have time this weekend, I'll write something more substantive on my own take on this subject.

Eimear McBride wins the 2014 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction

Irish writer Eimear McBride has won the 2014 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange Prize) for her debut novel, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing.  Although published in the UK in 2013, the US publication is not until September.

Here is an interesting account in the Guardian about McBride and the award ceremony.

A summer reading/reviewing challenge I'm undertaking

Now that I am only working one job, for the summer at least, and have just begun an online Elementary French course, it's got to be the perfect time for undertaking a time-specific reading/reviewing challenge, right?

Starting this weekend and lasting until mid-July, I want to review at least 40 works, many of which will be 2014 releases.  I have a backlog of reviews to write from this 2014 releases post I wrote back in January (and regularly update as upcoming releases come to my attention), plus there will be some books and/or poems that I will cover for the World Cup of Fiction posts during June-July.  I have about 2-4 hours of "free time" and I think that, if motivated, I could achieve this goal and help make others aware of interesting stories and poetry from around the globe.

And if I don't succeed?  Well, the squirrels have been watching me closely recently and I fear it might get ugly...

World Cup of Fiction Preview: Group C

Click here for the Group B preview.

Group C could be, at least in the eyes of some literary observers, a literary group of death.  There are three very strong national literary traditions in this group and choosing two to advance, much less a group favorite, may well prove to be very difficult.  Yet despite the strengths of each individual literary side, each differs significantly from the others in terms of national literary heroes and their styles of storytelling.

Colombia 

Ga-bo!  Ga-bo!  Ga-bo!  Even despite his death earlier this year, Los Cafeteros still possess a very potent attack.  Whether it is levitating priests or swarms of butterflies descending upon the pitch, or perhaps something grittier, more "real," like the stories of Laura Restrepo or recent Premio Alfaguara winner Juan Gabriel Vásquez, the Colombians certainly possess world-class novelists from the past half-century with which to harry their foes into submission.  If things manage to fall the Cafeteros' way, their opponents very well might be lamenting "en una hora mala."

Côte d'Ivoire 

Les Elephants may not quite have the established written literary traditions of the others in Group C, but they certainly do have some rising stars, such as the novelist Ahmadou Kourouma, whose Allah is not Obliged has recently been translated into English, or Bernard Dadié, or even several other 20th and 21st century writers and poets.  An elephant never forgets and it may prove that Les Elephants will strike suddenly and move readers who may be jaded by some of the literary discourse from one of the other nations in the group.

Greece 

Greece has long had the exalted reputation of being the cradle of Western civilization.  Its ancient poets, philosophers, and playwrights have long captivated readers from divers cultures.  Homer.  Aristophanes.  Pindar.  Sappho.  The list could stretch for several pages and still leave out several quality writers.  But for the Piratiko, it won't be as simple as sallying forth from the Pirate Ship and capturing victories.  The Greek literary side is very long in the tooth and not as many modern readers are as familiar with their works, even in translation.  But wily literary veterans can never be overlooked and the Greeks certainly will be formidable.

Japan 

The Blue Samurai certainly have a wealth of literary superstars spanning centuries, from the writer of The Tale of Genji to Haruki Murakami, Kobo Abe, Yoko Ogawa, and Banana Yoshimoto, the Japanese literary side certainly can strike from anywhere on the literary pitch.  Not committed to a singular literary style, the Blue Samurai pose a threat to any national literary side who opposes them on the literary pitch.  Along with Colombia and Greece, Japan is a tentative favorite to advance to the knockout stage,

Recent releases that I would love to see translated into English

I have been reading a lot more this year in in languages other than English.  Although I have not reviewed the majority of the books that I have read, there certainly have been some gems that I would love to see translated into English so that I could more readily recommend them to others.  Here are a few titles released in the past five years or so that I'd love to see made available in English translation:

Portuguese:

Valter Hugo Mãe, O filho do mil homens

José Luiz Passos, O sonâmbulo amador

João Tordo, As tres vidas

Ondjaki, Os transparentes

David Soares, O Evangelho do Enforcado


French:

Pierre Lemaitre, Au revoir là-haut

Gilles Leroy, Alabama Song

Estelle Faye, Porcelaine


Italian:

Giorgio Pressburger, Nel Regno Oscuro and its sequel, Storia Umana e Inumana

Antonio Scurati, Il Padre Infedele

Marco Magini, Come fossi solo

Elisa Ruotolo, Ovunque, proteggici

Donatella di Pietrantonio, Bella Mia


Spanish:

Edmundo Paz Soldán, Iris

Javier Negrete, La hija del nilo


I am certain that I am missing quite a bit myself, so maybe if any reading this who've read recent works in these languages (and others) can suggest titles that they wish English readers could read in translation?

A few interesting articles on genders and literatures

I'm mostly just going to post these links without commentary because I would rather read how readers react than to provide any attempt at scintillating discourse, which I doubt I'd manage to achieve here.  Seriously though, these are some important socio-literary issues being raised and I think the perspectives need to be considered carefully.

Athena Andreadis on "Lest We Forget"

Storify of Natalie Luhrs (Radish Reviews)' Twitter comments on gender disparities/criticism in SF/F

Publishing and Prejudice:  5 Female Writers Weigh in on Sexism in the Literary World


Just the tip of several icebergs, but I'm still more in the reflective phase of considering these points, so I'll leave it up to others for now to comment on the claims made in these three pieces.

May 2014 Reads

Had a much better reading month in May, finishing 45 books.  40 out of 45 were first-time reads and the majority were read in a language other than English (although in some cases, there are English translations available).  Making progress toward meeting my 50x4 reading challenge, as I read several books in Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese.  Other challenges are progressing as well, although for one I'm currently behind pace by a half-dozen books or so (but with expectations for catching up in June).  Now for the list:

90  Danilo Kiš, Rani jadi (Serbian; short fiction collection; excellent)

91  Danilo Kiš, Early Sorrows (re-read; short fiction collection; excellent)

92  Jeff VanderMeer, Authority (already reviewed)

93  Marie NDiaye, Three Strong Women (2014 IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize finalist; very good)

94  Rose Fox and Daniel José Older, Long Hidden:  Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History (might write more about this later; anthology)

95  Rodrigo Rey Rosa, La orilla africana (Spanish; very good)

96  Gérard de Nerval, Aurélia; Les Nuits d'octobre; Pandora; Promenades et souvenirs (French; very good)

97  Daša Drndić, Sonnenschein (Croatian; very good)

98  Daša Drndić, Trieste (very good)

99  Anne Carson, Red Doc> (prose poetry; very good)

100  Hilda Hilst, With My Dog Eyes (very good)

101  David Grossman, Falling Out of Time (poetry; review forthcoming)

102  Rivka Galchen, American Innovations (short fiction collection; review forthcoming)

103  Rene Denfeld, The Enchanted (review forthcoming)

104  Max Brooks, The Harlem Hellfighters (graphic novel; non-fiction; review forthcoming)

105  Brandon Sanderson, Words of Radiance (already reviewed)

106  Andrzej Sapkowski, Víbora (Spanish; already reviewed)

107  Andrzej Sapkowski, Żmija (Polish; already reviewed)

108  Andrzej Sapkowski, La Tarde Dorada (Spanish; good)

109  Carlos Labbé, Nativad y Matanza (Spanish; review forthcoming)

110  Carlos Labbé, Nativad and Matanza (review forthcoming)

111  Marco Magini, Come fossi solo (Italian; 2014 Premio Strega finalist; very good)

112  Javier Negrete, La higa del Nilo (Spanish; very good)

113  Emma Donoghue, Frog Music (review forthcoming)

114  Jeff VanderMeer, Aniquilación (Spanish; already reviewed the English original)

115  Donatella di Pietrantonio, Bella Mia (Italian; 2014 Premio Strega finalist; good)

116  Jean Echenoz, Je M'en Vais (French; Prix Goncourt winner; excellent)

117  Elisa Ruotolo, Ovunque, proteggici (Italian; 2014 Premio Strega finalist; good)

118  Jean Echenoz, 14 (French; very good)

119  Atiq Rahimi, Syngué sabour:  Pierre de patience (French; Prix Goncourt winner; very good)

120  Gilles Leroy, Alabama Song (French; Prix Goncourt winner; very good)

121  Pascal Quignard, Les Ombres errantes (French; Prix Goncourt winner; excellent)

122  Luiz Bras, Sozinho no deserto extremo (re-read; Portuguese; very good)

123  Juan Gabriel Vásquez, El ruido de las cosas al caer (re-read; Spanish; Premio Alfaguara winner; review forthcoming)

124  Umberto Eco, Come si fa una tesi di laurea (Italian; non-fiction; very good)

125  Niccolò Ammaniti, Ti prendo e ti porto via (Italian; good)

126  Patrice Nganang, Tempo de chien (French; very good)

127  José Luiz Passos, O sonâmbulo amador (2013 Portugal Telecom Literary Prize winner; Portuguese; very good)

128  Erico Verissimo, Ana Terra (Portuguese; decent)

129  Alice Vieira, Viagem à roda do meu nome (re-read; Portuguese; YA; already reviewed)

130  Estelle Faye, Porcelaine (French; 2014 Gran Prix de l'imaginaire finalist; very good)

131  Valter Hugo Mãe, o filho do mil homens (Portuguese; very good)

132  Ana Luisa Amaral, Inversos:  poesía 1990-2010 (Portuguese; poetry; very good)

133  Francesco Pecoraro, La vita in tempo di pace (Italian; 2014 Premio Strega finalist; very good)

134  Valter Hugo Mãe, o remorso de baltazar serapião (re-read; Portuguese; very good)


Updated Yearly Goals: 

Spanish:  32/50 (ahead of pace by 12; 7 read this month)

Portuguese:  18/50 (behind pace by 2; 7 read this month)

French:  20/50 (roughly on pace; 8 read this month)

Italian:  22/50 (ahead of pace by 2; 6 read this month)

Women writers:  43/134 (behind pace by 3%; 14 read this month, or 31% for the month)