October and November Reading Roundup

I set aside October and November for reading books from Indie publishers and it was great. I may not have read as many as I would have liked to, but that's okay.  Here's the lineup (a * indicates Indie Publisher):

crime fiction
Here Comes a Candle, by Frederic Brown* -- Millipede
The Pale Horse, by Agatha Christie

general fiction
Panopticon, by David Bajo -- Unbridled Books*
The Singer's Gun, by Emily St. John Mantel -- Unbridled Books  (read, not reviewed)*
A Geography of Secrets, by Frederick Reuss -- Unbridled Books*
The Sentimentalists, by Johanna Skibsrud -- Gaspereau Press*
The Stray Sod Country, by Patrick McCabe (read, not yet reviewed)

translated fiction
The Wrong Blood, by Manuel de Lope -- Other Press*
The Dark Bride, by Laura Restrepo  (read, not reviewed)
Needle in a Haystack, by Ernesto Mallo -- Bitter Lemon Press*
Hygiene and the Assassin, by Amelie Nothomb -- Europa Editions*
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery -- Europa Editions*

nonfiction
Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius, by Colin Dickey -- Unbridled Books*
Acid Christ: Ken Kesey, LSD and the Politics of Ecstasy, by Mark Christensen -- Schnaffner Press*

favorite book of the month: 
Needle in a Haystack


Other book-related stuff:
1) My book group read and discussed Muriel Barbery's Elegance of the Hedgehog. 

2) Added to the Amazon Wishlist:

 - Our Lady of the Assassins, by Fernando Vallejo 
 - Delirium, by Laura Restrepo
 - The Caves of Perigord, by Martin Walker
 - Red Plenty, by Francis Spufford
 - Popular Hits of the Showa Era, by Ryu Murikami

3) From Librarything's Early Reviewer Program came Stray Sod Country, by Patrick McCabe and Sunset Park, by Paul Auster.  Thank you to Sonia and the powers that be!  And thanks to all of the publishers for the many ARCs these last couple of months. 

4) Books bought this month:

- The Redeemer, by Jo Nesbo

- How the Dead Live, The Devil's Home on Leave, and I Was Dora Suarez, by Derek Raymond

- Ghosted, by Shaughnessy Bishop Stall

- Lord of Misrule, by Jaimy Gordon

- Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House, by Valerie Plame Wilson

- Decision Points, by dubya

- The Tiger, A True Story of Vengeance and Survival, by John Vaillant

5) Between freecycle, donations and book trading sites, approximately 45 books left the house for new homes over the last couple of months.

6) Coming up in December: to further clear out my shelves,  I'm going to read books I bought throughout 2010 with the best of intentions, but never got around to.

that's it. My special thanks for the recommendation of The Dark Bride. I didn't review it yet, but it's amazing.

*Hygiene and the Assassin, by Amélie Nothomb

9781933372778
Europa Editions, 2010
Translated by Alison Anderson
original French title: Hygiene de l'assassin, 
   1992, Éditions Albin Michel
167 pp.

Hygiene and the Assassin probably qualifies for my "strangest book read this year" award (up there with Little Hands Clapping)  but at the same time, there's something unique between the covers of this small novel. The setup for the story is that a Nobel Prize-winning author by the name of Prétextat Tach is about to die.  He is the author of twenty-two novels, is extremely reclusive, and has never granted an interview over his long career. Now that he is dying (from Elzenveirverplatz Syndrome -- a long name for a rare cartilage cancer), Tach's assistant has granted a select few journalists the rarest of opportunities for an interview.  One by one they come in, tape recorders ready to capture every word, and one by one Tach makes proverbial mincemeat out of them and tosses them out.  But the meat of this book begins with the entrance of Nina, an intriguing young woman who isn't about to join her predecessors.  After only a short while, and after Tach makes a remark about enjoying watching people crawl at his feet, Nina offers an intriguing wager:

 You said something about crawling. I suggest identical stakes for both of us. If I crack, I'm the one who'll crawl at your feet, but if you crack, you'll crawl at my feet.  I like to see people crawling at my feet too.

Tach takes the bet, noting that he loves "squashing people," and that "humiliating pretentious airhead females" is something that brings him "extreme pleasure."  And thus begins the verbal fencing match between the two, which lasts for the book's remaining 74 pages. There is absolutely no redeeming quality in the character of Tach; he is one of the most odious characters ever imagined.  He's self-obsessed, feels he has risen above the rest of the world, cares nothing for the rest of humanity (especially for women).  But what makes this book work and work well is the often brutal repartee between Tach and Nina, as she manipulates the conversation which eventually leads back into his past -- but to say more would be to ruin it.


This book is not for everyone; it is odd and very quirky with a main character that is, quite frankly, a disgusting pig. If that doesn't bother you, it is one of those novels that will entice you with its beginning and keep you reading until the last page.  And although the core of this story consists only of dialogue, it is extremely well done -- it is not clumsy or out of step, and stays solidly grounded within the inherent qualities of both characters.  IMHO, this is the mark of a talented writer, but also of a skilled translator.

I would recommend it for those who want more of a challenge in their reading. It's often difficult, and there are many literary references that many people may not get, but which are important to an understanding of Tach's character. I spent a great deal of time on Wikipedia, but a lot of readers want a straightforward novel with linear plot, resolution and a clearly-explained ending.  For those people, this may not be the book for you. But if you're up for it, and want something unique, you'll enjoy it.

fiction from France

*Here Comes a Candle, by Fredric Brown

1933618043

Millipede Press, 2006

Originally published 1950, by E.P. Dutton

297 pp.

 

If you're interested, my take on this very different and often bizarre noir crime fiction novel is over at the crime segments part of my reading journal. 

the longlist to end all longlists: The Dublin IMPAC award for 2011

Here it is, in all its lengthy glory from this website; tomorrow I'll comb through it in some more detail to see what I actually want to read.

Milena Agus		The House in Via Manno translated by Brigid Maher
Niccolo Ammaniti		As God Commands translated by Jonathan Hunt
Kalinda Ashton		The Danger Game
Margaret Atwood		The Year of the Flood
Paul Auster		Invisible
Paolo Bacigalupi		The Windup Girl
Vladislav Bajac		Hamam Balkania translated by Randall A. Major
Tiffany Baker		The Little Giant of Aberdeen County
Nicholson Baker		The Anthologist
Ferenc Barnas		The Ninth translated by Paul Olchváry
Mark Behr		Kings of the Water
Gioconda Belli		Infinity in the Palm of her Hand translated by Margaret Sayers Peden
Maissa Bey		Above All, Don't Look Back translated by Senja L. Djelouah
Mikkel Birkegaard		The Library of Shadows translated by Tiina Nunnally
Marie-Claire Blais		Rebecca, Born in the Maelstrom translated by Nigel Spencer
Giles Blunt		Breaking Lorca
William Boyd		Ordinary Thunderstorms
T.C. Boyle		The Women
Anita Brookner		Strangers
Dan Brown		The Lost Symbol
Diana Fitzgerald Bryden		No Place Strange
A.S.Byatt		The Children's Book
Peter Carey		Parrot and Olivier in America
Massimo Carlotto & Marco Videtta		Poisonville translated by Antony Shugaar
Nick Cave		The Death of Bunny Munro
Dan Chaon		Await Your Reply
Tracy Chevalier		Remarkable Creatures
Hélène Cixous		Hyperdream translated by Beverley Bie Brahic
Philippe Claudel		Brodeck's Report translated by John Cullen
Ann Cleeves		Red Bones
J.M. Coetzee		Summertime
Michael Crummey		Galore
Ron Currie Jr.		Everything Matters!
Maurice G. Dantec		Grand Junction translated by Tina A. Kover
Rana Dasgupta		Solo
Pete Dexter		Spooner
E.L. Doctorow		Homer and Langley
Glen Duncan		A Day and a Night and a Day
Jean Echenoz		Running translated by Linda Coverdale
Kim Echlin		The Disappeared
Dave Eggers		The Wild Things
Ilsa Evans		The Family Tree
Roopa Farooki		The Way Things Look to Me
Fiona Farrell		Limestone
Sebastian Faulks		A Week in December
Laurence Fearnley		Mother's Day
Adam Foulds		The Quickening Maze
Julia Franck		The Blind Side of the Heart translated by Anthea Bell
Patrick Gale		The Whole Day Through
Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza		Alone in the Crowd translated by Benjamin Moser
Jane Gardam		The Man in the Wooden Hat
Maurice Gee		Access Road
Paolo Giordano		The Solitude of Prime Numbers translated by Shaun Whiteside
Glen David Gold		Sunnyside
Hiromi Goto		Half World
Jessica Grant		Come, Thou Tortoise
Wolf Haas		The Weather Fifteen Years Ago translated by Stephanie Gilardi and Thomas S. Hansen
Marion Halligan		Valley of Grace
Marié Heese		The Double Crown; Secret Writings of the Female Pharaoh
Nicole Helget		The Turtle Catcher
Nick Hornby		Juliet, Naked
Michelle Huneven		Blame
Ameena Hussein		The Moon in the Water
M.J. Hyland		This is How
John Irving		Last Night in Twisted River
Tahar Ben Jelloun		Leaving Tangier translated by Linda Coverdale
Paulette Jiles		The Color of Lightning
Laleh Khadivi		The Age of Orphans
Khoo Kheng-Hor		Sifu: An Unusual Teacher in the Turbulence of the Malayan War
Rachael King		Magpie Hall
Barbara Kingsolver		The Lacuna
Ayse Kulin		Farewell: A Mansion in Occupied Istanbul tattranslated by Kenneth J. Dakan
Reif Larsen		The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet
Norman Lebrecht		The Game of Opposites
Siegfried Lenz		A Minute's Silence translated by Anthea Bell
Jonathan Lethem		Chronic City
Yiyun Li		The Vagrants
Jim Lynch		Border Songs
Annabel Lyon		The Golden Mean
		Back to Top
Alain Mabanckou		Broken Glass translated by Helen Stevenson
Linden MacIntyre		The Bishop's Man
David Malouf		Ransom
Hilary Mantel		Wolf Hall
Javier Marías		Your Face Tomorrow: Poison, Shadow and Farewell translated by Margaret Jull Costs
Simon Mawer		The Glass Room
Colum McCann		Let the Great World Spin
Liam McIlvanney		All the Colours of the Town
Zakes Mda		Black Diamond
Patricia Melo		Lost World translated by Clifford Landers
Philipp Meyer		American Rust
Thando Mgqolozana		A Man Who is Not a Man
Anne Michaels		The Winter Vault
China Miéville		The City And the City
Alex Miller		Lovesong
Wu Ming		Manituana translated by Shaun Whiteside
Shandi Mitchell		Under this Unbroken Sky
Lisa Moore		February
Lorrie Moore		A Gate at the Stairs
C.E. Morgan		All the Living
Marcel Moring		In a Dark Wood
Kate Mosse		The Winter Ghosts
Peter Murphy		John the Revelator
H.M. Naqvi		Home Boy
David Nicholls		One Day
Audrey Niffenegger		Her Fearful Symmetry
Elizabeth Nunez		Anna In-Between
Joyce Carol Oates		Little Bird of Heaven
Vida Ognjenovic		Adulterers translated by Jelena Bankovic / Nicholas Moravcevich
Kristina Olsson		The China Garden
Amos Oz		Rhyming Life and Death translated by Nicholas De Lange
Orhan Pamuk		The Museum of Innocence translated by Maureen Freely
Jacques Pauw		Little Ice Cream Boy
Eva Petric		They All Ate Sushi
Caryl Phillips		In the Falling Snow
Jayne Anne Phillips		Lark & Termite
Claudia Pineiro		Thursday Night Widows translated by Miranda France
Kate Pullinger		The Mistress of Nothing
Anthony Quinn		The Rescue Man
Kim Stanley Robinson		Galileo's Dream
Santiago Roncaglio		Red April translated by Edith Grossman
Jane Rusbridge		The Devil's Music
		Back to Top
Suhayl Saadi		Joseph's Box
Maryam Sachs		Without Saying Goodbye translated by Sara Sugihara
Gill Schierhout		The Shape of Him
Raphael Selbourne		Beauty
Erick Setiawan		Of Bees and Mist
Kamila Shamsie		Burnt Shadows
Laurie Sheck		A Monster's Notes
Daniel Silva		The Defector
Craig Silvey		Jasper Jones
Colleen Smith-Dennis		Inner-City Girl
Kathryn Stockett		The Help
Mari Strachan		The Earth Hums in B Flat
Bahaa Taher		Sunset Oasis translated by Humphrey T. Davies
Boston Teran		Giv: The Story of a Dog and America
Colm Toibín		Brooklyn
Jean-Philippe Toussaint		Running Away translated by Matthew B. Smith
William Trevor		Love and Summer
Thomas Trofimuk		Waiting for Columbus
Dubravka Ugresic		Baba Yaga Laid an Egg translated by Ellen Elias-Bursac et al
Chika Unigwe		On Black Sisters' Street translated by H. Van Riemsdijk
Srdjan Valjarevic		Lake Como translated by Allice Copple Tosic
Abraham Verghese		Cutting for Stone
Esther Verhoef		Close-Up translated by Paul Vincent
Dimitri Verhulst		Madame Verona Comes Down the Hill translated by David Colmer
Pinki Virani		Deaf Heaven
Jorge Volpi		Season of Ash translated by Alfred J. MacAdam
Abdourahman Waberi		In the United States of Africa translated by David and Nicole Ball
Kate Walbert		A Short History of Women
Jeannette Walls		Half- Broke Horses
Pieter Waterdrinker		The German Wedding translated by Brian Doyle
Sarah Waters		The Little Stranger
Colson Whitehead		Sag Harbor
Tommy Wieringa		Joe Speedboat translated by Sam Garrett
Manuka Wijesinghe		Theravada Man
Damien Wilkins		Somebody Loves Us All
Alison Wong		As the Earth Turns Silver
Evie Wyld		After the Fire, a Still, Small Voice
Michael Zadoorian		The Leisure Seeker
Carlos Ruiz Zafon		The Angel's Game translated by Lucia Graves