What I Just Noticed

Noteworthy

Recently I had the chance to read the current March/April issue of ForeWord Magazine, which is always full of interesting and well reviewed books that are independently published .    A few of the reviews stuck out for me.  The first being Crossing the Hudson, written by Peter Stephan Jungk and translated from the German by David Dollenmayer.  But the reviewer, Barbara Ardinger, says that this Jewish family tale "as the family history is revealed, it turns out to be a complex, haunted family from Hell, and Gustav's day on the bridge across the Hudson is a day from Hell.  But Jungk's storytelling of the story is irresistible."  This novel is by Handsel Books which is an imprint of Other Books.  I liked the fact after checking out the website that they do have an online reading guide for their books, which always makes you analyze the book form a different angle than your own experience of the work as a reader.

The second book is a book I read, loved and happy to see that it is getting coverage.  Attila Bartis' Tranquility, translated by Imre Goldstein from Archipelago Books (one of my absolute favorite publishers), is a riveting tale of familial ties that bind and destroy.  This book leaves an imprint because it is so powerful and well-written(it beat out 2666  for the Best Translated Book Award of 2008).  It was reviewed well here and elsewhere, so give it a go if you like fiction that doesn't have a happy ending. 

Lastly, Copper Canyon Press gets their due with a collection of poetry by David Huerta, translated by Mark Schafer, entitled Before Saying Any of the Great Words: Selected Poems.  I have always loved this Mexican poet and it so nice to see Copper Canyon bring him to English readers.  This is a bilingual collection that is lyrical and innovative.  He uses intertextuality in a subtle and engaging manner that is hypnotic.  One of his poems I love is Pathological Beginnings:
NOVEL

With intolerant composure
she yielded to the incantations of wine
    
But he knew how
to drag her into a swoon, into the grim
daybreaks of stupefaction


She had a inhuman face,

all white angles. He
knew the spells of innocence
and the fullness of authority.

But she knew what untoward
and tenacious manner would confound him.

He was unaware of the art of dreams,
and smeared his face with nightmares.

This is expansive collection of Huerta's work and well worth the time.  Bravo to ForeWord for highlighting some great works in translation.


Posted by Monica at 4/17/2009 9:39 AM
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: forewrod magazine noteworthy
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