Isn’t it fantastic? So bleak and yet somehow there’s a real lightness to the way he recounts it. I devoured it!
I’m reading The Idiot by Dostoyevsky at the moment and it’s making me think about translations. Even though I’m confident this is a decent one, it must be almost impossible to completely convey everything from one language to another. It’s not just a question of direct translations not always existing for particular words or phrases but that so much of literature is the stuff that isn’t written. The implications, the subtext, the surrounding culture and norms of whatever country/timeframe a novel is set in, a type of implicit understanding that must be so hard to communicate across languages.
It can take a lifetime to truly learn and understand another language. I can’t imagine the workload of translating a novel and trying to convey every nuance without losing something along the way. It’s probably always a delicate balancing act but hats off to those who do it, it must be a fascinating but challenging process.
Now I'm reading The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez. Not sure how I feel about it. The language is stunningly beautiful and the world seems interesting, but the confusing POV (a mix of second and third person) is not serving the story well IMO. There's also a bit of information overload. Hopefully that will subside.
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One of my absolute faves
So based on some conversation in this thread and seeing it on the shelves at Barnes and Noble, I bought The Vegetarian by Han Kang. I was curious about it, especially given all the acclaim. It's very good, but it's so fucking disturbing, so much so that I'm not sure I want to keep on reading. But I've already read so much that I feel I should finish it. Ugh. It's kind of triggering TBH.
As far as The Spears Cut Through Water is concerned, the language is ridiculously sumptuous, but I'm finding the experiments with POV to be jarring. It's distancing me from what's going on.
As far as The Spears Cut Through Water is concerned, the language is ridiculously sumptuous, but I'm finding the experiments with POV to be jarring. It's distancing me from what's going on.
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I just don't know who to feel about The Vegetarian. It's been a page turner for me and it has a certain economy of language that propels the story, but Kang has not justified how utterly fucked up it is yet. Like, I'm exhausted by inhabiting the viewpoint of these creepy ass men. And there's not much to them but said creepiness.
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The chapters of The Vegetarian from the men’s points of view are the better ones.
I absolutely adored The Vegetarian, it's really stuck with me the last couple of years. Human Acts was her work that really had me at my limit, my god.
She/Her
Just finished Witchcraft For Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix. The ending made me cry and I never cry at books.
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They’re certainly well done but so creepy.
Just finished it.
Yeah, it didn't stick the landing, but it was an interesting read overall with some really stunning sections of prose. However, it was so disturbing that now I'm thinking of reading something really whimsical and fun just as a palette cleanser.
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I think I'm going to drop The Spears That Cuts Through Water. The experiments in POV really spoil some good ideas and some excellent prose. It's just too frustrating to read.
I started a fantasy book called The Fragile Threads Of Power because I thought the cover was so cool, but the actual writing seems pedestrian so far. Maybe the story will make up for that.
Update: I don't think I will be reading either of these books. Does anybody have any recommendations for fantasy books with beautiful prose, strong atmosphere, and a lack of cliches?
I started a fantasy book called The Fragile Threads Of Power because I thought the cover was so cool, but the actual writing seems pedestrian so far. Maybe the story will make up for that.
Update: I don't think I will be reading either of these books. Does anybody have any recommendations for fantasy books with beautiful prose, strong atmosphere, and a lack of cliches?
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Thanks for the recommendation. Will snap this up when I'm not broke haha.
In place of the two books I dropped, I've started Earthsea: The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula LeGuin and The Shadow in the North, the second of Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart mysteries.
It is brilliant but I wouldn’t say it’s fantasy. Only mentioning because if you go in looking for a fantasy story you’ll probably be severely disappointed. It’s offbeat literary fiction.
The Fifth Season and its sequels are excellent fantasy (and a bit sci-fi) if you haven’t read them yet.
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he/him/basic cishomo
I discovered once again that the audiobook can be a terrible format for certain kinds of nonfiction works.
I tried Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail by Ray Dalio. I used it for a return commute, said after I got home 25 minutes in, "Okay yep this sounds like it'll be full of tasty information about my immediate future and give me the nuance and language I need to more adequately talk about our dying planet/entire life system!" You know, where I stopped seemed to be the end of an introduction, presumably the prose would start to get some flavor shortly.
But no, the whole thing is very clearly meant to be read. HOO BOY. Lots of "as shown on Figure A-5..." and "as we see how the shift evolves from curve D to D1..." I hate that I can't focus sufficiently on it to visualize the context and ideas with my own brain. I'm willing; I want to be the driest person I know!
But no. I lay down after I got home, kept the audiobook going, fell asleep after 5 minutes. Woke up and I was 2/3rds of the way through the book and everything sounded exactly the same as when I fell asleep!
I'll have to try Mr. Dalio on paper. Guess it's high time I properly pick up a book again, anyway.
I tried Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail by Ray Dalio. I used it for a return commute, said after I got home 25 minutes in, "Okay yep this sounds like it'll be full of tasty information about my immediate future and give me the nuance and language I need to more adequately talk about our dying planet/entire life system!" You know, where I stopped seemed to be the end of an introduction, presumably the prose would start to get some flavor shortly.
But no, the whole thing is very clearly meant to be read. HOO BOY. Lots of "as shown on Figure A-5..." and "as we see how the shift evolves from curve D to D1..." I hate that I can't focus sufficiently on it to visualize the context and ideas with my own brain. I'm willing; I want to be the driest person I know!
But no. I lay down after I got home, kept the audiobook going, fell asleep after 5 minutes. Woke up and I was 2/3rds of the way through the book and everything sounded exactly the same as when I fell asleep!
I'll have to try Mr. Dalio on paper. Guess it's high time I properly pick up a book again, anyway.
These two are really doing a lot for me. The Tombs of Atuan is bringing the lush and delicious prose and a sense of subtle mystery while The Shadow in the North is just a refreshingly straightforward and suspenseful tale. Neither of these books are hampered with distracting experimentation or basic prose. Yas.
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I am doing my absolute DAMNEDEST to be done with Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell (which I've been really enjoying but taking forever to finish) because Woodworking by Emily St. James just came in and I'm fuckin' jazzed to read it.