Ciara

I idly picked this up yesterday, thinking I’d read a few pages. Before I knew it, I was late for everything and had read half of it. Engrossingly slow-paced and peculiar. And just to make it even better, the translator is credited on the cover. This shouldn’t be so unusual that you notice it. It is lovely to see.

#Fredagsbog #Bookstodon #NameTheTranslator #Books

Apr 3 at 6:41amWeb
Show threadCiara1h ago

Blimey. That escalated slowly. And darkly and absurdly and grotesquely. In the good way.

’On Mastodon, you are the algorithm.’ Oh, ok. Dimitris Sotakis - ’if you liked’: Han Kang. Haruki Murakami. Karel Čapek. And, too clichédly obvious but also too appropriate not to add: Kafka.

#Books
#Bookstodon
#Fredagsbog

Show threadCiara1h ago
Dimitris Sotakis: also ’if you liked’ that amazing Chinese writer whose name refuses to come to mind. The harder I try to recall, the less I can. There was a story with a twist about one leaf clinging to a tree outside a dying woman's window. I remember a man feeling like a kangaroo going downstairs. I tried NoAI-DuckDuckGoing ’Contemporary Chinese short stories Lady Writer kangaroo stairs leaf tree I liked it'. Oddly, no luck. Finally I regret that I no longer shelve my books by author country.
Show threadCiara21m ago
Can Xue. That's the amazing Chinese writer whose name I could not recall. Based on the measly scraps of information I fed it, the internet search engine couldn't recall it for me. But in a fine example of 'On Mastodon, you are the algorithm', @MargaretD could. Tack og thanks! A well-read human reader thinking laterally beats all the algorithms.
Show threadk18m ago

@CiaraNi @MargaretD

Thank you for the rec! I'll request these from the library once we're settled after the move

Show threadCiara2m ago
@forestfjord @MargaretD The stories were especially good, I thought. Congratulations on your new home and good luck settling in!
Show threadJody Hughes16m ago
@CiaraNi @MargaretD I would support a search engine that only put me in touch with people (actual humans only, obvs) who were most likely to know the answer to my question.
Show threadCiara9m ago
@Gaolaitch @MargaretD We're chatting on one! That's the Fediverse, in my experience. No question too niche, there is always someone who knows from actual experience and is happy to kindly share the answer.
Show threadMargaret Dahlstrom44m ago

@CiaraNi

Can Xue?

Show threadCiara29m ago
@MargaretD Can Xue! Yes! Of course. I say now, now that you've worked it out for me. I should've asked you first, you really know your literature. Can Xue. Tack og tak and thank you.
Show threadRupert Curwen21m ago
@MargaretD @CiaraNi The other story sounds like "The Last Leaf" by O Henry. But he was a man, and also was American.
Show threadCiara11m ago
@smashtie @MargaretD I wonder if I'm mixing up my leaf motifs? I've read (and liked) O Henry too. Maybe the clinging leaf was O Henry and the leaf in Can Xue was floating away up a cliff? It's years since I read either of them. Now I must root out my O Henry collection too and see which leaf is which.
Show threadRupert Curwen3m ago
@CiaraNi @MargaretD I think I have to give Can Xue a try!
Show threadCiara4s ago
@smashtie @MargaretD Your mention of O Henry reminded me of something I love about books and literature - the vast range of it. Can Xue and O Henry could not be more different, and yet we can enjoy both their styles and stories.
Show threadJim Daly35m ago
@CiaraNi This is something that the founder of the small Irish publisher, Bullaun Press, insisted on from day one. The translators are very grateful.