Book Reviews Apala Bhowmick The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die (John Murray, 2019), by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, translated from the original Bangla by Arunava Sinha, is a fast-paced thriller about the rescue mission around the flagging finances of an erstwhile-affluent Bengali family who open a shop in the city that sells sarees. The narrators consist of three women of different generations of the family, lending the plot a delightful tripartite divide. It is a tale about the tenacity of the human spirit to withstand hardships and about human relationships that endure. This translation—of a difficult text to translate—possesses the rare quality of being appealing to both the English-speaking reader and to the audience who can understand the Bengali language. I’ve had a chance to read the original Bengali text as well, and the work has been successfully transferred, cultural flavor and all, into a rather curt and mercantile language like English. Speaking of mercantilism, the reader will be afforded a sidelong glance at upper-middle-class Bengali sentiments, at least at a certain point in the history of this community, toward professions like the merchant’s or the petit bourgeois shopkeeper’s. Words like shaashuri and Pishima have been retained, and the name Chakor Mitra, which the reader will encounter on the very first page, is phonetically funny but also funny when you know the implications of the first name when it’s used as a noun in... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2020-03-10 15:47:11 UTC ]
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Of all the great premises™ boasted by this year’s slate of movies, the wonderful American Fiction has one of the very best. The film is about a veteran writer of literary fiction who, as a Black man, finds himself undesirable in the literary market for his lack of conforming to type. The... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-12-15 09:55:27 UTC ]
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The father of Jeffrey Dahmer, he wrote a memoir that one reviewer said sought to “peer not just into the soul of his son but into his own.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-12-13 00:00:21 UTC ]
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NoViolet Bulawayo among authors paying tribute to independent publishing house that shook up the country’s literary sceneWhen the Zimbabwean editor Irene Staunton and her husband Murray McCartney set up their publishing business in 1998, it seemed natural to call it Weaver Press. Their modest... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-12-07 07:00:02 UTC ]
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This week, the 42nd John Dos Passos Prize was awarded to novelist and short story writer Patricia Engel (Vida; The Veins of the Ocean; Infinite Country; The Faraway World) by Longwood University. The Dos Passos Prize is the oldest literary award given by a Virginia college or university, and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-12-05 16:21:20 UTC ]
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Should historical fiction stick to the views and opinions of the time, or provide a modern perspective? Here are the pros and cons. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-12-05 11:31:00 UTC ]
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It’s been a roller coaster of a year. Thankfully, we’ve had novels to whisk us to days gone by, even if those eras had their own highs and lows. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-12-05 10:01:03 UTC ]
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From witch stories to near-future noir, here are the year’s 10 best speculative books. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-12-04 10:00:38 UTC ]
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A secret, a disappearance, a frozen body and a mysterious stranger — these historical novels have something for everyone. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-12-01 10:53:25 UTC ]
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New books by Vajra Chandrasekera, Avi Silver, Cadwell Turnbull, Michael Mammay and T. Kingfisher. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-12-01 10:32:14 UTC ]
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New York book publisher Casey McIntyre's health insurance allowed her to receive cancer care without saddling her family in medical debt. But as she navigated the health-care system, she met other patients who weren't so fortunate. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2023-11-29 22:49:53 UTC ]
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Here are the sci-fi and fantasy titles getting the most recognition in best of the year lists and award shortlists! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-11-28 11:38:00 UTC ]
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Larry Hughes, who began his publishing career as an assistant editor at Pocket Books in 1949 and rose to become chairman of the Hearst Trade Book Group some 40 years later, died on November 14. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-28 05:00:00 UTC ]
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December's new SFF releases bring not one but three new additions to series we love, a brand new romantasy trilogy, and more! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-11-27 11:31:00 UTC ]
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'Prophet Song,' Irish author Paul Lynch's fifth novel, is a study in contemporary literary intensity, winning the Booker Prize for Fiction. The post Ireland’s Paul Lynch Wins the 2023 Booker Prize for Fiction appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-11-26 22:00:45 UTC ]
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A founder of the St. Mark’s Bookshop in the East Village, he prided himself on stocking titles that were not “too popular” and stayed in business for four decades. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-11-23 01:12:36 UTC ]
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He emerged in the 1950s as a promising young writer exploring the emotional lives of ordinary men and women and the complexities of Jewish identity in America. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-11-20 23:46:03 UTC ]
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Farah Ali’s debut novel The River, The Town is a haunting portrait of lives relegated to the margins by capitalism and its resulting byproduct: the inequitable distribution of resources. The world of the novel centers two places, the Town and the City, and the narrative focus, in typical... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-11-20 12:01:00 UTC ]
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British author A.S. Byatt, who was known for award-winning works including 'Possession' and 'The Children's Book,' has died. She was 87. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-11-17 17:18:21 UTC ]
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Celebrated British author A.S. Byatt—a scholar and novelist whose 1990 novel, Possession, won the Booker Prize and brought her international renown—has died at the age of 87. A statement released this morning by her longtime UK publisher, Chatto & Windus, reports that Byatt “died peacefully... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-11-17 16:46:10 UTC ]
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Academic and intellectual British novelist A.S. Byatt, author of POSSESSION, has died at 87 in her home due to unknown causes. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-11-17 16:23:21 UTC ]
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