Category: Translated Fiction

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki

August 16, 2014 Fiction, Literary, Review, Translated Fiction 20 ★★★★

Colorless Tsukuru TazakiTitle: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
Author: Haruki Murakami
Links: Bookshop (affiliate link) |Goodreads
Rating:four-stars

Summary: This book was written in the same beautiful, dreamy style I loved in 1Q84, but the ending felt a bit less climactic and a bit less resolved.

In high school, Tsukuru Tazaki was part of an inseparable group of friends. Coincidentally, the other four students all had colors in their name and Tsukuru didn’t, a fact that he found significant because he also believed himself to be the most average of the group. About a year after Tsukuru moved away, his four friends cut off all contact with him and refused to explain why. When, many years later, Tsukuru meets a woman he cares for deeply, he realizes that he needs to understand what happened with his friends before he can move on and believe he might be loved by someone else.
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In Praise of Hatred

July 17, 2014 Fiction, Translated Fiction 6

18630509Title: In Praise of Hatred
Author: Khaled Khalifa
Source: from publisher via LibraryThing
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: Although this was beautifully written and gave me some insight into life in Syria, it was mostly confusing and disjointed.

Set in the Syria in the 1980’s, In Praise of Hatred tells the story of a young muslim woman whose name is never given. Facing scorn from her secular classmates and the conflicting views of her variably conservative family members, she takes refuge in hatred for those who are different from her. As her uncle’s become involved in trying to overthrow the regime, she herself becomes increasingly radical in her views. Alongside her coming of age story, we also learn about the many dramatic romantic liaisons and fascinating histories of her family members. Read more »

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Books That Didn’t Live Up to the Hype in Mini-Reviews

June 10, 2014 Fiction, Thriller, Translated Fiction 38

1232Title: The Shadow of the Wind
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Source: library
Rating: ★★★☆☆

I’ve heard almost exclusively good things about The Shadow of the Wind. I’ve loved all of the other translated fiction I’ve read, and I love books about books. Objectively, this book was perfect for me. For some reason, though, I just didn’t connect with it. I did sometimes find the prose really beautiful and the loving descriptions of books and secret libraries made my book-loving self very happy. I also liked that the conversations followed a distinctly different pattern than what I’m used to. I felt like I was getting a glimpse of Spanish culture. However, the main character is essentially swept up in someone else’s story. I felt he had very little agency. There were clearly intended to be parallels between his life and that of the man whose life he enters, but I thought the connections were superficial. I ended the book wishing there had been something more. Read more »

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Your Republic is Calling You

August 31, 2013 Fiction, Translated Fiction 2

8131789Title: Your Republic is Calling You
Author: Kim Young-ha
Source: library
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: The sparse prose, surreal feel, and intimate details you learn about characters’ lives reminded me of Murakami but the book was far darker and the unresolved ending knocked a star off my rating.

Gi-yeong is a typical South Korean family man or so even his wife believes. He’s almost come to believe it himself until one day he gets a mysterious e-mail, recalling him to the home office and his duties as a North Korean spy. The book covers the 24 hours Gi-yeong has been given to report in. As he debates what to do and what to tell his family, he learns that his wife has some secrets of her own. Read more »

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Bookends About Brida

July 27, 2013 Fiction, Magical Realism, Translated Fiction 0

2817201Title: Brida
Author: Paulo Coelho
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Summary: A beautiful, thoughtful musing on the nature of life and love.

On the surface, the is the story of Brida and her quest to learn magic. I’m sure there are as many interpretations of this book as there are readers, but I read it as the story of a young woman trying to find love and her place in the world. Along the way she has to make some tough decisions about who she loves and what place love has in her life as it becomes filled with her focus on magic. Read more »

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