Dead-end Memories | Banana Yoshimoto #JPNshortstories

Cover Design: Gingko leaves by Dana Li Five years ago I read Banana Yoshimoto's (1988) debut story Kitchen (which also contained the short story Moonlight Shadow). I enjoyed the two stories with some reservation about how deceptively simple they appeared. I think what I was trying to articulate back then is how it is possible for a … Continue reading Dead-end Memories | Banana Yoshimoto #JPNshortstories

The Jew’s Beech | Annette von Droste-Hülshoff #DEUnovella

The Jew's Beech | Annette von Droste-Hülshoff A Picture of Life among the Hills of Westphalia Where is the hand so fraught with gentle art That tangled skein of narrow mind may part, So steadfast that untrembling it may throw The stone upon a wretched creature's woe? Who dares to measure surge of vain ambition, … Continue reading The Jew’s Beech | Annette von Droste-Hülshoff #DEUnovella

She and Her Cat | Makoto Shinkai & Naruki Nagakawa #JPNshortstories

One of the online sites that came up when I duck, duck, go'd this title, suggested She and Her Cat was one of the five translated books this season that could soothe a battered soul. My soul was not feeling particularly battered (except for this seemingly endless La Niña rain!) but I definitely felt soothed … Continue reading She and Her Cat | Makoto Shinkai & Naruki Nagakawa #JPNshortstories

Son Excellence Eugène Rougon | Émile Zola #Zoladdiction

The President of the Chamber remained standing until the faint stir caused by his entry subsided. Then he took his seat, saying rather nonchalantly, in a quiet voice:'The sitting is open.' As always, I am facsinated by translation choices. Above are the opening lines from Brian Nelson's recent 2018 translation of Son Excellence Eugène Rougon, … Continue reading Son Excellence Eugène Rougon | Émile Zola #Zoladdiction