Member: nperrin

Hello Nicole,

Thank you for adding me on here! I imagine you found me via my website -- it needs a revamping/update.

posted by nickmanley at 3:43 pm (EST) on Apr 17, 2009

I've only read a chapter of The Eyre Affair (I had to work all day), but so far it seems awesome. Thanks for picking so well. Also...our shared books share an uncanny amount of topics.

posted by Lin-Z at 2:47 am (EST) on Dec 24, 2008

Hi, I'm Andrea from Germany. Just read your "Jane Eyre's Eliza Reed"-Essay. Loved it! Creative and accurately researched at the same time.

The picture of your living room sure looks cozy. Your books are lucky to have such a beautiful home. Cheers!

posted by Pemberley at 6:30 am (EST) on Nov 1, 2008

She also noted that younger writers in the former Yugoslavia tend to think of her as an outsider if not a foreigner altogether.

The more idiots they! Not that I'm surprised that someone like her would feel lonely... Back in the early nineties, as we embarked on ten years of nouveau fascism, she, along with several other prominent women (including Slavenka Drakulic) was branded as a "witch" and hounded in the government-controlled media. And not just by the media, they were harassed by strangers, stalked, threatened, spied on...

I heard excellent things about Krudy!

posted by LolaWalser at 10:32 pm (EST) on Oct 10, 2008

Oh I'm so jealous! If you can, do go see her, she's a terrific person. She'd also be THE perfect choice to ask for lit recommendations!

I'll get back to you with more names after I think about it a bit. The most tedious part is finding out if something's available, sometimes a translation will be "available", but only in some madly expensive scholarly or rare antiquary edition etc.; not something I would feel comfortable recommending. Otoh, if you have access to a university library, that's probably the best position you can hope for, as far as material in English is concerned. Is there a Goethe Institut in Chicago--and do they have a library? If they do, probably most of the material they carry will be German lit, but I wouldn't be surprised if they had considerably more of the stuff you're interested in, especially in a place that's, if I remember correctly, pretty strong in Slavic ethnics.

I'll come back with more info, but in the meantime, have you read Witold Gombrowicz? He's an immensely interesting writer, a groundbreaker, and a major literary figure--practically pickled in the absurd, but not at all unreadable or unduly cryptic. "Ferdydurke", "Pornography" and "Cosmos" all heartily recommended. Another Pole I read recently for the first time is Slawomir Mrozek ("The elephant and other stories"), a hugely enjoyable discovery. Neither Gombrowicz nor Mrozek are "young"; Gombrowicz gained fame before WWII (which he spent in Argentina, of all places), Mrozek broke out in sixties-seventies. In general, I am even less knowledgeable about the writers du jour than I am of the older generations...

You may also want to check out the Reading Globally group, often there are interesting references.

posted by LolaWalser at 8:33 pm (EST) on Sep 29, 2008

Grüss Gott (or not!), Nicole!

Shamefully, I am pretty much clueless about Bulgarian lit--the one name that popped in mind was Hristo Botev (at least I hope he's a poet and not the undersecretary of the Party post-WWII or something). The Gospodinov I haven't read yet, you may want to look up LTer "depressaholic", who reads globally and writes extremely helpful reviews; it was his review that made me get that book.

I have vague memories of reading some Bulgarian Symbolists in school, but damned if I can remember their names (googling's in order). Oh--then there's Tzvetan Todorov (literary critic, philosopher, essayist), although long living and writing in French, he's of Bulgarian origin.

Oh, AND. A couple weeks ago I received a notice about the annual "Little literatures" (well, technically "small", but "little" is alliterative--I'll stop now) festival in Zagreb, and this year it's Bulgaria's turn. Authors appearing: Angel Igov, Emanuil A. Vidinski, Jana Bukova, Silvija Tomova, Kamelija Spasova, Marija Kalinova, Marin Bodakov, Nadežda Radulova, Marica Kolčeva, Mira Duškova. I've never heard of, let alone read any of them. But, there they are...

As for other Slavs, I'm best acquainted (which isn't saying much, I'm afraid) with the literatures of the former Yugoslavia. But the problem is, as I oft repeat, that translations are scarce, and largely concentrate on krusty klassics (imagine if the only available Americans on the market were Twain and Steinbeck) or, on whatever theme suddenly makes the country blip on the international radar--war in Yugoslavia, mafia in Italy etc.

Do you have a preference for a certain form (poetry, novels, drama, essays), or theme or genre? For instance, if you were interested in Central European history, Austro-Hungary and/or WWI, I'd recommend Miroslav Krleza's "Croatian god Mars". If you like magical realism and mythology, you might enjoy Milorad Pavic's "Dictionary of the Khazars". Macedonian Goce Smilevski has had a couple philosophical novels translated, "Conversations with Spinoza" and something else... Dubravka Ugresic (whose mother was Bulgarian!) writes intelligent light satire tinted with absurdism, I recommend both "Stefica Cvek in the jaws of life" and "Fording the stream of consciousness". But, perhaps I could help more if I had a better idea of your sympathies and antipathies. Let me know.

posted by LolaWalser at 12:42 pm (EST) on Sep 29, 2008