An author of a crime story gets caught up in a real-life crime. In Black and White introduces us to Mizuno, a comically hapless writer virtually powered by a tendency to think himself into corners. The novel was penned in 1928 by the famous Jun’ichirō Tanizaki but only published in English translation last year. When we first … More Colorful Crime: In Black and White by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki
I’m honestly not sure where to start with Jordan Stump’s recent English translation of French writer Marie NDiaye’s My Heart Hemmed In, because it feels like I’ve been preparing to read this book for a long time, a long time before I knew of its existence and perhaps even before it was published in its original … More Haunted Hemming & Hawing: My Heart Hemmed In by Marie NDiaye
You can judge a book by its cover, to an extent. You can also, maybe to an even greater extent, judge a book by its title. Debut novelist Ava Farmehri borrows this one from Dante, and subsequently presents a work that lives up to its impact. Sheyda Porrouya, a twenty-year-old Iranian born at the time … More Through the Sad Wood Our Corpses Will Hang by Ava Farmehri
Kafka’s Metamorphosis has in part occupied such a terrifying place in the modern imagination because Gregor Samsa’s awakening in the body of a “monstrous insect” involves the change of both his appearance and perceived usefulness. The idea that a person could simply wake up one day, look different, be considered less relevant to society and therefore … More Get (Sucked) In: The Hole by Hye-young Pyun
I read both French and English, but I’m not sure how my binary is. Normally, when it comes to French texts I’m curious about, I grab either the original or the English translation, depending on what’s most readily available. If it’s the translation, I nurse the intention of reading the original French and comparing the … More Binary Banter: The Art of Asking Your Boss for a Raise, Perec-style
What I love about Mary Gaitskill is that she somehow managed to never be corrupted by, I mean, learn, the writer’s code of conduct. There are many things you’re not supposed to do, as a writer. For one, you’re not supposed to write a long personal essay about the grief you suffered over a runaway … More Tap, Tap, Tap: Somebody with a Little Hammer by Mary Gaitskill
Quizzes are meant to be quick. That’s the general understanding, at least. Maybe because of this, while there’s no shortage of book quizzes to be found on BuzzFeed, Sporcle and the like, many of them feature the same classic literary sediment being stirred up to the surface. Now, there’s nothing wrong with user-created quizzes on … More Ample Book Trivia: 45+ Online Literature Quizzes to Consume Your Day
The painting shown above is Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s The Hunters in the Snow. As you can see, it’s a work of great depth and intricacy. However, as you may have guessed, I’ve placed it here because it’s special in the context of this review. References to The Hunters appear in translator Alexander Boguslawski’s notes for the … More Sasha Sokolov’s Meaty Headtrip “Between Dog and Wolf,” Translated by Alexander Boguslawski
Isolation, alienation and loneliness are prominent themes in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s 1818 classic novel Frankenstein. Some analyses theorize that Victor Frankenstein makes a misguided attempt to create a human being due to his isolation from friends and family. His solitude can be compared with that of Robert Walton, a sea captain on a mission to … More What’s Wrong with Victor? The Root of Frankenstein’s Isolation
Adapter’s note: While the following is a free adaptation of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s classic work and contains certain probably obvious elements not present in the original, it also more or less follows the actual plot of the book as put down by Ms. Shelley. This means spoilers spoilers spoilers. For your convenience and edification, any text … More [A Read-Online Comic] Stick-figure Summary of “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley
LIT ALL OVER 