Category Archives: World Literature
The Propagandist – Cécile Desprairies, translated by Natasha Lehrer
(Reviewed by JD Jung) Our protagonist had to navigate between truth and lies, reality and denial for her entire childhood. Now as an adult and a historian, she must face these truths and the role her mother played in Fance … Continue reading
Posted in French Literature, Historical Fiction, WWII
Tagged anti-antisemitism, France, Nazism, propaganda, WWII
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Pentimento Mori – Valeria Corciolani
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “It’s simply a matter of yellows, figs, vans, and kites…Why can’t I get a nice simple gang murder or an old-fashioned serial killer?” Public Prosecutor Jacopo Bassi has had enough of this murder case, the victim … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Italian Literature, World Literature
Tagged art history, cozy mystery, Italian literature
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The Coin – Yasmin Zaher
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “…in my family, America was both the key and the curse.” Our narrator, who is from a wealthy Palestinian family moved to New York after her parents died. She was left with an inheritance of which … Continue reading
Posted in Immigration, Middle Eastern Literature, World Literature
Tagged immigration, New York, obsession
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The Safekeep – Yael van der Wouden
(Reviewed by JD Jung) It’s 1961, almost twenty years after the war, and it would appear as if the Netherlands has recovered. However, scars linger beneath the surface in unimaginable ways. Isabel, who is almost thirty years old, doesn’t have … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction, Our Best, World Literature, WWII
Tagged Dutch literature, Netherlands
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The Club of True Creators – Milan Tripkovi
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “We aren’t criminals! We are authors whose works your children will study in Serbian language classes one day. We are the architects of some of the most refined literary achievements ever committed to the Serbian tongue. … Continue reading
Posted in Humor & Satire, Slavic Literature
Tagged artists., Serbia, Social satire, songwriting, writers
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Forgottenness – Tanja Maljartschuk, translated by Zenia Tompkins
(reviewed by JD Jung) “I was an inconsequential being who had suddenly become deathly afraid of life.” Our present-day narrator suffers from mental/psychological disorders: frequent panic attacks, obsessive compulsive disorder, substance abuse, and changing levels of agoraphobia. Eventually she breaks … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction, Slavic Literature, World Literature
Tagged history, mental illness, political activism, politics, Ukraine
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Violets – Kyung-Sook Shin, translated by Anton Hur
(reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “San’s attraction did not originate this summer. But rather it has lain in wait for millennia before bursting forth all at once. “ San was no stranger to abandonment. Her father left right after she … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Far Eastern Literature, World Literature
Tagged culture, Korea, mysogeny, Seoul
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