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Category Archives: World Literature
Nine Moons – Gabriela Wiener, Jessica Powell (Translator)
(reviewed by JD Jung) “Europe is the best place for a Latin American to starve to death and drink good wine.” Gabriela Wiener and her husband originally travelled from Peru to Barcelona on student visas. However, when these two journalists … Continue reading
Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Latin American Literature
Tagged childbirth, immigration, pregnancy
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Arsène Lupin, gentleman-burglar – Maurice LeBlanc, Edgar Jepson (Translator)
(reviewed by JD Jung) “You don’t know who Lupin is? The most whimsical, the most audacious, and the most genial thief in France. For the last ten years he has kept the police at bay….In fact, he’s our national robber.” … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, French Literature, Historical Fiction, Lost and almost forgotten
Tagged class, Crime, Lupin, social justice
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A Sunday in Ville-d’Avray – Dominique Barbéris (Author), John Cullen (Translator)
(reviewed by JD Jung) “My sister had always been incapable of choosing. She was also incapable of breaking off the relationship…She was yielding little by little—I see that now, and something in me understood her—to the novel-like element he imported … Continue reading
Posted in French Literature, Modern Literary Fiction, Skinny reads
Tagged Paris, suburbs
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The Last Twist of the Knife – João Almino (Author), Elizabeth Lowe (Translator)
(reviewed by JD Jung) “Pieces of the past arrive that either frighten me or invite me to a reunion. It’s what I see, what I hear. The rest I imagine…” A seventy-year-old lawyer decides to abandon his current life in … Continue reading
Posted in Latin American Literature, Modern Literary Fiction, Skinny reads, World Literature
Tagged Brazil, Crime, jealousy, revenge, translated world literature
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Death in a Bookstore: An Inspector De Vincenzi Mystery – Augusto De Angelis
(reviewed by JD Jung) Inspector Carlo De Vincenzi is faced with one of his toughest assignments yet. Senator Prof. Ugo Magni was found shot to death in a Milan antiquarian bookstore. On the shelf just above the body, a book … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Italian Literature, Lost and almost forgotten, World Literature
Tagged golden age, Italian literature, Milan
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The Memory Monster – Yishai Sarid
(reviewed by JD Jung) “Force is the only way to resist force, and one must be prepared to kill.” This Israeli PhD History student wasn’t prepared for what he was about to embark on. Trying to figure out the topic … Continue reading
Posted in Middle Eastern Literature, World Literature
Tagged Holocaust, Israel, Poland
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My Part of Her – Javad Djavahery, Preface by Dina Nayeri, Translated by Emma Ramadan
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “For what reason did the people take to the streets to demand the Shah’s departure? I assure you that if we asked the question today, the majority of Iranians wouldn’t know how to respond. For liberty? … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction, Middle Eastern Literature, Political fiction, World Literature
Tagged Iran, Islamic revolution, Tudeh party
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No Room at the Morgue – Jean-Patrick Manchette, Translated by Alyson Waters
(reviewed by JD Jung) “They’re going to lock me up. I’m the perfect fall girl. My fingerprints are everywhere, even on the knife that belongs to me, and I got blood all over me.” Maybe another reason that this femme-fatale, … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, French Literature, Lost and almost forgotten, Noir-esque fiction, World Literature
Tagged French literature, French noir
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The German Client: A Bacci Pagano Investigation-Bruno Morchio
(Reviewed by JD Jung) “If Germans and fascists don’t shoot us, Americans bomb us.” Private Investigator Bacci Pagano doesn’t have an easy relationship with the past. He grew up poor as his mother worked in a cigar factory and his … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction, Italian Literature, World Literature, WWII
Tagged Genoa, Italian literature, translated world literature, WWII
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Outside the Lines-Ameera Patel
(reviewed by JD Jung) “She’s pregnant with a domestic worker’s son, who has matric but whose skill is drug peddling. How did she get herself into this?” Her parents want to control the situation, but Farhana doesn’t know what she … Continue reading
Posted in African Literature, Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, World Literature
Tagged contemporary fiction, culture, drug addiction, Johannesburg, south Africa
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