Half a Lifelong Romance – Eileen Chang
Tragedy is a condition, rather than the failure to act heroically.
The End of Days – Jenny Erpenbeck
Sentences repeat as situations repeat. The sense of relief at yet another opportunity to imagine the future of a life that was lost is cut by the knowledge that loss will win out in the end.
Jaws without the shark.
Unlike many Apartheid novels that stick to one location or group, Black Diamond depicts a South Africa where every group is present and no powerful white man is in sight.
Captives speaks to Sebald’s call to stick within the register of memory, even if memory has been stripped of its supporting features.
Trifonova forces the reader to reassess the opinions and institutions that validate the knowledge we have both of ourselves and of others.
Dragon’s Breath and Other True Stories – MariNaomi
There is perhaps no more apt metaphor for the stories and vignettes in Dragon’s Breath than this: something that flares bright in your vision and lingers long after it’s extinguished.
Aidt perceives with great clarity the intricacies of relationships, not just romantic or sexual, though they are prominent, and she does it with an apparent cool distance.
Mature Themes searches for pieces of people in the streaming media as if panning for gold.
A big octopus shows up and helps them, but the volcano is undeterred and continues moving forward.