Tag Archives: Novella

November 2, 2015 · 1:07 pm

Review: Nagasaki by Éric Faye

I received an advanced review copy of this title from Gallic Books through NetGalley. This book was originally published in French and this English translation is done by Emily Boyce. This is also my first post for Novella November hosted by Poppy Peacock Pens. Please visit her site for more great reviews of novellas throughout the month.

My Review:
Shimura Kobo leads a very quiet and regimented life in the suburbs of Nagasaki. He is a meteorologist who avoids the company of his coworkers and every night returns to his neat, orderly and lonely apartment. When food starts to disappear from his refrigerator and items appear out of place in his apartment he takes notice and is really bothered by this disruption in his organized life. At first he thinks that he is just going crazy but in order to verify his missing items he starts cataloguing the contents of his refrigerator and measuring the liquid in his juice containers. He finally decides to buy a webcam which is linked to his laptop so he can spy on his visitor while he is at work.

Shimura eagerly watches his laptop at work waiting for the intruder to appear on his screen. He has to wait several days but he finally glimpses a woman standing in his kitchen, enjoying the sunlight and making herself a cup of tea. He immediately calls the police who go over to his apartment to catch the suspected intruder. But when the police arrive, there are no signs of a break in. The doors and windows are locked and the police are about to give up their search when they discover a woman hiding in the closet in Shimura’s spare bedroom.

The woman, as it turns out, had lost her job in the economic recession and had to give up her apartment. She was living on the streets of Nagasaki until one day she noticed Shimura leave for work. She also noticed that he left the door to his house unlocked and so she let herself in, just intending to have a warm and dry place to stay for a few hours. But when she discovers Shimura’s extra bedroom which is rarely used, she basically lives with him unnoticed for the better part of a year.

The most fascinating part of the story is the lasting psychological impacts that their inadvertent cohabitation has on both of them. Shimura is forced to contemplate his lonely and solitary existence and he never feels comfortable again living in his apartment. The woman does a short stint in jail and writes Shimura a very detailed letter about why she chose his house to stay in. But she too is changed from her sojourn at Shimura’s home. Their individual isolation and loneliness is cast into sharp relief when they each see how the other one lives.

This is a quick yet powerful read that I highly recommend. My only complaint is that I didn’t want the book to end; I wanted to know more about the fate of Shimura and his secret roommate. This is a fantastic choice to kick off Novella November!

About The Author:
Born in Limoges, Éric Faye is a journalist and the prize-winning author of more than twenty books, including novels and travel memoirs. He was awarded the Académie Française Grand Prix du Roman in 2010 for Nagasaki.

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Filed under Literature in Translation, Novella

Tagged as French Literature, Literature in Translation, Novella

September 21, 2015 · 1:43 pm

Review: The Looking Glass Sisters by Gøhril Gabrielsen

I received an advanced review copy of this novella from Peirene Press. This is the third book in their Chance Encounter Series. This title was originally written and published in Norwegian and this English translation has been done by John Irons.

My Review:
This is an emotionally intense and sinister book that will leave you thinking about relationships with close family members long after you finish the last page. The focus of the book is on the codependence of two sisters who are each other’s only remaining relatives after their parents die. When the book opens they are middle-aged and have been living together in isolation on the outskirts of rural Norway for almost 30 years.

The first sister, the one who is the unnamed narrator of the story, has been physically handicapped since she was a little girl. She contracted a high fever which caused her to be in the hospital for several weeks and the illness left her paralyzed from the waist down. She must rely on her parents for all of her needs and when her parents die the only other person she has left in her life is her older sister, Ragna. The sisters live in a remote house that no one ever visits and the only way to reach the local village for supplies is by snow sled.

But one day the routine of the sisters’ lives changes when a man named Johan moves into the area and starts to court Ragna. We get the sense that Ragna has been resentfully taking care of her sister for years and has never really developed any life of her own because of the constant needs of her invalid sister. Ragna seems bitter and at times she is emotionally and physically cruel to her disabled sister. There is one scene in the book that is particularly painful to read; the handicapped sister has to use the bathroom and drags herself out of bed with her crutches and just before she reaches the bathroom, Ragna runs in and locks the door. Ragna refuses to come out of the bathroom and the crippled and helpless sister is forced to relieve herself in her pants. Her dignity is further eroded when she then must be cleaned up and carried back to bed by Ragna.

When Johan comes along and decides to marry Ragna, it seems that Ragna could not be happier now that she has the opportunity to rid herself of the burden of her sister. At times I felt sorry for both sisters. On the one hand, the handicapped sister cannot help her situation and she has no choice but to be constantly asking her sister for everything she needs. On the other hand, Ragna must constantly be at her sister’s beck and call and Ragna feels that her sister is never grateful for what Ragna does for her. We also get the feeling throughout the narrative that the disabled sister has a very narrow view of the world and doesn’t understand what is going on outside her room or how her constant demands affect her sister. At times she appears paranoid and melodramatic.

This novella brings up some interesting thoughts about family members and our obligations to them. If we are the only ones left to take care of a loved one are we obligated to do so to the detriment of our own lives? But if we can’t rely on our family, then who else is there to depend on in times of need? In the end, Ragna and Johan make a selfish decision in favor of making peace and quiet for themselves.

The novellas published by Peirene are meant to be read quickly, in a matter of a few hours. But I found this book so dark and intense that I could only read it a few pages at a time over the course of several days. The final book in the Chance Encounter series is a stunner that is the perfect way to finish out this set of novellas.

About The Author:
Gøhril Gabrielsen, born in 1961, grew up in Finnmark, the northernmost county in Norway, and currently lives in Oslo. She won Aschehoug’s First Book Award for her 2006 novel Unevnelige hendelser (Unspeakable Events), and was the recipient of the 2010 Tanum Scholarship for Women. Since the publication of her debut novel she has brought out two further books to great acclaim in her native Norway, Svimlende muligheter, ingen frykt (The Looking-Glass Sisters) and Skadedyr (Vermin). Her fourth novel is due out in 2015.

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Filed under Literary Fiction, Literature in Translation, Novella

Tagged as Finland, Novella, Peirene Press

July 29, 2015 · 12:00 am

Review: Two Novellas from Flaubert and Dostoevsky

I recently stumbled across a sale that Melville House Publishers was having on their novella series. They have released 56 novellas from famous authors across the world. I chose two titles, A Simple Heart by Gustave Flaubert and The Eternal Husband by Fodor Dostoevsky to review here. Please check out all of the great titles in their selection. You can even buy a subscription to the novella series and have novellas show up on your doorstep every month: http://www.mhpbooks.com/series/the-art-of-the-novella/

A Simple Heart by Gustave Flaubert:
This novella introduces us to a simple servant woman who is cast out of her own home as an orphan at an early age and searches for intimacy and love for the rest of her life. Felicite falls in love with a young man who ends up rejecting her so that he can marry a rich, old widow and avoid conscription. After this disappointing heartache, Felicite never finds another man that she can trust her heart to. When she comes into the service of Madame Aubain, a young widow with two small children, she is the most faithful and loyal servant anyone could ask for. Felicite bestows love on the two children who eventually leave home for school and meet a sorrowful end due to illness. Felicite is also given a parrot which she lavishes with love and attention. But, like everyone else in her life that she has loved, he dies and leaves her. This is not a tale with a happy ending but gives us a realistic view of life, love and loss.

The Eternal Husband by Fodor Dostoevsky:
The story opens with Velchaninov living in St. Petersburg in an apartment flat by himself trying to iron out the details of a lawsuit. He has become increasingly depressed and melancholy and has eventually cut himself off from all of his friends and acquaintances. One day an old friend, whom he has not seen for nine years, shows up on Velchaninov’s doorstep. He is stunned to see his friend after so many years and further shocked when Trusotsky announces that his wife has died of consumption. Velchaninov had an affair with Trusotsky’s wife and that is the main reason he hadn’t visited the couple for nine years. When Trusotsky’s wife broke the affair off, Velchaninov vowed never to see either of the again.

Velchaninov describes Trusotsky as “an eternal husband,” which to him means a man that is subservient to a domineering wife. Nowadays we might call Trusotsky “henpecked” or “whipped.” Trusotsky descends into a depression that is fueled by excessive drinking; he turns out to be a man who cannot live without a wife, who cannot operate in the world without the confines of a marriage. In typical Dostoevsky fashion, we get a glimpse into the male psyche and an interesting and ironic storyline. I thoroughly enjoyed this story as much as his longer works.

According to the Melville House website, novellas are oftentimes ignored by academics and publishers. I would love to hear about other readers’ favorite choices as far as this overlooked style of writing. Do you like novellas and, if so, what are some of your favorites?

18 Comments

Filed under Classics, France, Literature in Translation, Novella, Russian Literature

Tagged as Classics, French Literature, Literature in Translation, Novella, Russian Literature

June 11, 2015 · 8:37 am

Review: Reader for Hire by Raymond Jean

I received an advanced review copy of this title from Peirene Press. This novella was first published in French in 1986 as La Lectrice and has been translated into this English version by Adriana Hunter.

My Review:
Marie-Constance is looking for some kind of occupation to fill her time; even though she never finished her university degree, she loves literature and decides she will hire herself out to strangers for reading sessions. When she puts an ad in the local newspaper offering her services, the editor is skeptical and warns her that people might get other ideas about what she is offering.

The novella almost reads like a series of short stories as Marie-Constance meets and reads to a very different and interesting cast of characters. Her first client is a disabled teenager who goes into an epileptic fit when Marie reads him Maupassant’s short story The Hand. After this traumatic experience, she decides that poetry might be a better choice for him and as she reads to him he seems to be emotionally and physically moved not only by her reading choices but also by her voice.

Marie-Constance also takes on an old woman who is a Hungarian countess that was married to a former French general. The countess still staunchly clings to her communist roots and has Marie read to her from the tomes of Marx. The old woman also tries to participate in the local unions attempts at a rally by waving her communist flag out her bedroom window.

The men who hire Marie for her services are the most interesting characters in the book. On the surface, they all want to better themselves by learning more about literature. But as Marie’s voice lulls them into feelings of peace and tranquility, their other manly senses seems to kick in as well. The final scene in the book is hilarious and Marie learns that the editor at the newspaper might have been right after all about what her listeners are expecting from her services.

This is a clever, funny, unique and interesting novella from Peirene Press. This is the perfect title to bring with you to the beach for a quick, delightful read.

About The Author and Translator:
Raymond Jean (1925–2012) wrote more than 40 books during his lifetime – novels, short-story collections and essays. He was awarded the Prix Goncourt de la nouvelle in 1983. His novella La Lectrice (Reader for Hire) became a cinema hit starring Miou-Miou. The film won the César Award for Best Supporting Actor and was named the best feature at the 1988 Montreal World Film Festival.

Adriana Hunter has translated over 50 books from French, including works by Agnès Desarthe, Véronique Ovalde and Hervé Le Tellier. She has already translated for Peirene, Beside the Sea by Véronique Olmi, for which she won the 2011 Scott Moncrieff Prize, and Under The Tripoli Sky by Kamal Ben Hameda. Adriana has been short-listed twice for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

7 Comments

Filed under France, Humor, Literature in Translation, Novella

Tagged as France, Literature in Translation, Novella

May 15, 2015 · 8:55 am

Review: White Hunger by Aki Ollikainen

I received an advanced review copy of this title from Peirene Press. White Hunger has been translated from the Finnish by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah

Peirene Press is an independent publisher based in England. They specialize in translating and publishing the best European novellas. Please visit their site for more fantastic books in translation: Peirenepress.com.

My Review:
What is the color of hunger, poverty and death? For the Finnish people living during the famine of 1867 it is white because of the prolonged winter and constant blizzards. It is wretched enough that scores of people are dying from hunger, but when they set out from their homes begging for scraps of food the snow swallows them up before they can find any relief.

Marja and her family are victims of this horrible famine and when her husband becomes gravely ill she must leave him behind to set out in search of food. Marja bundles up her young daughter and infant son and all three of them embark on a cold, tiresome and relentless journey. The vivid language of this book made me shutter with sympathetic chills as time and again Marja and her family are denied succor and turned out into the cold.

Ollikainen explores the animalistic nature which extreme circumstances tend to bring out in human beings. Marja and her young children are treated not just as beggars but something less than human. They are abused and denied even the most basic needs like food and a warm place to sleep. I was stunned by the lack of sympathy shown to Marja and her children all along their journey.

The story also depicts Teo and Lars, brothers who, because of their upper class status, fare a little better during the famine. Teo is a doctor traveling the countryside to bury a friend who has been overcome by disease and hunger. Teo is a morally ambivalent character in the book and when he encounters Marja we wonder whether or not he will make the humane choice to help her.

WHITE HUNGER is a beautiful yet haunting account of the effects of famine not just on one family but on the conscience of an entire population. I am so thrilled to have discovered this gem from Peirene Press and I am eager to read more of their titles.

About The Author:
Aki Ollikainen was born in 1973, has taken the Finnish literary scene by storm with his extraordinarily accomplished debut novel White Hunger, which has won the most prestigous literary prizes in Finland. A professional photographer and reporter for a local newspaper, the author lives in Kolari in northern Finland. His second novel will be published in spring 2015.