What did you read last month?

[brian d]

the english american (thomas gage) ***
anarchist pedagogies (various) **
party going (henry green) [reread] ****
sam dunn is dead (bruno corra) [reread] *****
the dispossessed (ursula k le guin) *****
innocence (roald dahl) [around 5 stories] **
the pedagogy of the oppressed (paulo freire) [reread] ****

[Curtis, baby]

i dont read again?

rez life (david treuer) - 9/10

[wba]

April 2023

Das Schlangenmaul (Jörg Fauser / 1985 / West Germany / German / German)
Witiko. Erster Band (Adalbert Stifter / 1865 / Empire of Austria [Pest] / German / German) ♥
Palm Grove (Silvia Szymanski / 1999 / Germany / German / German)
Le square “Im Park“ [translated by Andrea Spingler] (Marguerite Duras / 1955 / France / French / German) ♥
Ein Sommer in Niendorf (Heinz Strunk / 2022 / Germany / German / German)
Pokora “Demut“ [translated by Olaf Kühl] (Szczepan Twardoch / 2020 / Poland / Polish / German)
Zigeunerjunge (Silvia Szymanski / 1999 / Germany / German / German)
Plummis Party (Silvia Szymanski / 1999 / Germany / German / German)
Panny z Wilka “Die Fräulein von Wilko“ [translated by Klaus Staemmler] (Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz / 1933 / Poland / Polish / German) ♥
Witiko. Zweiter Band (Adalbert Stifter / 1866 / Empire of Austria [Pest] / German / German)
Domnişoara Christina “Fräulein Christine“ [translated by Edith Silbermann] (Mircea Eliade / 1935 / Romania / Romanian / German) ♥
Prizrak Aleksandra Vol'fa “Das Phantom des Alexander Wolf” [translated by Rosemarie Tietze] (Gaito Gasdanow / 1948 / USA / Russian / German) ♥

[wba]

May 2023

Adalbert Stifter. Sehnsucht nach Harmonie (Peter Becher / 2005 / Germany / German / German)
Feminismus oder Erotik. Die Entdeckungen der Venus und die Abenteuer des Phallus innerhalb der Bewegung des Kommunismus [translated by ??] (MaD Verlag [editor] with texts and excerpts from Constance Chatterley, Jeanne Charles, Abel Bonard, Wicked Messengers / 1976 / West Germany / French, English / German)
Le vergini delle rocce “Die Jungfrauen vom Felsen“ [translated by ??] (Gabriele D’Annunzio / 1895 / Italy / Italian / German) ♥
Spaziergänge (Theodor Wolff / 1909 / Germany / German / German) ♥
Foul Matter (Martha Grimes / 2003 / USA / English / English)
Les Sœurs Vatard “Die Schwestern Vatard“ [translated by Gernot Krämer] (Joris-Karl Huysmans / 1879 / France / French / German)

[Curtis, baby]

another WEAK month (but not as weak as last month)

from a crooked rib (nuruddin farah) - 7/10
brother (david chariandy) - 9/10

[rischka]

i finished the dispossessed and am reading petersburg by andrei bely. nostalgia for my misspent youth of huge russian novels

i do want to read more of the hainish cycle. frrom what i understand there is no imperative order?

[brian d]

nope, no reading order at all, just jump in wherever. i bet you'd love the word for world is forest, and the left hand of darkness is also really good.

[rischka]

Yay thank you Brian

[wba]

June 2023

Neongrau (Aiki Mira / 2022 / Germany / German / German)
?? “Wo ist mein Haus?” [translated by Swetlana Geier] (Konstantin Balmont / ?? / ?? / Russian / German) ♥
La femme pauvre “Die Armut und die Gier” [translated by Clemens ten Holder] (Léon Bloy / 1897 / France / French / German) ♥
Nachwort zu “Die Armut und die Gier“ (Clemens ten Holder / 1950 / West Germany / German / German) ♥
Die a Little (Megan Abbott / 2005 / USA / English / English)
Dvojnik “Der Doppelgänger“ [translated by Alexander Nitzberg] (Fjodor Dostojewskij / 1846 / Russia / Russian / German) ♥
Die vergessene Moderne. Deutsche Literatur 1930 – 1960 (Jörg Schuster / 2016 / Germany / German / German)
Sadownik iz Očakowa “Der Gärtner von Otschakow“ [translated by Sabine Grebing] (Andrej Kurkow / 2010 / Ukraine / Russian / German)
Načalo konca, čast' I “Der Anfang vom Ende – Erster Teil“ [translated by Andreas Weihe] (Mark Aldanow / 1939 / France / Russian / German)

[rischka]

i'm in the middle of brideshead revisited - nostalgia for a lost empire - which loss arguably began on this date in 1776 and continued for 170 something years

brideshead between the wars, the end of elegance. anyway i'll be finished with it soon

[wba]

July 2023

Frühlings Erwachen (Frank Wedekind / 1891 / Switzerland / German / German)
Tagebuch einer Verlorenen. Von einer Toten (Margarete Böhme / 1905 / Germany / German / German) ♥
Miakro (Georg Klein / 2018 / Germany / German / German) ♥
Spusk pod vodu “Untertauchen“ [translated by Swetlana Geier] (Lydia Tschukowskaja / 1957 / Soviet Union / Russian / German) ♥
For åben dør “Bei offener Tür“ [translated by ??] (Johannes Anker Larsen / 1926 / Denmark / Danish / German)
Bücher sammeln (Klaus Walther / 2004 / Germany / German / German)
Minuit “Mitternacht“ [translated by Maria Giustiniani] (Julien Green / 1936 / France / French / German) ♥
Der Wixer und ich (Silvia Szymanski / 1999 / Germany / German / German) ♥
Nesnakomy drug “Ein unbekannter Freund“ [translated by Swetlana Geier] (Iwan Bunin / 1923 / Germany / Russian / German)
Mustafa (Silvia Szymanski / 1999 / Germany / German / German) ♥
13 (Silvia Szymanski / 1999 / Germany / German / German)
Festgefahren (Silvia Szymanski / 1999 / Germany / German / German)

[nrh]

july 2023 -
memory, donald westlake
the snow of the admiral, alvaro mutis
port tropique, barry gifford
ilona comes with the rain, alvaro mutis
milongas, edgardo cozarinsky
un bel morir, alvaro mutis

comics -
heaven 1-3, katie skelly
true crime funnies, jim rugg

[wba]

August 2023

Voyage au centre de la terre “Reise zum Mittelpunkt der Erde“ [translated by Manfred Kottmann] (Jules Verne / 1864 / France / French / German) ♥
90 Minuten (Silvia Szymanski / 1999 / Germany / German / German)
Act of Oblivion (Robert Harris / 2022 / UK / English / English) ♥
Schnee (Silvia Szymanski / 1999 / Germany / German / German) ♥
Une vieille Maïtresse “Die alte Maitresse“ [translated by Caroline Vollmann] (Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly / 1851 / France / French / German)
Das war Sex für mich (Silvia Szymanski / 1999 / Germany / German / German)
Kein Sex mit Mike (Silvia Szymanski / 1999 / Germany / German / German) ♥
Der Schatz im Silbersee (Karl May / 1891 / Germany / German / German) ♥
Animal Farm (George Orwell / 1945 / UK / English / English)
The Drawing of the Three (Stephen King / 1987 / USA / English / English)
Clarisse “Klarissa“ [translated by Bettina Wiengarn] (Paul Morand / 1921 / France / French / German) ♥
Serdze nje mjaso “Samson und das gestohlene Herz“ [translated by Johanna Marx, Claudia Zecher] (Andrej Kurkow / 2021 / Ukraine / Russian / German)
Agnes Sobierajski (Silvia Szymanski / 2000 / Germany / German / German)
Sous le vent “Mistral” [translated by Amelie Thoma] (Maria Borrély / 1930 / France / French / German)
Fairy Tale (Stephen King / 2022 / USA / English / English)
Načalo konca, čast' II “Der Anfang vom Ende – Zweiter Teil“ [translated by Andreas Weihe] (Mark Aldanow / 1940, 2012 / France, Russia / Russian / German)
Sedmkrát v hlavní úloze “Siebenmal in der Hauptrolle“ [translated by Markus Sedlaczek] (Egon Hostovský / 1942 / USA / Czech / German) ♥

[nrh]

august 2023 -
the rose of sarifal, paul park (writing as pauline claiborne)
the tramp steamer's last port of call, alvaro mutis
three hearts and three lions, poul anderson
amirbar, alvaro mutis
an irish eye, john hawkes

comics -
three rocks: the story of ernie bushmiller, the man who created nancy, bill griffith

[Curtis, baby]

i read again it would seem

black skin, white masks (frantz fanon) - 9/10
conversations with kafka (gustav janouch) - 9/10
the memorandum (vaclav havel) - 10/10
ariel (sylvia plath) - 8/10
this town sleeps (dennis e. staples) - 9/10
burning visions (marie clements) - 7/10
transformations (anne sexton) - 8/10
follow the rabbit-proof fence (doris pilkington) - 8/10
zami: a new spelling of my name (audre lorde) - 10/10

[brian d]

a bit behind here

july
the carreta (b traven) ***
lapvona (ottessa moshfegh) *****
the outsider (richard wright) *****
the treasure of the sierra madre (b traven) ****
always coming home (ursula k le guin) ***
birth and death of the housewife (paola masino) ****
i belong only to myself (writings and biography of leda raffanelli) ***

august
the struggle against the state (nestor makhno) ***
anarchy in action (colin ward) ***
dilemma and other stories (vijayathan detha) [reread] *****
forbidden notebook (alba de céspedes) ***

[wba]

September 2023

All Passion Spent (Vita Sackville-West / 1931 / UK / English / English) ♥
Hier geht’s lang! Mit Büchern von Frauen durchs Leben (Elke Heidenreich / 2021 / Germany / German / German) ♥
Honjin satsujin jiken “Die rätselhaften Honjin-Morde“ [translated by Ursula Gräfe] (Seishi Yokomizo / 1946 / Japan / Japanese / German)
Dritter Hof links (Günther Birkenfeld / 1929 / Germany / German / German) ♥
Liebesferne (Günther Birkenfeld / 1930 / Germany / German / German)
Phillip en de anderen “Philip und die anderen“ [translated by Helga van Beuningen] (Cees Nooteboom / 1954 / Netherlands / Dutch / German)
Das Irrlicht (Horst Lange / 1939 / Germany / German / German)

[nrh]

september -
abdul bashur, dreamer of ships, alvaro mutis
the cutie, donald westlake
triptych on land and sea, alvaro mutis
the whispering mountain, joan aiken
conjure wife, fritz leiber
our lady of dreams, fritz leiber

comics -
die, kieron gillen & stephanie hans
the original nexus, steve rude & mike baron

[Curtis, baby]

with a closed fist (kathy dobson) - 10/10
the middleman and other stories (bharati mukherjee) - 9/10

[wba]

October 2023

Die silberne Windfahne (Kurt Kluge / 1934 / Germany / German / German) ♥
»Also dann in Berlin ...« (Alice Brauner, Heike Gronemeier / 2021 / Germany / German / German)
Croire aux fauves “An das Wilde glauben“ [translated by Claudia Kalscheuer] (Nastassja Martin / 2019 / France / French / German)

[nrh]

october
the ceremonies, t.e.d. klein
go back at once, robert aickman
kane of old mars, michael moorcock
landscape with traveler, barry gifford
treacle walker, alan garner
my death, lisa tuttle
the black tulip, alexandre dumas

comics
ralph azham, lewis trondheim & brigitte findalky
nexus (first series) 1-40, steve rude & mike baron
wilson, dan clowes
david boring, dan clowes

[frisson]

October

Re-read The Will to Change by bell hooks which is an elucidating read as always.

Also read Clemencia by Ignacio Manuel Altamirano in which I had the opposite experience, even though occasionally technically impressive it falls flat to me in many regards, and complaining about all of them would take up quite a bit of space in this post.

Made decent progress with Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en (I started Part 3 today), but the end feels so far away still.

The Imprisonment of Obatala and other plays by Obotunde Ijimere is interesting in how it purports to be written by an African author but is instead the nom de plume used by German editor Ulli Beier, who was bafflingly critical of other European authors doing the same thing. The stories were good overall.

Black no More by George S. Schuyler was quite good.

The Chess Master by Ah Cheng, also quite good, his novels are rare to find in translation which is unfortunate given how recommended he was by a friend of mine.

Robot by Adam Wisniewski-Snerg, definitely the highlight of the month for me. A strange and experimental work of fiction.

[Curtis, baby]

men in the sun (ghassan kanafani) - 10/10
«unfortunately, it was paradise: selected poems» (mahmoud darwish, various eds.) - 9/10
land of big numbers (te-ping chen) - 8/10

[frisson]

men in the sun (ghassan kanafani) - 10/10

Oh hey, I'm just reading that one right now. I'm loving it as much as you did so far.

[Curtis, baby]

men in the sun (ghassan kanafani) - 10/10

Oh hey, I'm just reading that one right now. I'm loving it as much as you did so far.

it was a wonderful read! took a few pages to get in sync with the sorta narrative ellipses, but really got pulled in once i did. distinct in its treatment of time - appropriately for a book about travelling in the scorching sun, references to last week might feel more jarring than references to past generations, recollecting the key moments of youth might blend perfectly into recollecting the key moments of yesterday

[frisson]

references to last week might feel more jarring than references to past generations, recollecting the key moments of youth might blend perfectly into recollecting the key moments of yesterday

Yeah! I also hadn't remembered / realized that The Dupes (1972) was based on this novel until I was a few pages in, and that's one of my favorite films. I loved this book, I think it's been one of the most notable reads of mine in the year, and what you mentioned is one of the things I loved most about it!

[nrh]

november -
the abyss, jeyamohan
christie malry's own double entry, bs johnson
skeletons in the closet, jean-patrick manchette
the long-legged fly, james sallis
nightmare in the street, derek raymond
fassbinder thousands of mirrors, ian penman
goopy gyne bagha byne & other stories, upendrakishore roychoudhury
nocturnes for the king of naples, edmund white
francis goes to the seashore, barry gifford
treasure island, robert louis stevenson

comics
the complete eightball, dan clowes
patience, dan clowes
the demon, matt wagner

[flip]

christie malry's own double entry, bs johnson

i recently re-read that too, it made more of an impression the first time for me but i still like it

[brian d]

really light in terms of reading for a while, which is weird, but over the past month or two:

the color line (igiaba scego) ****
the beginning place (ursula k le guin) ***
essays from tula (leo tolstoy) ****

currently reading the death ship, by b traven. after that, i might get to martin chuzzlewit (dickens), wolf solent (powys), or if i'm really feeling it, grande sertão: veredas (guimarães rosa), any of which would probably take me at least to the end of the year if not the end of january at this rate.

[nrh]

christie malry's own double entry, bs johnson

i recently re-read that too, it made more of an impression the first time for me but i still like it

it was my introduction to b.s. johnson, and i've been told since that it might not have been the best introduction. interesting book though (certainly shaded a lot by his death soon after), and i'll probably try to read the rest of his work someday...