César Aira : Literature :: Coen brothers : Cinema You may never quite know what to expect going into it, but you can always be sure of a singular, engaging, imaginative, quirky, inimitable, and worthwhile experience. Aira's Shantytown, while a bit unlike his previous works already available in English translation, feels just like any other [...]
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Blog: PowellsBooks.BLOG (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Literature, Shelf Talkers, Staff Pick, Cesar Aira, Add a tag
Blog: PowellsBooks.BLOG (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Embarking upon a newly translated César Aira novella is often as exciting an experience as the story itself. Given that the Argentine author is so astonishingly prolific, one never really knows quite what to expect from his fiction — save, of course, for the creativity and originality so common in his writing. With this, even [...]
Blog: Schiel & Denver Book Publishers Blog (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: cesar aira, sergio chejfec, argentine literature, andres neuman, angel pradelli, argentine independent, carlos gamerro, joey rubin, Add a tag
Over at The Argentina Independent, Joey Rubin has an article about five “exciting new Argentine novels” that have recently been translated into English.
As a huge fan of Southern Cone literature, the fact that there’s quality contemporary works coming out of that area isn’t that surprising, but it is almost shocking to realize just how many great Argentine books are being published in the States . . . Here are the five titles that Joey focused on, with short clips from his descriptions:
Friends of Mine by Ángela Pradelli: Called ‘Friends of Mine’, and also translated by [Andrea] Labinger, the novel tells the story of a group of women living in the Buenos Aires province, who meet once a year on 30th December to eat dinner, celebrate the New Year, and reflect on the strange, difficult and wonderful passage of time. Structured in short, lucid fragments, the novel reads like a coming-of-age tale for a group of friends, a neighborhood, and an era of life in middle-class Argentina that has as much resonance today (and outside of Spanish) as it did when it was first published in 2002 and was awarded the Premio Emecé. [. . .]
The Islands by Carlos Gamerro: Like the spiralling narrator of ‘Bad Burgers,’ the protagonist of ‘The Islands’ chases his own trauma down a rabbit hole when he discovers that, despite the passage of ten years, the Falklands/Malvinas War is still raging — a reality he’s not quite ready to confront. [. . .]
Traveller of the Century by Andrés Neuman: Neuman, who has written poetry (‘No sé por qué’), short story (‘Alumbramiento’) and travelogue (‘Cómo viajar sin ver’), created in ‘Traveller of the Century’ a novel that is at once contemporary and historical: set in Restoration-era Germany, it discusses sexual mores and intellectual disputes in a distinctly modern way. Praise from writers like Roberto Bolaño long ago boosted his reputation in the Spanish-speaking world, but more than acclaim or ambition, it’s the clarity and grace of Neuman’s prose that has earned him high standing among fans. [. . .]
The Planets by Sergio Chejfec: First published in Spanish in 1999, ‘The Planets’ was written during the fifteen-year period when Chejfec lived in Venezuela, a temporal and cultural dislocation important to the text. As ‘My Two Worlds’ used ambulatory reflection, ‘The Planets’ uses the act of remembering to elevate a simple story into an elegant register. It’s a mode of literature difficult to master, but worthy of celebration when done right. [. . .]
Varamo by César Aira: A novel kind of about a Peruvian man who takes up the homemade art of fish embalming, and also kind of about a very slow city-wide car race, and also kind of about the makings of a classic Central American poem, and yet somehow also not about these things at all. ‘Varamo’ is as strange, and as compelling, as Aira’s best work. In fact, it may be Aira’s best work. Or his worst. You’ll have to read all his books to know for certain.
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Though most of César Aira's books tend to be slim affairs, they make up with inventiveness for whatever they may lack in length. The prolific Argentine novelist's works are wildly imaginative, and the depth of his creativity seems matched by the ease with which he is able to blend, cross, and move within different genres. [...]
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JacketFlap tags: Shelf Talkers, Staff Pick, Cesar Aira, Literature, Add a tag
One of the more striking characteristics of César Aira's fiction is how much fun it seems he must be having while writing his stories. Not limited by the constraints of genre, Aira's novellas often move effortlessly between them, without ever an inkling of it seeming forced or contrived. Despite their relative brevity, Aira's works (though [...]