An end of week recap

“The scrupulous and the just, the noble, humane, and devoted natures; the unselfish and the intelligent may begin a movement – but it passes away from them. They are not the leaders of a revolution. They are its victims.”
– Joseph Conrad (born 3^rd December 1857)

This is a post in which I summarise books read, reviewed and currently on my TBR shelf. In addition to a variety of literary titbits, I look ahead to forthcoming features, see what’s on the nightstand and keep readers abreast of various book-related happenings.

PAUSE FOR A POD >> 

* Lie Back and Listen *

Here I recommend engaging podcasts and other digital recordings I have come across in recent weeks. Hopefully, you too will enjoy them.

It has been some time since I last paused for a pod – in my wind up, if not in real life (or RL as everyone and their cat insists on calling it these days) – but I have a few items of interest to engage your ears.

I would first like to call attention to an episode of RLF Education’s Writers Aloud audio series from 30^th November in which fellow book blogger, Ann Morgan of A Year of Reading the World, discusses with CD Rose (author of The Biographical Dictionary of Literary Failure), “blurring the lines between fact and fiction, being persuaded to write a book and finding ways to commemorate geniuses whose work is never discovered.” The programme runs for 26:34 and is certainly worth a listen. >> Episode 446: RLF Writers Aloud >>

Andrew Limbong put together a brief piece for NPR’s podcast All Things Considered about Helen DeWitt’s The English Understand Wool, and the surprising way in which “it became a lowkey hit thanks to a TikTok posted by author, bookstore owner, and influencer Ann Patchett.” Described by Limbong as “both a psychological thriller and a satirical critique of the publishing industry,” it would seem this 2022 novella was so popular that it “sold out everywhere.” >> Helen DeWitt’s novella ‘The English Understand Wool’ hits big >> 

Finally, and most importantly, is The Moomin Phenomenon hosted by actress Lily Collins and the absolutely fabulous Jennifer Saunders (whom I just so happen to idolize). Described as a “podcast taking listeners around the world on an entertaining audio adventure through all things Moomin,” there are five episodes available on all the usual platforms covering such momentous moomimatters as, “why do fans want to tattoo their bodies with Moomin characters or pay thousands of Euros for a Moomin mug?” Also featuring Samuel West, Philip Ardagh and “many more who share personal Moomin memories,” this delightful audio documentary explores how and why the creations of Finnish artist and writer Tove Jansson have been embraced globally. I hereby proclaim this moomincast a joyful listening experience! >> The Moomin Phenomenon: Episodes 1-5 >> 

CHATTERBOOKS >> 

If you are planning a reading event, challenge, competition, or anything else likely to be of interest to the book blogging community, please let me know. I will happily share your news here with the fabulous array of bibliowonks who read this weekly wind up.

* Irresistible Items *

Umpteen fascinating articles appeared on my bookdar last week. I generally make a point of tweeting/x-ing (soon, perhaps tooting or bsky-ing) a few favourite finds (or adding them to my Facebook group page), but in case you missed anything, there follows a selection of interesting snippets:

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Brittle Paper: Announcing Brittle Paper’s 100 Notable African Books of 2023! – For the fifth year, Brittle Paper – an online literary magazine for readers of African literature – shares its favourite new books of the year. 

The Guardian: Ottessa Moshfegh: ‘Everyone asked me why I had written such a disgusting female character’ – When Ottessa Moshfegh published Eileen in 2015 (a book that has now been adapted for screen), she expected “to be judged on the artistic merit of [her] work” – but her depiction of an “imperfect” young woman brought only questions about her protagonist’s hang-ups, unusual proclivities and likability. It proved, she says, “a rude awakening.”

Independent: Paul Lynch’s Prophet Song wins the 2023 Booker Prize – but the judges picked the wrong Paul – “Six books, three authors called Paul, one £50,000 prize. In the end, Paul Lynch has taken the spoils for [Prophet Song] his dystopian tale of a totalitarian Ireland” but, in the opinion of critic Martin Chilton, “it doesn’t feel like a winner that will stand the test of time.”

Auraist: Booker Prize winner Paul Lynch’s unique Auraist interview on the language of fascist horror – “Literary style should be a way of knowing how the world is met in its unfolding,” said Paul Lynch in his Booker speech.

Scroll.in: ‘Translators need to employ the craft of fiction writing to do their work well’ – Srinath Perur tells Sayari Debnath: “The time I spent on writing fiction has proved enormously rewarding. It helps me as a reader, a narrative nonfiction writer, and yes, a translator.”

Quillette: Chasing the Ice Moon – Steven Tucker’s new book, Hitler’s & Stalin’s Misuse of Science, “describes the crackpot anthropological theories that Nazis used to justify their belief in Aryan racial superiority.”

The Bookseller: In Ascension by MacInnes crowned Blackwell’s Book of the Year – Scottish author Martin MacInnes has won Blackwell’s Book of the Year 2023 for his science fiction novel In Ascension.

Shondaland: These Women Represent the Future Book Publishing Industry – “A new generation has started to take the reins in the world of books,” declares Greta Rainbow.

Arts Hub: Magazine review: Griffith Review 82: Animal Magic, edited by Carody Culver – “The latest edition of Griffith Review” – described here as a “long-standing literary institution in Australia” – reflects on relationships, “both tender and tense – between animals and humans.”

The Markaz Review: First Kurdish Sci-Fi Collection is Rooted in the Past – Matthew Broomfield reviews Kurdistan +100 Stories from a Future State, a “book described as the first anthology of Kurdish science fiction ever collected and published in the UK,” which, he suggests, “offers a space for new expressions and new possibilities in the ongoing struggle for self-determination.”

Air Mail: By the Letter – Set in 1920s Malaysia, Tan Twan Eng’s novel The House of Doors (reviewed here by Helen Schulman) imagines a two-week love affair between W. Somerset Maugham and his secretary, which inspired his story ‘The Letter.’

Frontline: In ‘The Coincidence Plot’, Anil Menon leaves nothing to chance – Indian writer of speculative fiction, Anil Menon, “pulls out rabbit after rabbit from his hat of literary techniques in this dazzling novel of ideas,” proclaims an enthusiastic Jaideep Unudurti.

Engelsberg Ideas: Taking Pushkin off his pedestal – “Too often Russian literature is fetishised. It needs to be liberated. That process should begin with Pushkin,” argues Russian poetry translator Thomas de Waal.

The Chronicle of Higher Education: The Birth of the Chapter – Catherine Gallagher on “how books got organized.”

The Deep Dive: 5 Tips for Giving Better Bookish Gifts – “Stop trying to make everyone read your favorites,” advises Rebecca Schinsky.

CBC: Valley of the Birdtail wins two prizes at the Quebec Writers’ Foundation literary awards – “Winners were announced in seven categories, including first book, fiction, nonfiction and translation” – Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson taking home two awards for Valley of the Birdtail.

The Dial: The Kurdish Ulysses – “Kawa Nemir’s translation is an archive of the language, which has been suppressed by Turkey’s nationalist politics,” writes novelist Kaya Genç.

Tablet: The Last Jewish Intellectuals – “Susan Sontag and George Steiner star in Maestros & Monsters,” finds David Mikics.

Independent Book Review: STARRED Book Review: Numamushi [A Fairy Tale] – Lauren Hayataka urges fantasy lovers to “step into a realm of vivid characters, haunting realities, and the legacy that words leave behind in Numamushi by Mina Ikemoto Ghosh.”

49^th Shelf: 7 Tragicomic Books That I Love – Kathryn Mockler, the Canadian author of short story collection Anecdotes, suggests a reading list of her preferred genre: tragicomedy.

ABC: Marija Peričić’s novel Exquisite Corpse tells the grisly story of Carl Tänzler who lived with a corpse – “In Exquisite Corpse, award-winning Australian author Marija Peričić gives voice to the women caught up in a man’s macabre obsession with a dead patient,” says Nicola Heath.

The Marginalian: Poet and Philosopher David Whyte on the Deeper Meanings of Friendship, Love, and Heartbreak – The “constant dialogue between reality and illusion, moderated by our use of language, is what poet and philosopher David Whyte explores in Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words,” writes Maria Popova. A book she describes as “remarkable”.

The New York Times: South Korea’s City of Books – “With some 900 book-related businesses, Paju Book City, northwest of Seoul, is an intentional and euphoric celebration of books and the bookmaking process.”

The Economist: What to read to become a better writer – “Five texts that explain how to write simply and well.”

The Smithsonian Magazine: The 19th-Century Novel That Inspired a Communist Utopia on the American Frontier – John Last looks back at Voyage en Icarie (Travels in Icaria), which led a number of French socialists to believe “they could build a paradise, but their project was marked by failure almost from the start.”

Hungarian Literature Online: Forthcoming: Andrea Tompa’s Home – “The Hungarian writer Andrea Tompa’s novel [Home] is to be published in Jozefina Komporaly’s translation by Istros books.”

Daily Sabah: Istanbul’s literary gem: Türkiye’s 1st ‘Signed Books Museum’ – “Istanbul’s Küçükçekmece Municipality unveils Türkiye’s pioneering ‘Signed and First Edition Books Museum,’ a cultural landmark celebrating 386 priceless volumes, fostering literary preservation and hosting esteemed literary figures in engaging discussions.”

The American Scholar: Thought Experimenters – Robert Zaretsky finds the four women featured in The Visionaries: Arendt, Beauvoir, Rand, Weil, and the Power of Philosophy in Dark Times by Wolfram Eilenberger “[make] sense of a broken world.”

Storyful: Gaza Public Library Destroyed by Israeli Strikes, City Officials Say – Authorities in Gaza City say the city’s main public library has been destroyed.

TVP World: Paweł Huelle, Gdańsk-based Polish writer, poet, and playwright, dies at 66 – The Polish author, critic, lecturer and journalist Paweł Huelle, whose work was “closely tied to his home city of Gdańsk,” passed away on 27^th November.

Publishers Weekly: Indie Presses Tout Titles for the Holiday – “With the holiday season in full swing after a year of ups and downs for publishers, a number of indie presses predict how their final sales push of 2023 is shaping up.”

Malta Today: Loranne Vella’s ‘Marta Marta’ clinches best novel in National Book Prize – “Feminist novel that takes on Catholic dogmas that shape the role of women and the family awarded top book prize.”

IWA: Review: Tryweryn: A New Dawn? – “Adam Somerset examines Tryweryn: A New Dawn?, Wyn Thomas’ third instalment of books that explore the cultural and political history of Wales.”

LA Times: The author of ‘1948’ on the ‘mistakes’ Palestinians made in Israel from the very start – Historian Benny Morris, author of 1948, still hopes for “points of convergence or, at the very least, stable terms of debate” between Israel and Palestine.

Center for the Art of Translation: Prologue Bookshop’s translation picks of the year – “Gary Lovely, manager of Prologue Books, an indie bookstore in Columbus, Ohio, offers up his picks for translated books of the year.”

The Walrus: When Britney and Pamela and Paris Tell All – “Memoir writing offers women defined by their images a space to speak. But we’re seldom satisfied with what they give us”, says Ariella Garmaise.

The Conversation: Italy’s far-right claim The Lord of the Rings – but they’ve misread Tolkien’s message – Tom Emanuel believes Tolkien was far more concerned that we take his novel on its own terms as a work of art than that we arrive at some correct interpretation. 

The Japan Times: How a dictionary came to spark outrage among the web’s otaku – “A reference book meant to celebrate fandoms sparks accusations of gatekeeping.” 

The Verge: A cookbook helped me understand Dragon Age’s origins – Journalist, Kate Cox, found a new cookbook, Dragon Age: The Official Cookbook Taste of Thedas, based on the Dragon Age universe – which, she says, “derives from well-worn Europe-centered fantasy tropes” – brought authenticity to the imaginary.

Literary Hub: Literary Fight Club: On the Great Poets’ Brawl of ’68 – Nick Ripatrazone recalls “Jim Harrison’s brief tenure in the halls of academia” as a time when literary conferences were far more interesting.

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FINALLY >>

If there is something you would particularly like to see on Winding Up the Week or if you have any suggestions, questions, or comments for Book Jotter in general, please drop me a line or comment below. I would be delighted to hear from you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I wish you a week bountiful in books and rich in reading.

NB In this feature, ‘winding up’ refers to the act of concluding something and should not be confused with the British expression: ‘wind-up’ – an age-old pastime of ‘winding-up’ friends and family by teasing or playing pranks on them. If you would like to know more about this expression, there is an excellent description on Urban Dictionary.

Categories: Winding Up the Week

Tags: Andrew Limbong, Ann Patchett, Books, CD Rose, Helen DeWitt, Jennifer Saunders, Joseph Conrad, Lily Collins, Literary Podcasts, Moomins, RLF Education, The Moomin Phenomenon, Tove Jansson, Writers Aloud