At the end of the book, I was left wondering who was the title beast? Alexander or Blanche? It was only in the days after as I continued to ponder that question that I stumbled across the original French title—as a novice student of French, I was struck by its gendered nature: Une Bête Au… Continue reading A Beast in Paradise
Tag: Women in Translation
A Single Swallow
A Single Swallow is a beautifully interconnected story about a young woman during WWII China told from the perspective of three men whose time together was defined by her presence. The three men agree to meet back in China in the afterlife, and so WWII veteran Ian Ferguson, missionary and village doctor Pastor Billy, and… Continue reading A Single Swallow
An I-Novel
As the name suggests, An I-Novel is a semi-autobiographical novel told in the confessional manner that characterizes the Japanese literature genre of the same name. Given the author and protagonist Minae’s fascination with the Meiji period of Japan’s history, it is only fitting that the book’s title would harken back to that era. Reminiscent of… Continue reading An I-Novel
Disoriental
It’s rare to find a book whose title sums it up so perfectly, and perhaps rarer still that the exceptionality of this title was preserved in the process of translating it from French to English. The title “Disoriental” can be interpreted in a myriad of ways, yet it would be difficult to find a meaning… Continue reading Disoriental
The Memory Police
How does the loss of semantic memory affect our identities, our understanding of the world, and even our ability to live? This is the question at the center of Yoko Ogawa’s The Memory Police, originally published in Japan in 1994 and translated into English in 2019. This ethereal sci-fi exploration of memory follows an unnamed… Continue reading The Memory Police