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Just because I this week listed a number of new books in which I was interested and said I was going to add “classics” to my book diet doesn’t mean I shouldn’t make sure I have a reliable supply of other books. Thus, to ensure a steady source for my foreign literature appetite, I also placed my subscription for the translations coming from Open Letter Books.
For those who may not recall my previous mention of it here, Open Letter Books is based at the University of Rochester and plans to publish 12 books a year of translated literature. I was considering asking for review copies but the old adage of putting your money where your mouth is kept coming to mind. The only way to see literary translations grow or perhaps even maintain pace in the U.S. marketplace is by supporting it. As a result, I opted for the one year subscription, which will get me the first 12 books over the next 12 months.
The books include novels and collections of an author’s essays or short stories and writers from, among other places, Croatia, Brazil, Iceland and Lithuania. Some of the writers have not had their short stories or novels published in English before. I figure with all three kids in college next year, foreign lit is probably my only route for foreign travel for a while.
I divide all literary works into two categories: Those I like and those I don’t like. No other criterion exists for me.
Anton Chekhov
Prompted by a post at the WaPo book blog, I started wondering what would be on my list of five books I really should read. At first, I thought the original post was a little strong in saying not having read the books was embarrassing. Now I’m not so sure.
Here’s the five I decided upon:
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Anything by Ernest Hemingway
Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
Granted, the last two may be influenced by my Russian reading binge over the last year. But there’s no question I ought to be embarrassed at never having read the others on the list. All my kids have read Gatsby, some twice. How can someone who has practiced law for 20+ years never have read Harper Lee’s classic? And given my years as a reporter and love of simple, concise writing, it is disgraceful I’ve not read one or more Hemingway works.
So I’m thinking maybe I should start reading at least one “classic” a month as a process of literary redemption.
All my life I’ve looked at words as though I were seeing them for the first time.
Ernest Hemingway, Selected Letters 1917-1961
Prompted by similar posts I’ve seen at other blogs, this is the inaugural edition of what I hope to be a regular monthly series (or perhaps more frequent). It is basically a list and brief description of recently released and forthcoming books that have attracted my attention. So, here’s a summary of the books I’m lusting after as September begins:
Child 44, Tom Rob Smith — Although I’m generally not a big fan of thrillers, this combines two of my recent interests. It’s on the Man Booker longlist and set in Stalinist Russia.
Home, Marilynne Robinson — This one is kind of a no-brainer given how much I loved Gilead, to which it is billed as a companion story. It comes out tomorrow and although I’m number 1 on the “hold” list at the library, I may have to stop at the bookstore on the way home.
The Thing About Life Is That One Day You’ll Be Dead, David Shields — Now how can I resist a personal view of aging written by a guy my age?
The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature, Daniel Levitin — This is another situation where a prior book leads me to the author’s new book. I enjoyed Levitin’s This is Your Brain on Music enough that I’m looking forward to his further explorations of our relationship with music.
To Siberia, Per Petterson — Having loved Out Stealing Horses and enjoyed In the Wake, I look forward to Petterson’s 1996 novel finally hitting the U.S. at the end of the month.
White Guard, Mikhail Bulgakov — I recently heard an interview with translator Marian Schwarz, leading me to want to pick up this new translation of a novel about the effects of the Russian Revolution on a middle class family in the Ukraine. It also fits my fixations with foreign literature and Russia.
You lack lust, you’re so lackluster.
“Possession,” Elvis Costello, Girls Girls Girls
With the Bush presidency coming to an end and the Obama-McCain campaigns ready to kick into overdrive, American political satire is in no danger of dying out. Although two new releases — Michael Moore’s Mike’s Election Guide 2008 and Nathaniel Whitten’s The Do-It-Yourself Constitutional Amendment Kit — have different aims, they share a trait not always seen in political humor. Both start off as straightforward lampoons. Both conclude, not necessarily successfully, with equally straightforward attempts to educate and advocate.
Mike’s Election Guide 2008 is clearly the most partisan. Still, it will undoubtedly be the more popular and best selling, thanks in part to Moore’s name recognition and print and documentary successes. Issued in trade paperback just weeks after Moore wrote the introduction and in time for the fall elections, the book slides gradually from Moore’s responses to “man in the street” questions to the book’s longest chapter — a “handy candidate guide” to 42 Senate and House races he believes the Democrats can win. As such, the book is both humor as advocacy and outright advocacy. And therein may lie the problem.
As usual, Moore’s humor can quickly go from somewhat nuanced to in your face, all with his goal of also getting serious points across. Thus, those who look for his take on the Bush presidency, the current presidential campaign and the state of American politics as a whole will find characteristic Michael Moore. Moore is even accommodating to those who abhor him. Just as he has a candidate guide, the appendix is an “easy guide for lifting lines out of context for this book.” Yet does the average reader really want 70+ pages on the candidates Moore supports in 42 Congressional races? While informative, does a reader in another state really want to know about the races in, say, a couple of New York or Ohio Congressional districts?
Granted, Mike’s Election Guide 2008 can’t be tailored to the multitude of readers or Congressional districts. Likewise, no one can claim the title is misleading or that this is not quintessential Moore. Still, the structure of the book leaves the sense that getting Moore’s take on those races is part of the price of admission. Perhaps that has become a more effective way of educating the American public today. And perhaps that is why the book is in the “Current Events” section of the local book chain store.
Rather than urging a partisan line, The Do-It-Yourself Constitutional Amendment Kit is predicated on urging the citizenry take back control of the government. Whitten’s first foray into political humor uses the vehicle of suggesting various constitutional amendments to prompt discussion, debate and inspiration of ways to “right our lilting ship.”
For example, one amendment would make the president’s role as commander in chief literal. Under the amendment, any president who takes us to war because they believe it’s in our national interest “will be required to physically lead the charge into battle.” To encourage voter participation, another amendment would require proof the person voted in order to get or renew their driver’s license. And, to encourage civil decency, anyone using cell phones on public transportation where two or more commuters are present shall have their phone crushed. “Slapping the person in the face with a glove is also allowed (one slap per minute of usage).”
Yet the kit falls truly short in connection with the final amendment, which would require each American 16 years old or older to read and be tested on the Constitution. That is followed by the full text of the Constitution and the amendments to it, along with six blank lined pages where the reader can jot down their own suggested amendments. I would be among the first to encourage people to read and learn about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the other amendments. At the same time, it is somewhat off-putting when more than 40 percent of an already slim volume consists of essentially blank pages and material in the public domain. Again, perhaps that is what is required to educate the American public today. Many readers, though, will more likely feel they’ve been taken advantage of rather than thankful they have the Constitution in their hands and available for future reference.
Ultimately, closing The Do-It-Yourself Constitutional Amendment Kit with a significant number of pages focused on the kit approach and educational goal undercuts both its power and its merit as political humor.
[N]othing says “I Sacrificed!” like a big magnetic yellow ribbon on the back of your kick-ass SUV.
Michael Moore, Mike’s Election Guide 2008
No, the title doesn’t have anything to do with South Dakota and horse thieves. Rather, it’s about the interest Per Petterson’s book Out Stealing Horses is generating.
Still ranking as one of the best books I’ve read this year, my review of it has prompted an increasing amount of traffic. Here’s just a few statistics from the services I use:
- The review accounts for more than 15 percent of all the page views here since July 1 compared to five percent in May and June.
- It is the first page 18.5 percent of all visitors have come to since July 1.
- The words “out stealing horses” are the most popular search term bringing people to the site from search engines, basically doubling the next most popular term.
- Use of the the title and/or Petterson’s name has accounted for 8.5 percent of the last 4,000 searches that brought people here.
I speculate that reading lists for high school and college literature classes and reading groups account for the recent upsurge. I base this on the fact that Amazon’s world literature best sellers list contains a number of books I know are used in AP English and Lit classes and various college lit courses. While Out Stealing Horses isn’t on that list, I have no doubt its excellence and quality means it is being used in a growing number of classrooms and it is or will be a big reading group selection.
Regardless of why it has become a hot topic, welcome if that’s what brings you here. And just so you know, Petterson’s 1996 novel, To Siberia is scheduled for U.S. release at the end of September.
To tell the truth, I have nothing against the face in the mirror. I acknowledge it, I recognise myself. I cannot ask for more.
Per Petterson, Out Stealing Horses
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Disclaimer 
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