Tag: death

Fiction, Translation, Women In Translation

The Embalmer by Anne-Renée Caillé, tr. Rhonda Mullins

Title: The Embalmer Author: Anne-Renée Caillé Translator:  Rhonda Mullins Publisher: Coach House Books, Toronto (2018) ISBN:  978 1 55243 780 We’re all going to die. And while nobody wants to dwell on the state of their own mortality, we’re perfectly happy consuming stories, both on screen and page, involving the deaths of strangers.  Especially if a crime is involved. (We do love our crime. I’ve … Continue reading The Embalmer by Anne-Renée Caillé, tr. Rhonda Mullins

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Fiction, Translation

The Corpse Washer by Sinan Antoon, translated from Arabic by the author

Man’s reaction to his own mortality is a topic that’s been showing up on my personal radar quite a bit lately. Zadie Smith’s recent essay Man vs. Corpse (The New York Review of Books, December 5, 2014); Drew Gilpin Faust’s National Book Award winning This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (which, admittedly, has been sitting on my bookshelf for some time) … Continue reading The Corpse Washer by Sinan Antoon, translated from Arabic by the author

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Fiction, Film, History, Translation

Cría Cuervos (1976) – film directed by Carlos Saura *BEWARE! some spoilers!*

The first group scheduled event for Spanish Language Lit Month is to post on the film Cría Cuervos*.  This is an off-kilter and beautiful film starring an adolescent Ana Torrent.  The title translates as Raise Ravens, which refers to a Spanish proverb – “Cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos.” (Raise ravens, and they’ll pluck out your eyes).  Set in Madrid, during the final days … Continue reading Cría Cuervos (1976) – film directed by Carlos Saura *BEWARE! some spoilers!*

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Biography, Fiction, News

J. D. Salinger (1919-2010): Waiting for the Second Act

The death of an author can be a traumatic event to his (or her) readers, especially if the author was prolific.  John Updike is a good example of this. But J. D. Salinger was not John Updike. As far as his readers were concerned he’s been, practically speaking, dead to them (or more aptly, they were dead to him) since  Hapworth 16, 1924 appeared in … Continue reading J. D. Salinger (1919-2010): Waiting for the Second Act

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