Tag: WWI

DSC Prize Shadow Jury, Fiction, History

A God In Every Stone: A Novel by Kamila Shamsie

The city of Peshawar is located in Pakistan, 59.1 kilometers (approximately 36 miles) from the Torkham-Border Crossing into Afghanistan. It is at the end of the Khyber Pass which cuts through the Spin Ghar mountain range and connects the two nations. Until 1947 it was a part of British India. Go back even farther, c. 515 B.C., and the Persian Empire claimed the city. Kamila Shamsie layers over two thousand years of Peshawar’s history into her novel: A God In Every Stone. Continue reading A God In Every Stone: A Novel by Kamila Shamsie

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Fiction, History, Review Copy, Translation

The Dream of the Celt: A Novel by Mario Vargas Llosa, translated from the original Spanish by Edith Grossman

I prefer historical fiction to biography.  An individual seldom lives up to the mythology arises around celebrity.  I didn’t enjoy reading about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s descent into alcoholism, Edna St. Vincent Millay losing her identity in what some of her friends seem to have felt was an abusive marriage or Hemingway’s general pettiness.  Or worse, find out that in between those moments of brilliance (as … Continue reading The Dream of the Celt: A Novel by Mario Vargas Llosa, translated from the original Spanish by Edith Grossman

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History, Non-Fiction

Bare Facts – The Berlin-Baghdad Express: The Ottoman Empire & Germany’s Bid for World Power by Sean McMeekin

Welcome to Bare Facts: a new, monthly *crosses fingers* feature for 2013 which is all about non-fiction.  The books reviewed in Bare Facts are intended to help provide a historical, geographic and political context  – with subjects ranging from international history, politics, personalities on the world stage, religion, philosophy, etc. “The Great Game” is the term used for the 19th and early 20th century struggle … Continue reading Bare Facts – The Berlin-Baghdad Express: The Ottoman Empire & Germany’s Bid for World Power by Sean McMeekin

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Advance Review Copy, Fiction, History, Translation

Léon & Louise by Alex Capus (translated from the German by John Brownjohn)

Léon & Louise by Alex Capus, translated by John Brownjohn, is a sweet story where a lot occurs without seeming to. It touches on both World Wars and follows a fairly typical plot of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy (now married with children) finds girl again eleven years later. The two go their separate ways and… well the “and” is what make up … Continue reading Léon & Louise by Alex Capus (translated from the German by John Brownjohn)

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Fiction, History, Translation

Ali & Nino by Kurban Said (translated from German by Jenia Graman)

Ali & Nino is set in the country of Azerbeidshan (Azerbaijan), circa 1918.  It reads as both a 19th century romance and a 20th century historical/political novel.  Ali, a young nobleman, falls in love with a Nino, a Georgian princess.  They’re engaged to be married.  Their relationship must overcome religious differences (he is Muslim, she a Christian) and world events.  It begins on the eve … Continue reading Ali & Nino by Kurban Said (translated from German by Jenia Graman)

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