I cursed myself to finish every novel I begin. Sometimes, that is easy and thrilling, but over times, it becomes a chore. Operation Napoleon belongs to the latter group. But I finished the novel, and now I’m ready for my review. Here we go. When the Americans find a Nazi plane on a glacier in… Continue reading Operation Napoleon by Arnaldur Indridason
Category: World Literature
World Literature, World fiction, European literature
Blind Owl by Sadeq Hedayat
During a recent trip to Spokane, I went to Auntie’s Bookstore to buy a novel to read on the train. I searched for a half-hour, or maybe a whole hour, but I ended up buying the first novel that caught my eye when I was in the store only for a minute. It was Blind… Continue reading Blind Owl by Sadeq Hedayat
The Man Who was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton
There are novels to understand, but there are novels to experience. After reading G. K. Chesterton’s The Man Who was Thursday twice—the second time to remind me of the plot—I concluded that it is securely in the second category. The first time I read it was before my stroke. I not saying that there is… Continue reading The Man Who was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton
In the Café of Lost Youth by Patrick Modiano
I visited the Lost Young cafe in Paris in 1976. A bunch of us wanted to see a real Parisian nightclub, and our guide agreed to take us. I fear something was lost in translation, because the dank club where he took us was a far cry from our imagination. No one was that adventurous.… Continue reading In the Café of Lost Youth by Patrick Modiano
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
I don’t believe I’ve ever read any book that I have more trouble reviewing than Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities. Though it’s classified as a novel, it is unlike any novel I had read before. In truth, as I read it, I thought of it more as an epic poem than a novel. It seems to… Continue reading Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse tells the story about the titular character and his spiritual quest. Siddhartha is the son of a Brahmin, a Hindu priest, who realizes he wasn’t suited for the traditional path towards enlightenment. Along with his friend, Govinda, he joins the Samanas, a sect of ascetics, but even the life of voluntary… Continue reading Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel García Márquez
Memories of My Melancholy Whores begins with its protagonist and narrator declaring the objectionable goal of wanting to have sex with a teenaged virgin. It’s the gift he wants to give himself for his ninetieth birthday. He contacted the madame at the local brothel, who finds a fourteen-year-old girl to fulfill his needs. Since even… Continue reading Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel García Márquez
Book Review: Cinnamon by Samar Yazbek
“Poetry,” one of my literature professors had said long ago in class, “is about mixed emotions.” She was talking about Theodore Roethke’s “My Papa’s Waltz,” a short poem loaded with both positive and negative imagery and invoking both happy and frightening emotions. But she could’ve been talking about any great poem, and not just poems… Continue reading Book Review: Cinnamon by Samar Yazbek
Book Review: Piercing by Ryu Murakami
Piercing begins with a chilling scene and intensifies from there. It’s an unrelenting, violent novel that refuses to turn a blind eye to its characters’ deranged compulsions. It’s a novel about compulsions, but not the run-of-the-mill compulsions that cause most of us to overeat, drink too much, or binge out with Netflix for seven hours.… Continue reading Book Review: Piercing by Ryu Murakami
The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johanna Wolfgang von Goethe
According to Wikipedia, when The Sorrows of Young Werther was published in 1774, it became the world’s first best seller. Since book publishing was, at best, only a toddler, since copyright laws were nonexistent, and since it is doubtful anyone was tracking book sells statistics, I find this claim–at least in the literal meaning of… Continue reading The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johanna Wolfgang von Goethe