Recent Books In Translation
The Third Reich
Roberto Bolañotranslated from Spanish by
Natasha WimmerFarrar, Straus & Giroux
November, 2011
[from the publisher]
On vacation with his girlfriend, Ingeborg, the German war games champion Udo Berger returns to a small town on the Costa Brava where he spent the summers of his childhood. Soon they meet another vacationing German couple, Charly and Hanna, who introduce them to a band of locals—the Wolf, the Lamb, and El Quemado—and to the darker side of life in a resort town.
Late one night, Charly disappears without a trace, and Udo’s well-ordered life is thrown into upheaval; while Ingeborg and Hanna return to their lives in Germany, he refuses to leave the hotel. Soon he and El Quemado are enmeshed in a round of Third Reich, Udo’s favorite World War II strategy game, and Udo discovers that the game’s consequences may be all too real.
Written in 1989 and found among Roberto Bolaño’s papers after his death, The Third Reich is a stunning exploration of memory and violence. Reading this quick, visceral novel, we see a world-class writer coming into his own—and exploring for the first time the themes that would define his masterpieces
The Savage Detectives and
2666.
The Potter's Field
Andrea Camilleritranslated from Italian by
Stephen SatarelliPenguin
September, 2011
[from the publisher]
Witty and entertaining, the Montalbano novels by Andrea Camilleri - a master of the Italian detective story - have become favorites of mystery fans everywhere. In this latest installment, an unidentified corpse is found near Vigàta, a town known for its soil rich with potter's clay. Meanwhile, a woman reports the disappearance of her husband, a Colombian man with Sicilian origins who turns out to be related to a local mobster. Then Inspector Montalbano remembers the story from the Bible-Judas's betrayal, the act of remorse, and the money for the potter's field, where those of unknown or foreign origin are to be buried-and slowly, through myriad betrayals, finds his way to the solution to the crime.
[from Publishers Weekly]
Camilleri’s clever 13th Inspector Montalbano mystery (after 2010’s The Track of Sand) opens with the discovery of an unidentified body, cut into 30 pieces, in a remote field near the Sicilian town of Vigàta, known for soil rich with potter’s clay. Montalbano, who has a knack for finding gallows humor in even the most grotesque situations, believes the hacked-up body signifies the 30 pieces of silver Judas was paid for his betrayal. Later, Dolores Alfano, a stunning woman whose skin has “the faint scent of cinnamon,” reports that her husband, a sailor with ties to a local mobster, is missing. That Mimi Augello, one of Mantalbano’s most trusted inspectors, is in a permanent rage complicates matters. As usual, Montalbano wants to wrap up both cases quickly so he can get back to his real work—sleeping, eating, drinking, and dealing with his long-distance girlfriend, Livia.
1222
Anne Holttranslated from Norwegian by
Marlaine DelargyScribner
December, 2011
[from the publisher]
From Norway’s bestselling female crime writer comes a suspenseful locked-room mystery set in an isolated hotel in Norway, where guests stranded during a monumental snowstorm start turning up dead. A train on its way to the northern reaches of Norway derails during a massive blizzard, 1,222 meters above sea level. The passengers abandon the train for a nearby hotel, centuries-old and practically empty, except for the staff. With plenty of food and shelter from the storm, the passengers think they are safe, until one of them is found dead the next morning. With no sign of rescue, and the storm continuing to rage, retired police inspector Hanne Wilhelmsen is asked to investigate. Paralysed by a bullet lodged in her spine, Hanne has no desire to get involved. But she is slowly coaxed back into her old habits as her curiosity and natural talent for observation force her to take an interest in the passengers and their secrets. When another body turns up, Hanne realizes that time is running out, and she must act fast before panic takes over. Complicating things is the presence of a mysterious guest, who had travelled in a private rail car at the end of the train and was evacuated first to the top floor of the hotel. No one knows who the guest is, or why armed guards are needed, but it is making everyone uneasy. Hanne has her suspicions, but she keeps them to herself. Trapped in her wheelchair, trapped by the storm, and now trapped with a killer, Hanne must fit the pieces of the puzzle together before the killer strikes again.
[from the
Washington Post]
It must be spooky in Scandinavia, but Holt, Norway’s best-selling female crime writer and a former minister of justice, has a goofy streak that changes the tone of this beguiling book. There are lots of helicopters toward the end and cops running around and worldwide implications (the only weak part is a contrived conversation about America as a world power). The fun goes on in the lobby, where peculiar people conspire, and just outside the hotel, where people hide corpses, or try to. I really loved this snowbound book.
The Fat YearsChan Koonchung, translated from Chinese by
Michael S. DukeDoubleday/Talese
January, 2012
[from the publisher]
Banned in China, this controversial and politically charged novel tells the story of the search for an entire month erased from official Chinese history.
Beijing, sometime in the near future: a month has gone missing from official records. No one has any memory of it, and no one could care less—except for a small circle of friends, who will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of the sinister cheerfulness and amnesia that have possessed the Chinese nation. When they kidnap a high-ranking official and force him to reveal all, what they learn—not only about their leaders, but also about their own people—stuns them to the core. It is a message that will astound the world.
A kind of Brave New World reflecting the China of our times, The Fat Years is a complex novel of ideas that reveals all too chillingly the machinations of the postmodern totalitarian state, and sets in sharp relief the importance of remembering the past to protect the future.
[from
The Observer]
Sitting in the comfortable west, it is easy for critics of China to be censorious about the way so many people accept the rush for wealth accumulation and close an eye to the regime's political record and its human rights abuses. But the crude fact is that, after a terrible century and a quarter up to 1978, in which China went through the worst protracted experience of any nation in history, the present era may, indeed, seem like the "fat years".
To touch on so many issues, either directly or by implication, in such a compelling narrative is a triumph, abetted by an excellent translation by Michael Duke. One can only hope that Chan, who was born in Shanghai and raised in Hong Kong, continues to write about the China of today from his current vantage point in Beijing. That will, in its way, be a test of whether the warnings of The Fat Years come true. We can only hope not.
All YoursClaudia PiñieroTranslated from Spanish by
Miranda FranceBitter Lemon Press
January, 2012
[from the publisher]
Inés is convinced that every wife is bound to be betrayed one day, so she is not surprised to find a note in her husband Ernesto’s briefcase with a heart smeared in lipstick crossed by the words “All Yours”. Following him to a park in Buenos Aires on a rainy winter evening, she witnesses a violent quarrel between her husband and another woman. The woman collapses; Ernesto sinks her body in a nearby lake.
When Ernesto becomes a suspect in the case Inés provides him with an alibi. After all, hatred can bring people together as urgently as love. But Ernesto cannot bring his sexual adventures to an end, so Inés concocts a plan for revenge from which there is no return.
Claudia Piñeiro was a journalist, playwright and television scriptwriter and in 1992 won the prestigious Pléyade journalism award. She has more recently turned to fiction and is the author of literary crime novels that are all bestsellers in Latin America and have been translated into four languages.
Thursday Night Widows won the Clarin Prize for fiction and is her first title to be available in English.
A note from
Juan Tejeda of the Conjunto Music Festival:
Camaradas: just wanted to send you the official schedule for the
Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's 31st Annual Tejano Conjunto Festival en San Antonio 2012 which will take place from May 15-20 at the Guadalupe Theatre and Rosedale Park. We hope that you and your familia can be with us in May. The new winning poster design for 2012 will be released in early March. I'm also looking for some literature on conjunto music: poetry, short stories, articles (academic and otherwise), etc., for possible publication in the TCF Magazine this year. E-mail me your favorite conjunto story to
juantejeda@sbcglobal.net Please spread the palabra and schedule to your friends. Gracias. Juan
GUADALUPE CULTURAL ARTS CENTER
PRESENTS THE 31ST ANNUAL
TEJANO CONJUNTO FESTIVAL EN SAN ANTONIO 2012
Tentative Schedule
Tuesday, May 15/Guadalupe Theatre/10am-12pm/Free for Seniors
Seniors Conjunto Dance
Los Conjunto Kingz de Flavio Longoria
with Rachel Longoria
Tuesday, May 15/Guadalupe Theatre/7pm/Free Admission
The Making of Juanito’s Lab
Producers/Directors Guillermina Zabala and Enrique Lopetegui
discuss the making of Juanito’s Lab, a new documentary film
about Juanito Castillo, the 22-year-old blind button accordionist
and musical wiz-kid konjunto jazz loko karnal de San Anto.
Some footage from the still-in-the-making documentary will be shown.
Wednesday, May 16/Guadalupe Theatre/7:30-11pm/$10 pre-sale $15 at the door
New Directions in Conjunto Music
7:30 Nick Gaitán and The Umbrella Man (Houston)
8:30 Piñata Protest (San Antonio)
9:30 La Santa Cecilia (Los Ángeles)
Thursday, May 17/Guadalupe Theatre/6:30-9pm/$65 & $100**
Special 31st Annual Gala Celebration Dinner & Baile
Honoring the Inductees into the Conjunto Music Hall of Fame
Best of the 30th Annual Tejano Conjunto Festival 2011 CD Release Party
8:15 Bernardo y sus Compadres
9:00 Rick De la Rosa y Los D Boyz
Friday, May 18/Rosedale Park/6pm-12am/$15 per person*
5:30 Opening Ceremonies/Poster Contest Exhibit & Awards
Puro Conjunto Pesado: Dos de Houston, Corpitos y el Valle
6:00 Impozzible (Houston)
7:00 Los Tremendos Cinco (Corpus Christi)
8:00 Los Monarcas de Pete y Mario Díaz (Houston)
9:00 Los Fantasmas del Valle (Mercedes)
10:00 Boni Mauricio y Los Máximos (Corpus Christi)
11:00 Los Dos Gilbertos (Edinburg)
Saturday, May 19/Rosedale Park/1pm-12am/$18 per person*
Puro Conjunto Pesado: Hecho en Tejas
1:00 Student Showcase: Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center * Conjunto Heritage Taller
Conjunto Palo Alto/Palo Alto College * Estrellas de Acordeón/Houston Accordion Performers Palmview High School/La Joya Independent School District
3:00 La Familia Mauricio (Corpus Christi)
3:30 Crystal n The Crew (Pasadena)
4:10 Los Conjunto Kidz (Victoria)
5:00 Susan Torres y Conjunto Clemencia (Austin)
6:00 Conjunto Prestigio (Dallas)
7:00 Edgar Vásquez y sus Muchachos (Laredo)
8:00 Rubén De la Cruz y su Conjunto (Edcouch)
9:00 Joel Guzmán Sarah Fox y Conjuntazzo (Austin)
10:00 Rio Jordán featuring Juanito Castillo (San Antonio)
11:00 Albert Zamora (Corpus Christi)
Sunday, May 20/Rosedale Park/1-11pm/$18 per person*
Puro Conjunto Pesado: Así se baila en San Anto
1:00 Los Padrinos
1:40 Los Hermanos De León
2:40 Eddie “Lalo” Torres y Anita Paiz y su Conjunto
special presentation by Salvador García y Los Pavos Reales
3:40 Lobo IV
4:40 Eva Ybarra y su Conjunto
5:40 Max Baca y Los Texmaniacs
special presentation by Dwayne Verheyden
6:40 Santiago Jiménez Jr. y su Conjunto
7:40 Bene Medina y el Conjunto Águila
special presentation by Nick Villarreal
8:40 Mingo Saldívar y sus Tremendos Cuatro Espadas
9:40 Flaco Jiménez y su Conjunto
10:30 Accordion Conjunto Jam
WORKSHOPS
Saturday, May 19/Guadalupe Theatre/9-10:30am/$40
Accordion Tuning, Maintenance & Repair Workshop
Tim Schofield, Hohner Accordion Repair and Parts Supervisor,
will teach you how to tune the reeds of your accordion and
maintain it in tip-top playing shape. Accordion tuning kits
will be available for purchase. For registration, call 210.271.3151.
Saturday, May 19/Guadalupe Theatre/10:30am-12:30pm/$40
Button Accordion & Bajo Sexto Workshops
Master Button Accordion and Bajo Sexto maestros Joel Guzmán
and Max Baca will conduct this concurrent two-hour workshop.
Basic chords and scales will be explored, along with the playing and
accompaniment of different conjunto rhythms. The two workshops will
come together at the end for an impromptu performance and conjunto jam.
For registration, call 210.271.3151.
* 3-Day Rosedale All-Events Pass
$35 GCAC Members
$40 Non-Members
** $65 Conjunto Music Hall of Fame Dinner & Baile,
plus, a Best of the Tejano Conjunto Festival CD and TCF 2012 Magazine
$100 Conjunto Music Hall of Fame Dinner & Baile,
plus, a 3-Day Rosedale All-Events Pass,
a Best of the Tejano Conjunto Festival CD and a TCF 2012 Magazine
For reservations call 210.271.3151. Limited Seating
For info, 210.271.3151
www.guadalupeculturalarts.org
Water & Power
| | BETRAYAL
A horrid double cross propels two brothers headlong into desire and revenge. A tale of the violence and corruption of L.A. politics and of ruthless ambition. Dark, hilarious, political, satirical and fearless.
|
|
Water & Power
Written by Richard Montoya for Culture Clash
Directed by Phil Luna and Anthony J. Garcia
March 8-25
TH., FRI., and SAT. 7:30 p.m.
$20 gen. $17 stu/sen COMADRES!!!! 12 tix - $12 each
2-4-1 Thursdays when you ask for discount (off of general admission).
Su Teatro Performing and Cultural Arts Center
721 Santa Fe Dr.
Denver, CO 80204
303-296-0219
|
| |
| |
Gearing Up For Spring - photo by FloThat's it for the exciting, cold, and wet month of February. Later.
Camaradas de Conjunto: We're looking for
literature on Conjunto Music for publication in the 32nd Annual Tejano Conjunto
Festival en San Antonio 2013 program magazine. Any literature, including poems,
short stories, interviews, scholarly articles, etc., as long as it deals with
some aspect of conjunto music, of any length, will be accepted for review and
possible publication through March 31, 2013. Conjunto is that original American
musical ensemble and style of music which was created by the Texas-Mexicans and
which utilizes the button accordion and bajo sexto as its principal
instruments.. E-mail the literature to Juan Tejeda no later than early April. There's a relatively short turnaround so I
appreciate spreading the palabra. Hope to see you here in May. Gracias, Juan
Tejeda (juantejeda@sbcglobal.net).
As an author I want my works read for centuries to come. Making certain there will be young readers around to enjoy the works is a simple matter of self-interest. That's not the only reason Global Heating and combatting fracking extraction matters, but it's one reason I feel it should be of interest to La Bloga readers.
If you think the jobs that come with
fracking might benefit you or the economy, read about the advantages
of being a fracking worker: My winter as a frack rat
Throughout Aztlán and beyond, if you were
hoping Obama would stop the Keystone XL Pipeline, go here to read about how your Congressional legislators are attempting to push approval of the pipeline past Obama.
If you're in the Denver area, join us this Monday, March 18th, for a letter delivery event to the Senators’
offices. We meet at 11:45 in Downtown Denver to send a message in person. At this critical moment, it's
important we show there are lots of us who expect nothing less than
for them to reject this pipeline outright.
"It was clear Chavez had
phenomenal support among the poorer and the darker parts of the Venezuelan
population while the opposition looked like it could have walked in from
Madrid. With the combination of the social
movements plus President Chavez’s support, race came to be openly discussed in
Venezuela and actual steps were taken to address a very different form of white
supremacy than the version with which we are familiar here in North America.
