Guardian Books Network
The Guardian Books Network brings you a selection of our favourite literary content from around the world. To pitch content, make suggestions or send feedback, email [email protected]
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'To translate is to betray': the Elena Ferrante phenomenon in Italy and the USThe rapid ascent of the Italian pseudonymous author overseas has polarised the conversation about her at home – alternately self-flagellating or snidely condescending, writes Rebecca Falkoff
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Translation Tuesday: One Hundred Shadows by Hwang Jungeun – excerptIn a slum electronics market in central Seoul, two repair shop assistants swap stories as the shadows of the neighbourhood’s inhabitants start to ‘rise’...
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Food in books: Okayu and cucumber salad from Kitchen by Banana YoshimotoTo celebrate the submission of the first of her cook book, Kate Young serves up Okayu – Japanese rice porridge – and a cucumber salad from Banana Yoshimoto’s novel
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Roger Casement: gay Irish martyr or victim of a British forgery?A century since he was executed, the story of Irish rebel Sir Roger Casement remains controversial due to the Black Diaries – either a genuine chronicle of his sexual history or a forgery by British officials to discredit him. Two biographers have set out to settle Casement’s case once and for all
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Translation Tuesday: Colonel Lágrimas by Carlos Fonseca – extractIn this excerpt from Suárez’s debut about the final project of a enigmatic mathematician, a colonel’s life is considered and mined for meaning
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Interview with a Bookstore: Magers and Quinn in Minnesota
Interview with a Bookstore by Literary Hub Interview with a Bookstore: Magers and Quinn in Minnesota
Complete with a ‘Heraldry and Chivalry’ section, Magers and Quinn is renown for its eclectic and extensive book range. Its booksellers share why they want a hot tub and their favourite regulars
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Food in books: pea soup from Roald Dahl's The WitchesDahl’s centenary and the change of the season inspire Kate Young to magic up a fresh and summery pea soup
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'History can no longer be viewed in splendid isolation': what is a global historian?What is ‘global history’ and how does it alter how we examine past events?
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Translation Tuesday: Something Written by Emanuele Trevi – extract
Translation Tuesdays by Asymptote Translation Tuesday: Something Written by Emanuele Trevi – extract
A young writer meets his new boss, quickly dubbed ‘the Madwoman’, whose ‘protean sadism’ simultaneously terrifies and inspires in this excerpt from Trevi’s acclaimed novel
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Interview with a Bookstore: Riverbend Books, a leading Australian indieNamed after the Indigenous name for the area – Tugulawah – Riverbend Books in Queensland champions Australian writing and campaigns to improve literacy in remote communities
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Food in books: spaghetti al pomodoro from Looking for AlibrandiKate Young’s mind turns to Australian coming-of-age classic Looking for Alibrandi, and to the generations of Italian women who cook together in the book
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'She makes the ordinary feel as important as the epic': the gift of Ursula Le GuinShe is known for magical worlds that have less in common with Hogwarts than Icelandic legend, but Ursula Le Guin’s writing also champions anarchistic politics
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Translation Tuesday: The Unfinished Life of Phoebe Hicks by Agnieszka Taborska – extractWe get glimpses into one woman’s life in 19th century New England, in this excerpt from the latest novel from Polish author Taborska
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Interview with a Bookstore: Oxford Exchange in FloridaFound in Tampa, Oxford Exchange is simultaneously a bookstore, restaurant and workspace. Its booksellers share how they organise the books thematically, rather than by genre, and what they’d add if they had infinite space
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Food in books: plum tart from The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane HowardAfter enjoying the many memorable meals mentioned in Elizabeth Jane Howard’s classic, Kate Young settles on making a plum tart from the novel
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Translation Tuesday: Affections by Rodrigo Hasbún – extractIn this excerpt from the Bolivian author’s tale of a family breakdown in 1960s South America, a woman considers the nature of her unhappy, alienating marriage
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Interview with a Bookstore: Bookmark It, guide to Orlando's best kept secretsThis tiny store shines a spotlight on Florida’s vibrant book culture, offering tips on everything from great books to the best place for a vegan sandwich
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Food in books: bread, butter and honey from I Capture the CastleFinding herself missing her sister, Kate Young makes a recipe from Dodie Smith’s iconic book about the Mortmain sisters
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Translation Tuesday: Men by Marie Darrieussecq – extractIn Hollywood, a white actor finds herself falling in love with a black actor in this excerpt from Darrieussecq’s latest novel, one exploring cinema and female desire
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Interview with a Bookstore: Big Blue Marble, celebrating Philadelphia's diverse neighbourhoodsTapping into Mt. Airy’s ‘shop local’ ethic, Big Blue Marble is a focal point for community activism and feminist, progressive debate (and they sell books, too)
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Translation Tuesday: Love in the Footnotes by Mahsa MohebaliBanned in Iran despite winning national awards, Mohebali’s titular short story from her collection is now presented in English, as part of celebrations for Women in Translation Month
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Interview with a Bookstore: Tubby & Coo’s, the 'nerd mecca' of New OrleansThe first bookshop to open in the Louisiana city for 15 years is a child-friendly community hub for genre fiction geeks, focusing on science fiction, fantasy, and mystery
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Bonds of the sea: exploring the magnetic world of surfing in Barbarian DaysNamed on Obama’s 2016 summer reading list, William Finnegan’s Barbarian Days is a revelatory look into the fraternal and dangerous world of surfing, as well as a history of the sea that could sit beside the best of Twain and Conrad
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Translation Tuesday: two nonfiction works by Roberto MerinoIn two short pieces by Chilean literature’s ‘best kept secret’, Roberto Merino considers the feelings and memories evoked by seasonal change
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Interview with a Bookstore: The Wild Detectives, uniting books and beerA bookstore bar started by two Spanish civil engineers, The Wild Detectives has been heralded as a pioneer in Dallas’s burgeoning literary scene
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Food in books: piccalilli from Life After Life by Kate AtkinsonWhile being incredibly moreish in both summer and winter, piccalilli is also the perfect recipe to make now for Christmas gifts, writes Kate Young
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Translation Tuesday: Good People by Nir Baram – extractIn this excerpt from the latest novel by acclaimed Israeli author Nir Baram, a man finds a Jewish woman violently murdered in his Berlin home during the second world war
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Interview with a Bookstore: Heffers in Cambridge, celebrating 140 years of booksellingRun by staff that pride themselves on identifying and championing ‘Heffers books’, Heffers is the largest bookstore in the UK university town
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Food in books: gooseberry tart from Swallows and AmazonsWhile enjoying British summer holidays, Kate Young was taken back to her childhood dreams to live in Arthur Ransome’s adventure stories
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Butcher's Crossing: an appreciation of John Williams's perfect anti-westernMost famous for his sleeper hit Stoner, John Williams also wrote Butcher’s Crossing, a western that turned the genre upside down and went to war with American triumphalism – when it was not popular to do so
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Translation Tuesday: Cobalt Blue by Sachin Kundalkar – extractIn this excerpt from Kundalkar’s frank exploration of gay life and young love in India, a man considers his relationship with a house guest
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Interview with a Bookstore: Brattle Book Shop, Boston's home for rare collectiblesRun by an owner whose first word was ‘book’, Brattle Bookstore has been attracting the wonderful and weird since 1825 – including JD Salinger and one customer who eats Bibles...
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Murakami in the making: how his early novels shaped the authorWhen his first two novels were recently rereleased, Haruki Murakami said he viewed them with love and embarrassment. But as Lowry Pei writes, the books set a path for the author away from despair and towards true sincerity
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Translation Tuesday: Rage by Zygmunt Miloszewski – extractAll eyes are on famous prosecutor Teodor Szacki when he investigates a skeleton discovered at a construction site in the idyllic Polish city of Olsztyn, in a new page turner by the acclaimed Polish crime writer
Interview with a Bookstore by Literary Hub Interview with a bookstore: Parnassus Books, Ann Patchett's store in Nashville