Literary Region Nominations & Vote • November 2016

[Bookworm_Girl]

Great selections! Here are the books which I nominate.

Stone Upon Stone by Wiesław Myśliwski, translated by Bill Johnston

From Wikipedia: Wiesław Myśliwski (born 25 March 1932 in Dwikozy, near Sandomierz) is a Polish novelist. He is twice the winner of the Nike Literary Award, one of the most prestigious awards for Polish literature. Stone Upon Stone won the 2012 Best Translated Book Award for Fiction, an American literary award that recognizes the previous year's best original translation into English.

From Goodreads:

A masterpiece of post-war Polish literature, Stone Upon Stone is Wiesław Myśliwski’s grand epic in the rural tradition—a profound and irreverent stream of memory cutting through the rich and varied terrain of one man’s connection to the land, to his family and community, to women, to tradition, to God, to death, and to what it means to be alive.

Wise and impetuous, plainspoken and compassionate Szymek, recalls his youth in their village, his time as a guerrilla soldier, as a wedding official, barber, policeman, lover, drinker, and caretaker for his invalid brother.

Filled with interwoven stories and voices, by turns hilarious and moving, Szymek’s narrative exudes the profound wisdom of one who has suffered, yet who loves life to the very core.

The Door by Magda Szabó, translated by Len Rix with an introduction by Ali Smith in the NYRB Classics edition

From Wikipedia: Magda Szabó (October 5, 1917 – November 19, 2007) was a major Hungarian novelist. Her works were not allowed by the government to be published during the Stalinist period (1949-1956). She received several prizes in Hungary and her works have been published in 42 countries. The Door won the 2006 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize, an annual literary prize for any book-length translation into English from any other living European language.

I liked the Amazon description best:

One of The New York Times Book Review's "10 Best Books of 2015"

An NYRB Classics Original

The Door is an unsettling exploration of the relationship between two very different women. Magda is a writer, educated, married to an academic, public-spirited, with an on-again-off-again relationship to Hungary’s Communist authorities. Emerence is a peasant, illiterate, impassive, abrupt, seemingly ageless. She lives alone in a house that no one else may enter, not even her closest relatives. She is Magda’s housekeeper and she has taken control over Magda’s household, becoming indispensable to her. And Emerence, in her way, has come to depend on Magda. They share a kind of love—at least until Magda’s long-sought success as a writer leads to a devastating revelation.

Len Rix’s prizewinning translation of The Door at last makes it possible for American readers to appreciate the masterwork of a major modern European writer.

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A little over an hour left for nominations.

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I nominate Pan: From Lieutenant Thomas Glahn's Papers by Knut Hamsun, from Norway.

Goodreads:

Pan by Knut Hamsun who won the 1920 Nobel Prize in Literature, is a multi-layered psychological masterpiece of human perversity and pride in the face of love and sensual attraction.

Romantically awkward hunter, fisherman and nature-lover Lieutenant Thomas Glahn lives in a cabin away from society -- alone, except for his dog and occasional interactions with the locals including the young and audacious Edwina, a free spirit who searches for a prince to conquer her, and has not yet met her match. The two commence a peculiar hot and cold relationship that evolves into a tragic psychological standoff.

A classic literary probing of quirks and vulnerabilities of the psyche, set against the exquisite natural background of Norway.

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Nominations are closed and voting is now open!

Voting will close exactly four days from this post.

Each person has FIVE votes to use.

Please refer to the first post for all other information.

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I'll begin by giving

1 to Pan
1 to Anecdotes of Destiny
1 to The Door

[Bookpossum]

My votes are:

2 for The Glass Bead Game
2 for Anecdotes of Destiny
1 for The Door

[Spinnenmonat]

2 Votes for The Glass Bead Game
2 Votes for The Forty Days of Musa Dagh

[Bookworm_Girl]

Here are my votes:

2 for The Door
2 for Pan
1 for Anecdotes of Destiny

[Billi]

Thanks for the interesting nominations!
I give one vote to

The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse
The Forty Days of Musa Dagh by Franz Werfel
Stone Upon Stone by Wiesław Myśliwski
The Door by Magda Szabó

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My final votes-

1 to Pan
1 to The Door

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Voting is now closed and the winner is The Door by Magda Szabó as translated by Len Rix with an introduction by Ali Smith in the NYRB Classics edition! I'll have the discussion thread up within a day or do.

[Bookpossum]

It sounds very interesting. We have interstate visitors about to arrive for a week, so I won't be getting going on it until the end of next week.

[Bookworm_Girl]

I thought all of the nominations were great! This region had high potential for interesting choices.

The Door is available at both Overdrive and 3M Cloud libraries in the US. I was able to get a copy at one of my libraries with no wait.

[AnotherCat]

This looks interesting - short sentences .

Am a bit worried about the cat murdering in it though .

[fantasyfan]

I'll download a sample and see how it goes. I noticed that the book has been filmed with Helen Mirren and Martina Gideck but the review I read didn't recommend that particular adaptation.