Sunday 20 May 2018

The Crying Game




Also known as "One Tin (in the sun) is Never Enough  / Runway for my Tears / Planks of the Dumb

Hot day, perfect for decking preservation but ran out of decking oil with 4 planks to go !

Saturday 5 May 2018

Lost In Translation ? - Not these two Novels !



I almost always enjoy books that have been translated from another language.  The translator has already recommended the book.  Why go to the trouble of translating and presenting to a new audience if it's a poor story?  I've rarely been disappointed with any of them.  What I enjoy most is the freshness of style and fluency which is often influenced by history and culture.  The best ones are like savouring an unknown banquet of foods or uncorking a corker of a bottle of wine that you want to tell everybody about.  They have taste and impact.

Like many of our meals, authors rush their stories, to meet the clamour of consumer demand and the lists of best-sellers.  Both Sweet Bean Paste and New Finnish Grammar rise above genre and have left a lasting impression that I'd like to share.


If you like culinary TV programmes then Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa should whet your appetite. It describes in detail about dorayaki which is a type of Japanese pancake filled with the title of the book.  If cooking isn't your bag of rice, then stay just a little longer with the book and my metaphors as the meatier themes of loneliness, belonging and one very special hidden ingredient is added to the pan, awaiting your discovery.  The translator is Alison Watts, a freelance translator who lives in Ibaraki, Japan




New Finnish Grammar  by Diego Marani, translated by Judith Landry, is a complex read and study of self and identity through the learning of language and an interwoven assessment of what memory is.  It's set in war-torn Europe and the main character has a head injury and has lost not only his memory but also his language and culture.  There were times when I felt I'd lost mine, especially in the Finnish myths, but the hardships of war, the descriptions of port cities, the learning about language and a better understanding of memory and the story of the central character, kept me reading and intrigued.  It's certainly one I'll re-read.

Please let me know of any translations that have impressed you!

NE

Tuesday 1 May 2018

Tough Day?

You know its going to be a tough day when your table wobbles then spins away from you as you sit down, leaving only half a cup of coffee.
Thanks Costa! :-/



The Municipal Tip

  Following the signs for Bowels of Humanity, we descend the corkscrew of apocalypse into the cradle of filth. We are beckoned forward by a ...