A few weeks ago, I read Soseki’s Natsume’s Grass on the Wayside; I needed a reboot on the space Soseki’s fiction was occupying in my brain after that Francis Mathy translation debacle. Given what Soseki has been to me, I couldn’t let that horrid memory of literary neglect and abuse linger too long; it wouldn’t…
Tag: Soseki Natsume
Clowns falling from the sky
A few months ago, I finished reading Wang Xiaobo’s cult favourite, Wang in Love and Bondage. This slim volume comprises three novellas, all of which were translated by Jason Somer and Zhang Hongling. The first tale, “2015”, is a brilliant pastiche of hilarity, satire, and the dreamily picaresque. I’ve never read anything like it; I…
Approaching normal
What have I been doing? Moving, renovating, cycling, being sick (hubby and I were laid low with food poisoning this week and I’m still not really okay), and reading. What have I been reading? I couldn’t recall when I typed that compellingly original rhetorical question; I actually had to check the Goodreads to see what…
Jam and Idleness 