Bill Marx
Brazilian writer Nelson Rodrigues — a master at evoking the humor and pathos of out-of-control libidos. Life As It Is: Selected Stories By Nelson Rodrigues. Translated from the Portuguese by Alex Ladd. Host Publications, 314 pages Reviewed by Bill Marx No nonsense British philosopher Thomas Hobbes famously described man’s life as it is as “solitary,…
Commedia dell’arte performers doing their thing in the HTC world premiere production of “The Miracle at Naples.” The Miracle at Naples, a new comedy by David Grimm. Directed by Peter DuBois. Presented by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, through May 9, 2009. Reviewed by…
By Bill Marx Susan Bernofsky’s translation of Robert Walser’s 1908 novel won her a 2007 PEN Translation Fund Award. She’s followed that up by translating the Swiss writer’s first novel, “The Tanners.” A recent World Books podcast explores two recent translations from the German of novels by the mysterious Swiss writer Robert Walser, an author…
By Bill Marx David Polonsky, Art Director of “Waltz With Bashir.” Recently, the World Books podcast got about as close to Hollywood as it is probably ever going to get. I talk to Israeli artist David Polonsky about the acclaimed animated documentary “Waltz With Bashir,” directed by Ari Folman.
By Bill Marx Soprano Aliana de la Guardia and violinist Gabriela Diaz performing selections of “Kafka Fragments” at a WGBH studio. A recent World Books podcast serves up a literary/musical treat. A Boston company, Ludovoco Ensemble, presented a performance of “Kafka Fragments,” a short chamber work composed by György Kurtág for soprano and violin in…
By Bill Marx “Five Spice Street” is the second book in the new series the Margellos World Republic of Letters, which features foreign literature in translation. Given all the gloomy publishing news I wanted the podcast to focus on a positive development for books in translations. So in this World Books podcast I talk to…
By Bill Marx In a recent World Books podcast I talk to Azar Nafisi, the author of the international bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran. In her new memoir, “Things I’ve Been Silent About,” Nafisi chronicles the trials and tribulations of about growing up in Iran, focusing on her volatile relationship with her difficult mother and…
One of the late John Updike’s most impressive critical strengths is that he was one of the few high profile reviewers who regularly commented, with perception and equanimity, on fiction in translation.
By Bill Marx In a recent World Books podcast I talk to author and book critic Helen Epstein about two new memoirs that share intriguing similarities and differences. Both are written in English by émigrés living in North America, but very much planted in other cultural traditions.
Norman Manea wants a nuanced moral reckoning of the sins committed in the Stalinist past. by Bill Marx In a recent World Books podcast I talk to Romanian-born essayist and novelist Norman Manea about his article, “A Lasting Poison,” which was published last month in the “New Republic.” In his commentary, Manea explores the recent…
The Annual Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll at Mid-Year: Warming Up a Riff — How It Happened, and Why It Matters