World Books
The handsomely produced bilingual volume reflects a committed and passionate marriage of an exacting poet-translator and Yiddish poetry. With Everything We’ve Got: A Personal Anthology of Yiddish Poetry Edited and translated by Richard J. Fein. Host Publications, 218 pages. Reviewed by Anna Razumnaya Fortuitously, just before the publication of Richard Fein’s new anthology With Everything…
Read MoreTwo French writers take on the notion of would-be writers on the run. Only one gets away with it. Julien Parme By Florian Zeller Translated from the French by Christopher Moncrieff. Pushkin Press, 246 pages. Tokyo Fiancee by Amélie Northomb Translated from the French by Alison Anderson. Europa Editions, 152 pages. Reviewed by Tommy Wallach…
Read MoreBy Helen Epstein, World Books Contributor Although September 1, 1939 — the day Hitler invaded Poland — is regarded as the beginning of the Second World War, Czechs remember March 15, 1939 as the day it began for them. Seventy years ago the German armed forces occupied what is now the Czech Republic and declared…
Read MoreBy 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…
Read MoreBy 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.
Read MoreBy 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…
Read MoreBy 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…
Read MoreBy Helen Epstein, World Books contributor A Busy Bookstore in Perugia. Last month I was invited to Italy where a university press published my family and social history of Central European Jewish women “Where She Came From.” For 12 days, I traveled from Rome to Trieste to Udine to Milan then Perugia on a book…
Read MoreBy 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…
Read MoreOne 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.
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