Archive for the ‘Allegory/Fable’ Category

THE UNNAMED by Joshua Ferris

Two years ago Joshua Ferris created quite the splash in the literary circuit. His debut novel THEN WE CAME TO THE END deservedly won all kinds of literary acclaim including a spot on the list of finalists for the National Book Award. An equally compelling follow-up to such a high-flying debut is difficult to execute but Ferris has achieved just that with his new novel—THE UNNAMED.

January 18, 2010 · Judi Clark · 2 Comments
Tags:  · Posted in: 2010 Favorites, Allegory/Fable, Contemporary, Family Matters

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK IN THE WORLD by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt

TTHE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK IN THE WORLD is a collection of eight modern fairy tales. In each of the novellas, a sense of the fantastic intertwines with the mundane, sometimes enchantingly, sometimes crudely but still beguilingly.

The title story, for instance, transports the reader into the midst of a women’s gulag during Soviet rule where the inmates suspiciously eye the newcomer, Olga. She might, after all, be an informer. But the talk of the day is about her hair which is either “horrible” or “magnificent” depending upon the prisoner opining.

November 2, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: , ,  · Posted in: Allegory/Fable, France, Short Stories, Translated

WHERE THE MONEY WENT by Kevin Canty

I first fell under Kevin Canty’s spell after reading WINSLOW IN LOVE. Since then, I’ve read everything he writes.His newest book, WHERE THE MONEY WENT, is a collection of nine short stories. Almost all of them are about damaged people, the precariousness of life and happiness, what it feels like to be dispossessed, lonely or disenfranchised, and the role that alcohol plays in people’s lives.

His newest book, WHERE THE MONEY WENT, is a collection of nine short stories. Almost all of them are about damaged people, the precariousness of life and happiness, what it feels like to be dispossessed, lonely or disenfranchised, and the role that alcohol plays in people’s live

October 2, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags:  · Posted in: Allegory/Fable, Contemporary, Reading Guide, Short Stories

THE CITY & THE CITY by China Mieville

Think of the now-passed-into-history segregated American South where Caucasians and African Americans, then called Negroes, lived in the same cities and towns but attended different churches and schools, sat in different areas in theaters, used different doors and water fountains, and often ignored one and other when walking down the same streets. Think once-enforced apartheid in South Africa. Or think of Berlin while the Wall separated it and Belfast’s volatile Protestant/Catholic duality. The citizens of the city states Beszel and Ul Qoma in China Miéville’s THE CITY & THE CITY live in a somewhat similar situation: they co-exist on the same land, but they have separate facilities and they go to extremes to “unsee” the “foreign” co-residents…

August 15, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: ,  · Posted in: Allegory/Fable, Hugo Award, Noir, Scifi

THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS by John Boyne

John Boyne’s novel, THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS is outstanding. It is beautifully written with a most powerful storyline. Nine year-old Bruno is an innocent, carefree boy growing up in Berlin during WWII. He has three “Best Friends For Life,” and wants to be an explorer when he grows up. Bruno lives in a beautiful mansion, complete with gardens and servants, along with his older sister Gretel, their lovely mother, and their father, a high ranking SS officer.

May 19, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: , , , ,  · Posted in: Allegory/Fable, Germany, World Lit

THE GIFTED GABALDON SISTERS by Lorraine López

Having lost their mother in early childhood, the Gabaldón sisters consider Fermina, their elderly Pueblo housekeeper, their surrogate Grandmother. The mysterious Fermina love the girls as if they are her own, and promises to endow each with a “special gift” to be received upon her death. Mindful of the old woman’s mystical ways, the sisters believe Fermina’s gifts, bestowed based on their natural talents, magically enhance their lives.

May 9, 2009 · Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: , ,  · Posted in: Allegory/Fable, Family Matters, Latin American/Caribbean, World Lit, y Award Winning Author