Tag: literature in translation

#BlogTour #BookReview #Ad Animal Life by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, trans. by Brian FitzGibbon @PushkinPress

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TWITTER BLOG TOURS (3)Welcome to the opening day of the blog tour for Animal Life by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, translated by Brian FitzGibbon. My thanks to Kate at Pushkin Press for inviting me to take part in the tour and for my digital review copy via NetGalley.

Animal LifeAbout the Book

With just over a week until Christmas, Dómhildur delivers her one thousandth, nine hundred and ninety second baby. Beginnings and endings are her family trade; she is a midwife descended from a long line of midwives on her mother’s side and a long line of undertakers on her father’s.

There’s a terrible storm heading towards Reykjavík, and Dómhildur is feeling unsettled. In her apartment, she stumbles across decades’ worth of letters and manuscripts hidden amongst the clutter that belonged to her grandaunt – a legendary midwife with a reputation for unconventional methods. At the darkest point of the year, when the sun barely lifts above the horizon, Dómhildur discovers strange and beautiful new meanings in her grandaunt’s writings.

For even in the depths of an Icelandic winter, new life will find a way.

Format: Paperback (192 pages)            Publisher: Pushkin Press
Publication date: 1st December 2022  Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Literature in Translation

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My Review

Animal Life is probably not a book for those who like a conventional plot-driven narrative. Much like the letters and manuscripts that Dómhildur inherits from her great aunt (referred to as her grandaunt) the book is a kind of literary scrapbook made up of random thoughts on a vast variety of subjects. It becomes clear that Dómhildur’s great aunt had an interest – some might consider to the point of obsessional – in many different subjects and in gathering information about topics ranging from the lifespan of an oak tree to the nature of black holes.  In letters exchanged with a pen pal over the course of forty years she also speculated on the fragility of human life and the nature of conicidence, including the coincidences necessary to bring about the birth of any child. 

Amongst the many, many themes explored in the book is inheritance. Not only has Dómhildur followed in the footsteps of her great aunt and other members of her family in becoming a midwife but she has also inherited her great aunt’s apartment complete with an array of mismatched and rather outdated furniture which, for a long time, she feels disinclined to change.

Another theme the book explores is light and darkness – in both an actual and metaphorical sense. For instance, the book is set during the darkest part of the year when in Iceland there are only a few hours of daylight. ‘I wake up on the shortest day of the year into the longest night of time. It will be a long time before the light dissolves the night and the world takes on a form.’ We also discover that darkness is something Dómhildur knows all about both in her personal and in her professional life.  On the other hand, the Icelandic word for midwife is ljósmóðir which literally translates as ‘mother of light’.

There’s also a strong theme of environmentalism running through the book. In this respect, Dómhildur’s great aunt was something of a pioneer writing of the deleterious impact of humans – ‘the most dangerous animal of them all’ – on the planet.

If this all sounds a little serious, there are moments of humour too. For example, the calls Dómhildur receives from her sister which invariably open with the questions ‘where are you and what are you doing’ and are always followed by a close interrogation of her answers. Light relief (see what I did there?) is also provided by the tourist who takes up temporary residence on the top floor of Dómhildur’s apartment building and has chosen a particularly inappropriate time to go sightseeing in Iceland, by the electrician who is afraid of the dark, and by Dómhildur’s unsuccessful stint as a tour guide.

At one point Dómhildur muses, ‘The more I try to piece the jigsaw of my grandaunt’s life together the more questions it raises’. The fluid, fragmentary structure of Animal Life means it won’t appeal to everyone but those who are attracted by a book which explores a range of topics will, I think, find it a thought-provoking read. 

In three words: Quirky, reflective, enigmatic

Audur Ava OlafsdottirAbout the Author

Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir is a prize-winning novelist, playwright and poet.

Auður Ava’s novels have been translated into over 25 languages, and they include Butterflies in November, Hotel Silence and Miss Iceland, also published by Pushkin Press. Hotel Silence won the Nordic Council Literature Prize, the Icelandic Literary Prize, and was chosen Best Icelandic Novel in 2016 by the booksellers in Iceland. Miss Iceland won the Prix Médicis Étranger and the Icelandic Booksellers Prize. 

About the Translator

Brian FitzGibbon translates from Italian, French and Icelandic. Recent translations include Woman at 1000 Degrees by Hallgrímur Helgason as well as Hotel Silence and Miss Iceland by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir.

#BookReview At the Breakfast Table by Defne Suman, trans. by Betsy Goeksel

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At the Breakfast TableAbout the Book

Buyukada, Turkey, 2017. In the glow of a late summer morning, family gather for the 100th birthday of the famous artist Shirin Saka. It ought to be a time of fond reminiscence, looking back on a long and fruitful artistic career, on memories spanning almost a century. But the deep past is something Shirin has spent a lifetime trying to conceal.

Her grandchildren, Nur and Fikret, and great-grandchild, Celine, do not know what she’s hiding, though they are intimately aware of the secret’s psychological consequences. The siblings invite family friend and investigative journalist Burak along to interview Shirin – in celebration of her centenary, and also in the hope of persuading her to open up.

Eventually Shirin begins to express her pain the only way she knows how. She paints a story onto her dining room wall, revealing a history wiped from public consciousness and generations of her family’s history.

Format: Hardback (416 pages)             Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publication date: 1st September 2022 Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Literature in Translation

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At the Breakfast TableMy Review

As with her previous book, The Silence of Scheherazade (which is still on my Kindle waiting to be read), the location of At the Breakfast Table is the author’s native Turkey.  Although set in the present day it involves events dating back to the 1920s.

The story is told from four different points of view: journalist, Burak; Shirin Saka’s grandchild, Nur; Celine, Nur’s niece; and Sadik Usta, Shirin Saka’s faithful servant and companion. Although the unfolding of Shirin Saka’s story forms a key element of the book, we never hear from her directly but through the narratives of others. The same is (largely) true of Suheyla, Nur’s dead mother. I confess it took me a little time to get the family relationships straight in my head partly because, although the book does contain a family tree, this wasn’t included in my digital copy. (I was also confused by Shirin Saka sometimes being referred to as Shirin Hanim until I got to the glossary at the end of the book and learned Hanim means Mrs.)

The author creates distinctive narrative voices for each of the four characters. Celine is all breathless excitement at the prospect of discovering her great-grandmother’s story, although she felt rather immature for the age she is supposed to be. Burak is more matter of fact and thoughtful but exudes a real sense of melancholy, mainly because of his complicated relationship with Nur. Sadik Usta tells his story in a restrained way, often referring to himself as ‘I, your humble servant’. His protectiveness towards Shirin Saka (which extends to a reluctance to delve into the past) and his quiet devotion to her, and the family in general, made him my favourite character.  Nur was a character I really struggled with. I found her self-obsessed and her treatment of Burak, toying with his affections when it suited her and discarding him at other times, difficult to forgive.

There is a lot of moving back and forth in time, with present day events being described alongside memories of (sometimes quite incidental) past events and the transition between the two not always entirely clear. This is especially the case in the sections told from the point of view of Nur and Burak. One minute they’ve just met, then they’ve broken up because Nur has married someone else, then they’re back in the early days of their relationship.

Between the four different narrators – and through the art made by Shirin Saka – we gradually learn about the early lives of Shirin Saka and Sadik Usta, and the source of their unique bond. It also provides a lesson in a period of Turkish history about which I knew very little and during which shocking events took place. Many of these, sadly, are echoed in events taking place in the world today: cultural and religious persecution, forced migration, extreme nationalism. Look, for instance, at what is taking place with the Uyghurs in China.

At the Breakfast Table is an interesting story of family relationships and exploration of the concept of intergenerational trauma. I also enjoyed the insight into Turkish culture (especially its cuisine) and history. However, the disjointed way in which the story was told and its slow pace meant it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

I received a digital review copy courtesy of Head of Zeus via NetGalley.

In three words: Immersive, intense, affecting

Try something similar: Island of Secrets by Patricia Wilson

Defne SumanAbout the Author

Defne Suman was born in Istanbul and grew up on Prinkipo Island. She gained a Masters in sociology from the Bosphorus University and then worked as a teacher in Thailand and Laos, where she studied Far Eastern philosophy and mystic disciplines. She later continued her studies in Oregon, USA and now lives in Athens with her husband. The Silence of Scheherazade, first published in Turkey and Greece in 2016, was her English language debut.

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