Michel Houellebecq, the enfant terrible of French letters, is no longer an enfant and Submission is far from terrible, but his latest novel is, as usual, an even
Stieg Larsson may have believed Sweden was infected with sinister conspiracies, but Nikanor Teratologen fears the evildoers probably live openly right next door.
“With his story of a chant that transforms a decrepit man, Mr. Rodari grants us the possibility that words can also alter a world gone awry—at least in fairy tales.”
“At barely more than 100 small (four and a half by seven inch) pages in Andrew Bromfield’s excellent English translation The Hall of the Singing Caryatids succeeds both as a novell
“Sorry has all the ingredients to make it a compulsive read. It’s slick, chock full of twists and turns, and dripping with narrative thrust and intrigue. . . .
“Each poem reaches a moment when the mood changes, a moment of epiphany that jolts the reader out of his comfort zone and the everyday shimmers slightly as perspectives shift.”
Suspensful, spectacular, and searing are not adjectives one would use to describe The Calligrapher’s Secret. Intriguing, intelligent, and multifaceted are far more accurate to convey what
