eARC Review: The Luminous Novel by Mario Levrero

The Luminous Novel by Mario Levrero, translated by Annie McDermott

Categories: Literary Fiction, Translated

First Publication Date: 2005

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Synopsis:

‘Perhaps the luminous novel is this thing that I started writing today; just now. Maybe these sheets of paper are a warm-up exercise. […] But it’s quite possible that if I go on writing – as I usually do – with no plan; although this time I know very well what I want to say; things will start to take shape; to come together. I can feel the familiar taste of a literary adventure in my throat.

I’ll take that as confirmation; then; and start describing what I think was the beginning of my spiritual awakening – though nobody should expect religious sermons at this point; they’ll come later. It all began with some ruminations prompted by a dog.’

A writer attempts to complete the novel for which he has been awarded a big fat Guggenheim grant; though for a long time he succeeds mainly in procrastinating – getting an electrician to rewire his living room so he can reposition his computer; buying an armchair; or rather; two: ‘In one; you can’t possibly read: it’s uncomfortable and your back ends up crooked and sore. In the other; you can’t possibly relax: the hard backrest means you have to sit up straight and pay attention; which makes it ideal if you want to read.’

Insomniacs; romantics and anyone who’s ever written (or failed to write) will fall in love with this compelling masterpiece told by a true original; with all his infuriating faults; charming wit and intriguing musings.

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I cannot believe I haven’t posted this before – it’s been sitting on my drafts for literally a year and half.

I haven’t written many reviews lately but I had SO many thoughts on this book that I couldn’t not write a review for it. In short, The Luminous Novel is a piece of autofiction about Levrero’s attempt to write the eponymous luminous novel after receiving a grant, and instead procrastinating, keeping the weirdest sleeping schedules, trying (not too hard) to fight his computer games addiction and reading detective novels. His first attempt to write the Luminous Novel started in 1984 and sixteen years later, he isn’t entirely sure he still has it in him to write it. I had not read anything by Levrero before, but now I’m also interested in reading Empty Words, his first work translated into English.

I took some issue with the way Levrero’s life is basically a bunch of women who keep feeding him, making him company, helping him find apartments, giving out prescriptions and doing a whole lot of work for him, which gave me a bit of a weird feeling that he just doesn’t know how to stay alive without women pampering him and doing all the work of keeping him going out of the house, fed and cleaning the place, plus all the emotional work. That, and all the talk about pornography, give me the feeling that in real life I would not have liked him very much.

This is such an incredibly difficult novel to rate; one the one hand I feel like my overall experience and enjoyment were about four stars, and I do love the way this novel added such playfulness and ingenuity into what is in actuality a plotless book. It takes a lot of talent to write 600 pages of rambling and procrastinating and still make it an interesting book. On the other hand, this was not a perfect read for me, and of course I was a bit bored at some points, plus the issues I mentioned in the paragraph above caused me to consider bringing it down to 3 stars. Regardless of the rating, though, if you’re looking for something different (maybe a bit weird, too), if you enjoy autofiction and reading a book just for its writing and narrator and not particularly looking for a plot, for any action or for a Great Uruguayan Novel, then you’ll enjoy this!

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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If You Liked this Book, Read this Other Book for Women in Translation Month

Hello readers!

Last year I couldn’t post recommendations because I realized far too late how close WITmonth was, but this year I have prepared myself! I love translated fiction and often wish I read more of it, except I never know where to start – which is why I think writing posts like this one are very helpful for other readers like me, who are looking for more WIT books to read but don’t really know where to look, or if they would enjoy the book.

There are no Latin-American women books on my list below because I JUST published a post like this exclusively for match-ups for Latin American WIT books, you can read it here: If You Liked this Book, Read this Latin American Book for Women in Translation Month

If you liked The Book of M, read The Memory Police

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Women in Translation Month: Recommending Recent Reads + my TBR

Hello readers!

I adore Women in Translation Month! It’s a great time to shine a light on Latin American books (hello, in case you are new here, I am from Brazil!) and find new amazing authors. I have a couple posts with recommendations for WIT already, so I won’t do a very extensive recommendations here, but rather a “here’s some cool WIT books I read this year and don’t talk about enough in my blog”, plus a few I will try to pick up this month.

Recommendations

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Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura, translated by Phillip Gabriel

This is a sweet, sad but also heartwarming story about a group of teenagers who are not going to school for different reasons, and one day they all find out that they can go through a mirror and cross onto a fantastical world, where they are given the chance to look for a key and get a wish. This is such a lovely book about bullying, loss, trauma and healing. The language was a bit awkward and I did not love it but it did leave me with a warm heart.

If You Liked this Book, Read this Latin American Book for Women in Translation Month

Hello readers!

Last year I couldn’t post recommendations because I realized too late it was #WITmonth plus my reading is incredibly Anglo-centric and only the past year or two have I taken steps to change that – and discovered amazing books in the process! I have been re-discovering favorites, finding out about authors I never heard of and generally got my enthusiasm for reading re-ignited, because translated fiction is a lot more creative than the US/UK books that usually are on my radar. If it got translated into English, it’s probably because that book is really special in some way, so as a rule I am often blown away by translated books. I also found out that I am quite inclined towards Latin American fiction (I’ve especially been reading a lot more Brazilian lit lately) probably due to the fact that they’re much closer to the culture I grew up with (I am Brazilian, by the way) and so they resonate with me a lot more. English-written books, even if by Latin American authors, are normally written with an American public in mind, through an Americanized way of storytelling, so I find that it’s much more insightful to read books written FOR the public I want to read about – as in, translated fiction.

The main problem I have when looking for translated works to add to my TBR is figuring out what kind of “vibes” they give, since my usual references (reviews by bloggers I know) are a lot more scarce. Which is why I decided to create this post (and more like these in the future), to help readers who loved certain books explore Latin American translated fiction.

If you liked Human Acts by Han Kang, try It Would be Night in Caracas by Karina Sainz Borgo

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Human Acts by Hang Kang is a difficult book to read, a short collection of stories of an uprising in South Korea in 1980 which resulted in violent, devastating consequences for many Koreans, told through the stories of several characters, it does not flinch away from the horrors of torture, death and brutal oppression. It Would be Night in Caracas by Karina Sainz Borgo tells the story of Adelaida, living in contemporary Venezuela, which is going through awful times of political oppression, torture and people going “missing”. The author also does not flinch away from those things, although the writing style are quite different, both books are incredibly powerful and document the horrors of reality through the eyes of fictional characters.

eARC Review: Permafrost by Eva Baltasar, trans. by Julia Sanches

Permafrost by Eva Baltasar, translated by Julia Sanches

Categories: Literary Fiction, Translated from Catalan

First Publication Date: 6. April 2021

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I received an advance copy via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

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Synopsis: Permafrost’s no-bullshit lesbian narrator is an uninhibited lover, a no-hope employee, and a some-time suicidal student of her own dislocated self. As she tries to break out of the roles set for her by a controlling, overprotective mother, a relentlessly positive sister, and a society which imposes a gut-wrenching pressure to conform, she contemplates the so-called will to live when that life is given, rather than chosen. Attempting to bridge the gap between the perennially frozen reaches of her outer shell and the tender core of her being, watching her relationships with family fracture and her many lovers come and go, the protagonist’s reservations about staying alive become ever more pressing.

Review: Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor, trans. by Sophie Hughes

Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes

Categories: Literary Fiction, Translated

First Publication Date: 6th October 2020 (translation)

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Synopsis: The Witch is dead. And the discovery of her corpse has the whole village investigating the murder. As the novel unfolds in a dazzling linguistic torrent, with each unreliable narrator lingering on new details, new acts of depravity or brutality, Melchor extracts some tiny shred of humanity from these characters—inners whom most people would write off as irredeemable—forming a lasting portrait of a damned Mexican village.

eARC Review: Daughter from the Dark by Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko

Daughter from the Dark by Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko, translated by Julia Meitov Hersey

Category: Fantasy, Translated Fiction

First Publication Date: 11th February 2020

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I received an advance copy via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

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Synopsis:

Late one night, fate brings together DJ Aspirin and ten-year-old Alyona. After he tries to save her from imminent danger, she ends up at his apartment. But in the morning sinister doubts set in. Who is Alyona? A young con artist? A plant for a nefarious blackmailer? Or perhaps a long-lost daughter Aspirin never knew existed? Whoever this mysterious girl is, she now refuses to leave.

A game of cat-and-mouse has begun.

Claiming that she is a musical prodigy, Alyona insists she must play a complicated violin piece to find her brother. Confused and wary, Aspirin knows one thing: he wants her out of his apartment and his life. Yet every attempt to get rid of her is thwarted by an unusual protector: her plush teddy bear that may just transform into a fearsome monster.

Alyona tells Aspirin that if he would just allow her do her work, she’ll leave him—and this world. He can then return to the shallow life he led before her. But as outside forces begin to coalesce, threatening to finally separate them, Aspirin makes a startling discovery about himself and this ethereal, eerie child.

eARC Review: Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

Rating: ★★★★☆

Categories: Contemporary, Translated Fiction

I received an advance copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Breasts and Eggs tells the story of three women: the thirty-year-old Natsu, her older sister, Makiko, and Makiko’s daughter, Midoriko. Makiko has traveled to Tokyo in search of an affordable breast enhancement procedure. She is accompanied by Midoriko, who has recently grown silent, finding herself unable to voice the vague yet overwhelming pressures associated with growing up. Her silence proves a catalyst for each woman to confront her fears and frustrations.

Analysis of The House in Smyrna by Tatiana Salem Levy

In August I reviewed this unique, amazing book, and I mentioned I wanted to write an Analysis and Discussion post for it, because I thought it had so many layers and interpretations, and while I’ve seen a few articles about it in Portuguese, I hadn’t found a comparable article in English (naturally, as the book is originally written in Portuguese). I tend to avoid spoilers in my review, and to discuss this book in depth I had to write a separate post, so that if you’re looking for a review, check out this post instead: Review: The House in Smyrna by Tatiana Salem Levy.

I’m no Literature graduate, my views here presented are not scholarly but rather a result of reading the book, analysing/interpreting it and reading a few articles. My aim here is to have a layman discussion on the book in case it gets picked up by English-speaking readers who want to talk about it. Where the ideas come not from my personal conclusions but from others, I’ve named the source and linked it in Further Reading at the end of this post.

Also my quotes are free translations of the Portuguese edition and may differ from the official English translation!

This post is full of spoilers!

Women in Translation Wrap Up

Hello readers!

Women in Translation month is sadly over! I may be biased (I’m totally biased) but this is my favorite readathon of the year. I loved picking up new-to-me books and discovering new favorites, from creepy reads to magical family sagas. My original TBR had a few books more, but it was quite unrealistic to read them all anyway and I am glad for what I read in the end! I also ended up picking up a few I hadn’t planned on at all. There was not a SINGLE flop, they were all brilliant reads!

It Would be Night in Caracas by Karina Sainz Borgo / Review

As I said a few times, this was probably the most important book I’ve read this month – it shines a light on the situation in Venezuela through the story of Adelaida, a woman who’s dealing with grief over her mother’s death, leaving her all alone in a violent country where she isn’t safe and must make a difficult choice to save herself.