Reading Journal: Monday 17th May 2010

The start of a new week and I was surprisingly upbeat about my reading after having a weekend of doubt and doldrums. I guess I was still disappointed at not having met my challenge to read the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize shortlist before the winner was announced. But I’m over that now. It’s not the end of the world and provided I finish what I set out to do in the first place, then I’ll still be a happy bunny.

Of course Monday is always a happy day for me because I get to dip into the literary world of my precious Guy de Maupassant. And it was quite landmark day for me today as I finished the last unread story in the Oxford University Press Maupassant collection, A Day in the Country and Other Stories (I’ll be posting my afterthoughts on the collection as a whole as soon as). The story in question was Clochette, a rather sorrowful tale, and you can read all about it in my afterthoughts post. The other tale I dipped into – Tombstones – was a more lively affair with Maupassant showing once more, his rather wry sense of humour. I’ve already post my official afterthoughts for that story too, and you can find that post HERE.

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Fellow blogger Iris passed the comment yesterday that the more I write about Beruit39 (Bloomsbury) the more she wants to pick up a copy. It’s funny that she should say such a thing (thank you for taking the time Iris) because the more I read Beriut39, the more I’m falling in love with it. And today’s offering – a two story affair collectively known as Two Stories from Syrian writer Dima Wannous – only helped to deepen that love. Two Stories provides an interlinked reading experience, with both shorts perhaps not being directly linked in plot or character, but being adjoined in a way which explores the more taboo aspects of Syrian society.

The first of the two stories, Hanan, follows a free-thinking liberated woman who has a habit of using her sexuality to get the things she want’s in life. Although married, Hanan has been involved in a series of affairs, all of which have brought personal gain. Her latest conquest, Jaber – ‘a young man pulsating with vitality,‘ seems to be the best ‘catch’ of them all so far, bestowing upon her the finest of gifts. The biggest question is of course whether Hanan’s husband is aware of her exploits. But the answer to that question dear friend, is one you’ll have to discover for yourself.

The second story of the pair, Jihad, follows the son of a former minister and highly successful businessman. The story seems more about the man – Jihad Mustafa Agha, justifying his wealth and finding charitable outlets on which to ease any guilty feelings that he has.

All in all a couple of good stories then, which toy with the concept of unlimited freedom in a country where such liberties probably don’t come so easily (or at least that’s how I see it from my very limited, and no doubt antiquated perspective). It’s interesting to note that Wannous also presents a cultural show on a satellite network. Does she represent the new wave of modern, liberated Syrian woman? Her writing, playful and puckish and often quite sensual, would certainly make you think that. Story Rating:

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Moving on to the next story in Gaiman and Sarrantonio’s Stories anthology and if it’s imagination that you want then it’s imagination that you most definitely get from The Goblin Lake, a wonderfully inventive tale from Philadelphia-based writer Michael Swanwick. The story, set in 1646, is about a detachment of Hessian cavalrymen who find themselves in the mountains of the Spessart region of Germany. A guide tells them of a bottomless lake where things that are dipped into it come out totally changed. Pebbles can become rubies, dead things can become reanimated and so on. Curious as anyone would be – especially at the prospect of worthless stones becoming invaluable gemstones – the cavalry unit encourage the peasant guide to take them to the lake.

So, what can I say about this story? Well I’ve already declared it to be highly imaginative, and it most certainly is. But it’s also a bit of a thinking man’s story. Without giving too much away it’s all about characters in books having a mind of their own; a life outwith the presence of the reader, and thinking about such a concept while reading tends to make the whole affair a bit mindbogglingly. It that a criticism? No, not really. Swanwick is actually very clever for thinking the way he does with this story, and I applaud him for his genius. The only thing I’m saying is that one has to mull over what one has read in order to fully understand it. And actually I kind of like it like that. Story Rating:

::Tuesday’s reading plans::

• It’s Chekhov Tuesday so I have a couple of tales lined up – The Chorus Girl and The Schoolmaster.
• My journey through Gaiman and Sarrantonio’s Stories rolls on, and for Tuesday it’s the turn of the great horror novelist, Peter Straub and the enigmatically titled story, Mallon the Guru.
• Onwards with Arab writing anthology Beruit39 and next up is French-born Algerian Faiza Guene and a story called Mimouna
• I really need to begin making some serious progress through Sankar’s Chowringhee (Atlantic Books) if I’m ever going to finish my read through of this year’s Independent Foreign Fiction Prize shortlist.

‘Reading Journal’ provides an unedited, on-the-fly record of the bookish highlights in Rob’s reading day.