The Complete Review Guide to Contemporary World Fiction by M.A. OrthoferMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is an amazing reference book. But even if I know it can't encompass each and every author, I found that some of my favorite authors were missing. I know this is subjective, but here I go, as I do want to mention some issues I found:
The galley needs serious editing as complete lines/paragraphs are missing or maybe the formatting went awry?
France: As far as I know, and I looked everywhere for information on this subject, Simone de Beauvoir was not married to JP Sartre. They did have an "open relationship", but the books states they were married.
Spain: Carmen Laforet does not appear and she is contemporary to Cela. Though she did write and publish very few books, she won the Nadal Prize in 1944 and is a very important author.
The Netherlands: Herman Koch merits only a few lines?
Iceland: I would have liked to see Audur Ava Olafsdottir mentioned.
Middle East: Rabih Alameddine not mentioned
India: I don't agree with the review that says that Aravind Adiga's The White Tiger: "The picture Adiga offers is often too muddled, and his epistolary approach seems pointless". Really? The book is based on the epistolary approach!
Japan: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami: "The very satisfying Norwegian Wood is a relatively conventional realist novel". Conventional? Anything but, IMHO.
Mexico: The novels of Jorge ibargüengoitia are worth reading? Understatement of the century. They are must reads!
And where is Octavio Paz? Mexico's Nobel prize for literature? I can't believe he's not included. Paz was not a fiction writer, but he merits being mentioned as an important poet.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment