Christened With Crosses (Eduard Kochergin)

Name: Christened with Crosses
Author: Eduard Kochergin
Published: 2012
Publisher: Glagoslav Publications
Translated By: Simon Patterson / Nina Chordas
Pages: 275
Source: Review copy from Publisher
Genres: Translated Literature, Memoir
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Christened with Crosses is the true story of Kochergin's childhood in state orphanages in the Soviet Union in the 1940s. Orphaned after his Polish mother is arrested as an "enemy of the people", Eduard Stepanovich (Stepanych) Kochergin, often referred to as Stepanych in the book, finds himself a ward of the state and is transferred to an orphanage in Siberia. After the war has ended, convinced his mother would have been released, Stepanych runs away to return to his home city of Leningrad (St Petersburg). Having to turn himself into an orphanage each winter for shelter and taking approximately six years to cross the Soviet Union, this is the story of one young boy's determination and resilience to return home and be reunited with his mother.

This reads like a road trip adventure novel, although this time the mode of transport is stowing away in freight and passenger trains, and the side stories include getting in with some train robbers, meeting forest people and trying not to get caught by authorities. The State run orphanages are what you'd expect; oppressive places run by tough leaders who get given nicknames like Toad. Places where a natural hierarchy in the children prevails and one has to find some kind of skill or useful contribution for the elders in order to keep in their favour and out of trouble.

Kochergin doesn't over emotionalise his time at the orphanage which makes this less of a memoir and more just simply a great story. His descriptions of people, places and events are so vivid that you forget sometimes that this is a recollection from a young boy's life. He meets some incredible people along the way including his first friend; Mityai, a blind boy who was severely injured during a German plane attack on the passenger train he was traveling in, none of his family survived. Together they must fight against those who would steal Mityai to use as pity fodder for begging. He also meets forest dwellers who teach him survival skills and another orphan who is trying to return home also.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it is both a fantastic story and a moving memoir at the same time. The author (or potentially it was the translator who added these footnotes in) does well to expand on a few terms and name variations that may be common in Russian and Polish culture but would not be known by a wider audience. These footnotes are done very well and work to enhance the story. The most fun part about reading this book? Pulling out an atlas and following along the trail of his journey on the map.

Ultimately if you are looking for an adventure book, are interested in the Soviet Union, have never tried translated literature and want to try it out, or quite simply are looking for a great read then this is the book for you.

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Christened with Crosses by Eduard Kochergin

Sin (Zakhar Prilepin)

Title: Sin
Author: Zakhar Prilepin
Published: 2012 (first published 2007)
Publisher: Glagoslav Publications
Translated: Simon Patterson / Nina Chordas
Pages: 272
Source: Review copy
Genres: Translated Literature
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Sin is the story of Prilepin's life told in a series of short stories in non-chronological order. From a hard drinking grave digger, to a young boy, a soldier in Chechnya and a father, each chapter tells some aspect of Prilepin's life. Translated from Russian and published by UK based Glagoslav Publications, this award winning Russian novel is trying to break into a new market.

I really liked the unique structure of this book. Some may find it difficult but I liked how it was simply a series of snippets of a life rather than a chronological auto-biography, it made a far more intriguing read. Not all of this book blends well as a story, some of the individual stories jumped around a little and were a bit hard to follow but overall I enjoyed it. Prilepin is a very poetic writer and even includes a poem chapter in his novel. Unfortunately I'm not great with poetry but somehow it seemed to work.

I'll admit this isn't the easiest of reads, I think anyone who is new to translated literature or does not enjoy a more abstract story-telling may struggle with this, but it's a good book for those interested in translated literature and especially those who are interested in Russian culture. This is not a light read, some of the stories were hard to read as it was not an easy life. I haven't read any Russian literature before and this novel pleasantly surprised me.

There were a few spelling and grammatical errors which I hope will be ironed out in final publications (I received a review copy) but it didn't detract from the story and overall the the translation was very good.

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Sin by Zakhar Prilepin

After Dark (Haruki Murakami)

Title: After Dark
Author: Haruki Murakami
Translator: Jay Rubin
First Published: 2004
This Edition Published: 2007
Publisher: Harvill Secker
Pages: 202
Source: Book club
Genres: Translated Literature, Japanese Literature, Contemporary
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This is the first book by Haurki Murakami that I have read so I am not familiar with his writing style at all, although I have heard a lot of things about his books Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore and IQ84, so I knew that I might be getting into something a bit different, and well yes I think I can definitely sum up this book as a little weird... weird and brilliant.

The premise of the book is that at midnight in Tokyo we meet Mari, a 19 year old student who is reading a book at Dennys at midnight. Into Dennys comes Takahashi who knows Mari's sister Eri. The story follows Mari and her sister Eri through aspects of their night and finishes up at 7am. Well 6:52am to be exact, you see each chapter of this book is a time which I thought was so well done.

The descriptions of Tokyo at midnight are just incredible, it really does feel like you are there, I visited Tokyo a couple of years ago and this book took me straight back to that incredible city. The language of this book is simply beautiful, this was one of my favourite excerpts.

"Even at a time like this, the street is bright enough and filled with people coming and going - people with places to go and people with no place to go; people with a purpose and people with no purpose; people trying to hold time back and people trying to urge it forward."

There are some incredibly interesting characters in this book (I'm going to go into a bit of detail in this paragraph so skip if you hate knowing too much about a book before you read it, but don't worry I never give away too much plot!). Takahashi is a Trombone playing student who bumps into Mari in between band practices. Through Takahashi she is introduced to Kaoru, the retired female wrestler who is now the manager of a love hotel. Mari also meets a Chinese prostitute, along with Komugi and Korogi, maids whose names mean Wheat and Cricket. We also meet Eri, Mari's beautiful sister who has been sleeping for months, literally a sleeping beauty. Eri's sections are certainly the most unique thanks to her encounters with The Man with No Face.

Okay you're pretty safe now. The narration in Eri's sections was incredibly unique using terms such as 'we see such and such' and highlighting the fact that we are but a point of observation that cannot interact with the scene in any way. It was fascinating. I would love to know what kind of narration style it would be called. Maybe something along the lines of an external or video narration, where the point of view  changes to take in different aspects of the scene and is actively talked about as part of the narration?

Ultimately this book explores ideas of sibling relationships and alienation through the exploits of a scattering of outcasts on one night in Tokyo. It was a joy to read and I recommend it to you all.

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After Dark by Haruki Murakami

The Housekeeper and the Professor (Yoko Ogawa)

Title: The Housekeeper and the Professor
Author: Yoko Ogawa
Translated By: Stephen Snyder
Publisher: Vintage
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 192
Source: Own copy
Genre: Translated Literature, Contemporary
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The Housekeeper and the Professor is the story of a brilliant math Professor who after a terrible accident lives with only eighty minutes of short-term memory and the Housekeeper who is hired to care for him.

Along with her ten year old son, whom the Professor has nicknamed Root because of his flat head reminding him of the square root sign, the Housekeeper is introduced anew to the Professor each morning and a unique relationship forms.

The premise of this book is compelling and could have made for a stunning read but unfortunately I felt this book fell short. Mathematical formulas and baseball take precedence throughout the story and although critical to the feel of the book I thought the execution resulted in a less engaging character connection and a tedious read in places. And I even liked maths at school but I still found these parts drawn out and a bit boring.

Don't get me wrong there were some beautiful parts to the book, I especially liked the details about the Professor's suit and post-it notes which he writes to himself for anything important and sticks them all over his suit and a couple of other parts later in the book such as the birthday which I don't want to mention in detail in case of spoilers. But I didn't think there was enough of those parts. I do wonder if maybe it is the translation that wasn't able to more effectively portray the feelings of these characters.

So overall it's a nice book and had huge potential but didn't quite hit the mark for me. It's a short read so feel free to give it a go as a lot of people have really liked it and I think I may be in the minority on this one.

I didn't like it but others may.

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

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20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth (Xiaolu Guo)

Title: 20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth
Author: Xiaolu Guo
Translated By: Rebecca Morris (with revisions by Pamela Casey)
Publisher: Chatto & Windus
Publication Date (English Edition): 2008
Source: Book club (borrowed)
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Translated Literature
Location: Beijing




20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth is a fantastic title for this novel. The book introduces us to Fenfang, a peasant who leaves the sweet potato fields of home to travel 1,800 miles to Beijing. It provides us with 20 snippets of her life as she battles to find her place in this modern city.

Each fragment is augmented by a picture of Chinese living that brilliantly illustrates what daily life is like in this culture and each fragment reveals an important moment in her young life. Even if these moments seem mundane you get a sense that everything that happens to us, whether big or small, helps define who we are.

It's a nice short read although because of this some may find it lacks a little in content but I found this a fascinating insight into the life of a young Chinese woman.

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20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth by  Xiaolu Guo

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The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)

Title: The Alchemist
Author: Paulo Coelho
Translated By: Alan R. Clarke
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date (English Edition): 1993
Source: Book club (borrowed)
Genre: Literary Fiction




The alchemist is the story of an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who embarks on an adventure from his homeland in Spain to North Africa in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids.

It is a small book that packs a punch. I was so enthralled by The Alchemist and the journey of this shepherd boy. He meets some amazing characters along the way and the underlying current in the book is so intriguing as you unravel the meaning behind his quest. I was amazed by how much I felt I knew about the shepherd and his life even though the book is so short. I really don't want to say too much as it's one of those books that is so much better if you go into it not knowing too much about it. But it was a wonderful read and I'm so glad I had the chance to get my hands on it.

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The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafón)

Title: The Shadow of the Wind
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Translated By: Lucia Graves
Publisher: Phoenix
Publication Date (English Edition): 2004
Source: My own copy
Genre: Contemporary Fiction




In 1945, in the heart of the old city of Barcelona, Daniel, a ten year old boy, is taken to the 'Cemetery of Forgotten books' by his father. He is allowed to choose one book from the collection of forgotten novels where he chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. After reading the book Daniel goes in search of information about the author and encounters a mystery surrounding the books and the author along with a rumour that a disfigured man has burnt every other copy of the book.  As Daniel grows up the mystery surrounding the life and death of Julian Carax increases and he finds himself tangled up in a web of secrets.

I loved the beginning of this book. The descriptions of Barcelona and of Daniel's relationship with his father were exquisite. I was certain this was going to be a wonderful book and I would love it. Unfortunately the beautiful descriptions and the unique flow of the book seemed to wane by about the middle of the story. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and the story was sound but I found the story telling got a little lost along the way. My biggest disappointment came in chapter 35, barely two thirds through the book (if you hate even the tiniest bit of a SPOILER skip the next paragraph) ...................................................................................................................................... when the author reveals something that will happen during the ending. I hate when they do that. It completely throws the story off for me and I'm constantly trying to work out how the story will unfold to make it happen instead of just getting enveloped in the story. So that really threw it for me sadly.


.......................SAFE TO READ AGAIN.
So all in all I enjoyed this book but I didn't love it like I thought I would during the first 5 chapters.

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