This year I plan on reading one literary trilogy per month. It was a blast discovering them and then searching for them to purchase. It took me most of 2016 to do so. The first trilogy, which I will begin later this week, is Norwegian Jens Bjørneboe's The History of Bestiality trilogy consisting of Moment of Freedom (Norvik Press), Powderhouse (Norvik Press), and The Silence (Dufour Editions). The three are translated from the Norwegian by Esther Greenleaf Mürer.
Stig Sæterbakken
I started the reading year off with two stories from the depressing and dark Stig Sæterbakken from Norway, Invisible Hands and Don't Leave Me. Both are translated from the Norwegian by Seán Kinsella and published by Dalkey Alchive. They are very different books but both well worth reading with Don't Leave Me resembling his other novels the closest.
His other three works translated into English include self-control, through the night, both translated by Seán Kinsella, and Siamese, translated by Stokes Schwartz. All are published by Dalkey Archive.
Sæterbakken was born on January 4, 1966 and committed suicide on January 24, 2012 at the age of 46.
Favorite Books of 2016
Out of the 129 books that I read this year, I picked eight which stood out as exceptional reads. They are as follows:
- A Bad End by Fernando Royuela, trans. from Spanish by Peter Bush; Hispabooks
- Bad Light by Carlos Castán, trans. from Spanish by Mike McDevitt; Hispabooks
- The Plimsoll Line by Juan Gracia Armendáriz, trans. from Spanish by Jonathan Dunne; Hispabooks
- Vaseline Buddha by Jung Young Moon, trans. from Korean by Yewoh Jung; Deep Vellum Publishing
- On the Edge by Rafael Chirbes, trans. from Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa; New Directions Press
- Thus Bad Begins by Javier Marias, trans. from Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa; Hamish Hamilton
- The Son by Andrej Nikolaidis, trans. from Montenegrin by Will Firth; Istros Books
- Three Faces of an Angel by Jirí Pehe, trans. from Czech by Gerald Turner; Jantar Publishing
Kronprinzen Bridge
Thrice Fiction was gracious enough to publish my first story, "Kronprinzen Bridge". You can find it on their website at thricefiction.com. All their material is available as free PDF's so there is lots to enjoy.
