EAT HIM IF YOU LIKE by Jean Teule

                                           

                                          5.5
Pages: 112
Publisher: Gallic Books
Publication Date: November 1,  2011
Copy: Publisher


Summary
A true story. Tuesday 16 August 1870, Alain de Monéys makes his way to the village fair. He plans to buy a heifer for a needy neighbour and find a roofer to repair the roof of the barn of a poor acquaintance. He arrives at two o'clock. Two hours later, the crowd has gone crazy; they have lynched, tortured, burned and eaten him. How could such a horror be possible? With frightening precision, Jean Teulé reconstructs each step of one of the most shameful stories in the history of nineteenth-century France.

My view
5 stars stand for the author, Jean Teule, an erudite, wonderful writer.
I am afraid this translation will keep many from pursuing this author any further, which would be indeed a mistake. " Eat Him If You Like " is a historical novel. Yes it is hard to read, as are many horror novels  we devour ( no pun intended ). Why does this story disgust us ? The fear that we humans are able of such attrocities? We know to well in 2015 that it is so.
The time period was a time of war, change and uprising in France. The goodhearted man found himself surrounded by an illiterate mob in a neighbouring village to his own, certainly a tragic step . In times of upheaval, what might seem right otherwise, can send an uneducated mob to do what ordinarily they would not envisage.
Perhaps the visuals we receive today, via internet do not affect us as much as the written word when such atrocities happen...

Thank you to Gallic Books and NetGalley for this copy in return for an honest review

TRISTANO DIES by Antonio Tabucchi

                                         

                                        5.5

Publication Date: September 29, 2015

Publisher: Steerforth Press

Pages: 160

Copy: Publisher

Summary:

It is a sultry August at the very end of the twentieth century, and Tristano is dying. A hero of the Italian Resistance, Tristano has called a writer to his bedside to listen to his life story, though, really, “you don’t tell a life…you live a life, and while you’re living it, it’s already lost, has slipped away.” Tristano Dies, one of Antonio Tabucchi’s major novels, is a vibrant consideration of love, war, devotion, betrayal, and the instability of the past, of storytelling, and what it means to be a hero.

My view;

This is my first novel by Antonio Tabucchi.

First, I'd like to mention a touching story at the onset of this novel, about elephants...yes...elephants. Antonio Tabucchi worked magic introducing them along with his character Tristano. Although they are not an integral part of this beautiful novel, Tristano shares their ritual. This being a Galley, I will wait until the novel is published to share said ritual.
As the novel begins, Tristano's life is coming to it's end, one last request remains.  Our protagonist summons an author he keeps in high esteem, hired to transcribe his long life by proxy.
Tristano remembers his youth, wearing the enemy's uniform, Greece, Daphne, his love, life... it's simplicity it's challenges. Morphine for his pain, color his memories.  Each memory carries subtle details, nuances unknown to the hired author, who continues to write what he hears, the soul of these words belonging to Tristano alone, not ever to be found within the finished memoir.
Such a beautiful novel for sure, to be read when one has time to reflect on life.

I received this galley from Archipelago and NetGalley in return for an honest review.

THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE SHORT LIST 2015

          

Tom McCarthy 5 novels

Marlon James 3 novels

Sunjeev Sahota 2 novels

Hanya Yanagihara 2 novels

Anne Tyler 20 novels

Chigozie Obioma 1 novel

I feel Anne Tyler at 73 with 20 novels, all well received, could win the Man Booker Prize. It isn't 
unusual for an artist/writer to be honored for a lifetime achievement. Why is this on my mind?Considering the
competition, it surprised me to see Anne Tyler nominated.
Her novels are are tender, and her prose beautiful. The MAN BOOKER PRIZE is awarded to an exceptional literary work.

I personally have to yet read any of these novels, the views
expressed by the ladies on the ( WO ) MAN BOOKER Challenge
encouraged me to read each novel through their excellent reviews.

THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING by Colum McCann

5.5

Title:  Thirteen Ways Of Looking

Author:  Colum McCann

Pages:  256

Publication Date:  10.13. 2015

Publisher:  Random House
                    ARC from NetGalley
                    & Random House

Synopsis:

In the exuberant title novella, a retired judge reflects on his life's work, unaware as he goes about his daily routines that this particular morning will be his last. In “Sh'khol,” a mother spending Christmas alone with her son confronts the unthinkable when he disappears while swimming off the coast near their home in Ireland. In “Treaty,” an elderly nun catches a snippet of a news report in which it is revealed that the man who once kidnapped and brutalized her is alive, masquerading as an agent of peace. And in “What Time Is It Now, Where You Are?” a writer constructs a story about a Marine in Afghanistan calling home on New Year's Eve.

My view:

# 1 THIRTEEN WAYS OF LOOKING by Colum McCann
_____________________________________________________
We are in New York's Upper East Side. Somewhere in this City a man awakens to a snowy day, his name is Mendelssohn to all, Mr J to his nurse Sally.
Retired Judge, widowed, father to Katya and Elliott.
At an advanced age, Mendelssohn has become a creature of habit. Chiallis is no exception, an upscale restaurant his only indulgence. A coat, hat and cane will take him to his favorite table regardless of snow. Today his son Elliott will join him, a rare occasion.
Much awaits Mendelssohn at Chiallis

I absolutely loved the protagonist, Mendelssohn, he will stay with me a long time, no cranky old man

A gem, this novella

# 2 WHAT TIME IS IT NOW, WHERE YOU ARE
____________________________________________
Having agreed to write a short story for a New Year edition, a writer seems unable to see his way beyond a first sentence. Month pass, nothing.
Close to his deadline, an idea, how about the viewpoint of a soldier in a far off land ?
He chooses a Marine, names her Sandi, alone in the desert, on watch duty, a satellite phone by her side. Will she hear her son's voice or will the light from the phone make her a target.

# 3 SH'khol
___________
Rebecca and Tomas, her son, celebrate Christmas together at home in Galway, Ireland. Tomas thirteen, a tall handsome boy. Born in Russia, abandoned as an infant, deaf, beside various disabilities. Rebecca's love for this lost child, shows itself much stronger than any affliction. A new life and family awaits Tomas.
Christmas will be a turning point in both their lives.
Do we truly know our child ? Born to us or adopted ?
Rebecca will try to understand Tomas, and perhaps her own actions in this heartfelt tale.

# 4 Treaty
__________
Long Island, a peaceful stretch of land along the ocean. A perfect  home for a convent, run by Catholic sisters. We meet Beverly who arrives from Huston to find peace among her own, she also is a nun.
Until a certain evening, while watching the news, a face appears on the screen, questions which need answers will take Beverly to London.
Can evil ever transform into good ? To find the peace she so desperately needs, Beverly will face a past of unimaginable evil.


Colum McCann's prose and story telling is such a pleasure to behold, there isn't a short story that shines above others, each in it's own right is a gem.

It is a must read and deserving all of 5 stars

I received this ARC from NetGalley & Random House
in return for an honest review

THE BOY WHO STOLE ATTILA'S Horse by Iván Repila

                                         

                5.5                   

Title: The Boy Who Stole Attila's Horse

Author: Ivan Repila

Publisher: Pushkin press

Length: 112 pages

Release date:  November 10 2015

Summery:

Powerful, disquieting and highly original, Repila's unique allegory explores with bravery and emotion the debth of human desperation and, ultimately, our almost unending capacity for hope.

My review;

This novel could be about a deep well, where two children find themselves, it could be about prisoners of war, sequestered in a small hut, unable to escape...or it could also be your neighbors, living a life of desperation...it also reminded me of Korea, the simple everyday fight for survival in a totalitarian state. It is about any circumstance which challenges the human will to live, to survive in the face of unimaginable challenges.

Author Yván Repila chose to tell us the story by giving voice to two children, who find themselves in a deep well. Big and Small are brothers, how they fell into the well isn't readily clear, until later. How can two individuals live in such a small space, with little hope of ever being found, without being able to climb out...with death and starvation their constant companions. The human spirit is an amazing gift, through these boys the author answers the question: why do some survive and others do not, without spoiling his tale, the answer isn't necessarily what we have grown to believe.

On a personal note, there is so much beauty, insight, and knowledge in these few pages, it made me wonder if the author had experienced a suffering which gave him such a clear view on the subject of survival.

I admire his choice of children in an otherwise adult novel. Children are pure at heart, their emotions lay at the surface, truth is readily spoken.

These brothers came to life for me, I feared for them, I even found myself with tears, which doesn't which doesn't happen often.

  

I would like to see other novels by Iván Repila translated.

I highly recommend this novel.

5.5

Thank you to Pushkin press and NetGalley for allowing me to read this novel in return for an honest review