Books in 2012

[Michael]

Thanks for the input on the Marcel Schwob book. I've been on the fence about getting this one; was waiting on some feedback before I got off the fence. These comments helped a lot. Thanks!

[The New Nonsense]

There is another Schwob translation coming out in October 2012 from Wakefield Press. Not available yet to order:

Schwob_Monelle


THE BOOK OF MONELLE
By Marcel Schwob
Translated, with an afterword, by Kit Schluter

When Marcel Schwob published The Book of Monelle in French in 1894, it immediately became the unofficial bible of the French symbolist movement, admired by such contemporaries as Stephane Mallarmé, Alfred Jarry, and André Gide. A carefully woven assemblage of legends, aphorisms, fairy tales, and nihilistic philosophy, it remains a deeply enigmatic and haunting work over a century later, a gathering of literary and personal ruins written in a style that evokes both the Brothers Grimm and Friedrich Nietzsche. The Book of Monelle was the fruit of Schwob’s intense emotional suffering over the loss of his love, a “girl of the streets” named Louise, whom he had befriended in 1891 and who succumbed to tuberculosis two years later. Transforming her into Monelle, the innocent prophet of destruction, Schwob tells the stories of her various sisters: girls succumbing to disillusion, caught between the misleading world of childlike fantasy and the bitter world of reality. This new translation reintroduces a true fin-de-siècle masterpiece into English.

[Michael]

Just got "The King in the Golden Mask" today. The book is beautiful, another great publishing work of love by Tartarus. Just started reading it and am impressed with the little I've gotten to so far.

[MadsPLP]

Quote Originally Posted by The New Nonsense

There is another Schwob translation coming out in October 2012 from Wakefield Press. Not available yet to order: Schwob_Monelle THE BOOK OF MONELLE By Marcel Schwob Translated, with an afterword, by Kit Schluter When Marcel Schwob published The Book of Monelle in French in 1894, it immediately became the unofficial bible of the French symbolist movement, admired by such contemporaries as Stephane Mallarmé, Alfred Jarry, and André Gide. A carefully woven assemblage of legends, aphorisms, fairy tales, and nihilistic philosophy, it remains a deeply enigmatic and haunting work over a century later, a gathering of literary and personal ruins written in a style that evokes both the Brothers Grimm and Friedrich Nietzsche. The Book of Monelle was the fruit of Schwob’s intense emotional suffering over the loss of his love, a “girl of the streets” named Louise, whom he had befriended in 1891 and who succumbed to tuberculosis two years later. Transforming her into Monelle, the innocent prophet of destruction, Schwob tells the stories of her various sisters: girls succumbing to disillusion, caught between the misleading world of childlike fantasy and the bitter world of reality. This new translation reintroduces a true fin-de-siècle masterpiece into English.

Thanks!

By the way, if this is the novel which Iain White mentions in the foreword to the Tartarus edition, does this mean that most of Schwob's prose will now be available in English?

[brendanconnell]

The Book of Monelle is already in English. A lot of his best short stories however are not, as far as I know. If I were you I would search out a copy of the already translated Book of Monelle as it is a very nice edition.

[Derek]

I know most collectors sniff at Folio Society editions because of their large print runs and the fact that they tend not to hold their value, but I've always had a soft spot for them. Nicely illustrated, slipcased, and printed on acid-free paper you can usually pick one up second-hand for the price of a new paperback.

Perusing my 'posh' book shelf (i.e. the one in the living-room where all the tatty, chewed Pan paperbacks have been banished from) I was surprised to discover that I only have four of their editions: The Natural History of Selbourne, The Compleat Angler, The Quest For Corvo and The Autobiography of Benevenuto Cellini.

However, I recently went full price for their 2012 reissue of Thus Spoke Zarathustra (one of my touchstone books). It's a reprint of the solid OUP Classics translation, and the design and illustration are wonderfully executed (see pictures in link). A real joy to handle and read.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra | Folio Illustrated Book

It seems that you can buy their individual books online now without becoming a 'subscriber'.

[Sand]

Interesting checklist by World Literature Today of their Top 75 translated books in 2012:

WLT’s 75 Notable Translations 2012 | World Literature Today

[Derek]

Can't say I've read many of these, but I remain firm in my opinion that the most essential literature in the world today is not being written in English any more.

Those on the WLT list that I have read are:

Laszlo Krasznahorkai, Satantango
Mikhail Shishkin, Maidenhair

Highly recommended.

[Nemonymous]

My favourite books published in 2012 with one major prediction for 2013:
http://nullimmortalis.wordpress.com/2012/12/24/12134/