Translations

Older readers: Anxious People

Linda J

From the author of ‘A Man called Ove’, translated from Swedish, ‘Anxious People’ is a humorous book of life observations.

Set in a small Swedish town where nothing much happens, the tale opens with a bizarre bank robbery (at a cashless bank) which then turns into a hostage drama at a nearby apartment building. As a small-town police team of father and son seek to resolve the situation (without relying on the heavy guns from Stockholm), Backman sprinkles the story with the quirks and foibles of those caught up in the drama while viewing an apartment open house.

Cleverly woven links between present and past, among the characters and the building’s location, occur throughout. Similarly, clever comments on normal everyday things – like food preferences, domestic needs, and views on family relationships – give cause for a laugh or two along the way.

The bank robber is, of course, not your typical bank robber – more a result of a series of unfortunate events which culminate in a ‘hostage situation’ – again, not typical.

Each of the characters involved has their own version of what happened, and their own anxieties. Insecurities in relationships and work, perplexities about the impact of their past actions, lost loves and lives – all have left challenges to be overcome.

Even what is told from the police perspective is not completely what it seems. Have they handled the case properly? Why haven’t they had demands from the offender? How could they lose the suspect?

Backman makes some interesting observations throughout ‘Anxious People’ but in doing so, he does it gently and with humour. His characters are quirky but real (even though I disliked Zara, but maybe that was the point). An absurd situation in a little town becomes a feel-good book to make us all think while we laugh out loud.

Are you ready for a light-hearted read that also makes you think?

Mystery in the making

Linda J

red notebookIf you lost your bag – handbag, schoolbag or backpack, what would it tell others about you? Without your ID (driver’s licence, school ID, etc.), could you be traced? identified? found?

If you found a bag (mentioned above), what would you do?

In ‘the Red Notebook’, bookseller Laurent Letellier feels compelled, when he comes across an abandoned mauve leather handbag, to find the owner. With little identification in the bag, the mystery begins, and Laurent calls on suggestions from others, and in so doing becomes quite involved.

Following hints given by journal jottings, receipts and personal items in the bag, Laurent works to find the mystery owner. Along the way, he works through testing relationships, and surprising events while he searches.

‘The Red Notebook’ is a short romantic tale, translated from French, which makes you wonder about connections and connecting, our actions and taking time to know people, and how interwoven our lives could be in this busy world if we took the time. Laurent could have simply passed the handbag on to police after he discovered it in the street, but was the journey that followed instead worth it?

Antoine Laurain paints a description of a relaxed Parisian lifestyle, though marked by a mugging early in the tale, and peppered with the literary references you would expect from an authentic bookseller, Laurent Letellier. As a reluctant hero, he follows through his plan to reunite the handbag and its owner, with some interesting results along the way.

While not a YA novel, the emotions, decisions and cultural setting are worth discovery. Considering how people’s paths may cross in life, and the result of choices made, are some of the ideas generated in ‘the Red Notebook’.

How does he do it?  does it really make a difference in the long run? will he be able to solve the puzzle with so few clues? how does it then impact on his everyday life?

Chopsticks and Roof Beams

Linda J

chopsticks‘…she only managed to give birth to a handful of chopsticks and no roof-beam.’ I was struck by this way of referring to girls and boys. I had never heard it before, but it seemed to epitomise the manner in which the Chinese view the differences between men and women…

And so begins an explanation of why the narrator and her five sisters were only ever given a number as a name, and why their family faced much disgrace in countryside China – and why Three takes the opportunity as a young girl, to go to the city of Nanjing to find work when her uncle offers.

‘Miss Chopsticks’ is an interesting and unusual story which shows many contrasts between:
1. values placed on girls and boys
2. attitudes in city and rural areas of China
3. old and new ways

Xinran was born in China, but separated from her mother by the Cultural Revolution, and so grew up with her grandparents in Beijing. In China, after the Cultural Revlotion ended, she became a radio broadcaster whose program, “Words on the Night Breeze”, encouraged lots of discussion about true picture of the daily lives of Chinese women. Her high media profile ultimately lead her to leave China for England in 1997, where she began to carve out her current career in journalism and writing.

With this background, you can understand that her stories, including Miss Chopsticks, are well-informed and genuine  reflections of China as she knew it , and China as she hopes it is becoming today. Her girls, Three, Five and Six, are not tragic figures in ‘Miss Chopsticks’ but rather succeed in overcoming their birth consequences. They represent a new generation of Chinese girls. Unlike many other Asian tales, it is a more lighthearted. While it portrays some harsh values which still exist in parts of China, it does offer hope.

‘Miss Chopsticks’ is loosely based on many of the girls and women that Xinran has met –

“For a long time I have wanted to write down some of the stories of the girls I have met…”

Xinran gives an interesting insight to Chinese life and values. There is much to be learned from this tale. It would also be interesting to know how it might have been received in China…

For more detail about Xinran, there are many articles you can read from the Guardian.