Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks – The Summary

1 January – 31 December 2016

For the 2016 edition of Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks hosted by Robin of My Two Blessings on a special blog just for this annual challenge, I set myself the goal to read my way through the English alphabet of writers from A to Z (women) and from Z to A (men). It goes without saying, that I had no problem whatsoever to complete this challenge since I have been posting a review every Friday for four years now. I must admit that some of the letters – notably X and Z – have been a hard nut to crack, but in the end I succeeded in finding two authors for each of them. As usual, I alternated female and male writers, classical and contemporary works thus making my double alphabet more varied. Actually, I could include not just 52 but 53 new literary gems, some more brilliant than others, in my list of reviewed books here on Edith’s Miscellany because my review of The Man Who Searched for Love by Pitigrilli went online on 1 January. This book doesn’t count for the challenge, of course, and I haven’t included it in my alphabet.

Book Review: The Face of Another by Abe Kōbō

2016 review of a book written
by an author whose family name starts with the letter
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Although the expression isn’t used in all languages with exactly the same meaning as in Japanese, we all feel at once that it can’t be a pleasant experience “to lose your face”. In fact, it uses to be rather embarrassing, if not shameful because the person concerned inadvertently disappoints expectations, violates social rules or commits another faux pas and thus loses respect. Sometimes “losing face” may be synonymous with “showing the true face”, while other times it may just reveal the void or confusion behind a very artful mask. In The Face of Another by Abe Kōbō the first-person narrator lost his face in a more literal sense in an accident. In three notebooks addressed to his wife he describes the psychological repercussions of the loss, expounds his thoughts on the importance of the face and explains his strategy to recover his face, to construct a new self and to get closer to his wife.

Women Challenge #4 – The Summary

1 January – 31 December 2016

This year was the second time that I participated in a reading challenge hosted by Valentina from the bilingual book blog peek-a-booK!. More precisely it was the Women Challenge #4 to which I contributed altogether 28 reviews of books written by women authors from around the world. 26 of the novels I presented here on Edith’s Miscellany as part of my personal challenge to complete a female as well as a male alphabet of fiction writers in 2016. The remaining two reviews I published on Lagraziana’s Kalliopeion because they didn’t fit into my planning, one because it was too old for Edith’s Miscellany and the other because it was kind of a follow-up by the same author. As usual, I alternated contemporary works with classics dating from 1886 through 1970.

Read the Nobels 2016 – The Summary

One of the reading challenges for which I signed up in January without giving it a second thought is Read the Nobels 2016 hosted by Aloi aka the Guiltless Reader on her blogs Guiltless Reading and Read the Nobels. Now the New Year’s Eve celebrations are already around the corner (time flies!) and because only one last review will be going online in 2016, moreover one that isn’t relevant for this challenge, the moment has come to take stock of the writings from the pen of en-NOBEL-ed authors that I was able to add to my list of over 200 reviewed books here on Edith’s Miscellany.

Poetry Revisited: For Saint Stephen's Day by Luke Wadding

For Saint Stephen’s Day

(from A Small Garland of Pious & Godly Songs: 1684)

Saint Stephen had an angel's face
All full of virtue, full of grace,
By the false Jews was stoned to death,
For Jesus Christ and for his faith;
But for those stones in Heaven he found
Of precious pearls a glorious crown.

The Jews do falsely him accuse
And in their council him abuse,
Their furious rage without delay
Make stones their arms him to destroy;
And for those stones in Heaven he found
Of precious pearls a glorious crown.

The most sweet saint with his last breath
Doth pray for those who seek his death,
And leaves not off whilst life doth last,
As thick as hail their stones to cast;
And for those stones in Heaven he found
Of precious pearls a glorious crown.

Luke Wadding, O.F.M. (1588-1657)
Irish Franciscan friar and historian

Book Review: The Secret of an Empress by Countess Zanardi Landi

2016 review of a book written
by an author whose family name starts with the letter
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Men and women claiming to be the illegitimate offspring of someone rich and powerful, notably a king or less often a queen, have been known at all times. Today a DNA test suffices to find out the truth once and for all, but until not so long ago this was different. There always remained doubts unless the assumptions were so far-fetched or the impostor so clearly out of his or her mind that nobody could take the claim seriously. Of course, some of these people will have ended in psychiatric asylums, some will just have resumed their old lives, and others will have continued their fight for being recognised as natural son or daughter with all possible means. When legal action proved useless, some resorted to… writing a book like The Secret of an Empress by Countess Zanardi Landi that brought the strange story of Elisabeth – Sisi – of Austria’s secret daughter into the world.

Back Reviews Reel: December 2013

Admittedly, it might already be a little late for a look back on my Christmassy reviews that closed the blogging year 2013. On the other hand, maybe you haven’t yet decided what to read during the upcoming holidays or you still need a suitable present for this one friend of yours whom you always forget with all that is on your mind at this time of year. The two English-language novels – one classic, one contemporary – in my review archives of December 2013 should be easy enough to find, while the third book that an expatriate Austrian wrote in English during World War II has been out of print ever since its first and only edition of 1941. My fourth read for the end of the year was the translation of a Spanish novel from 1994 and I have no idea if it’s still to be found anywhere except the library, a second-hand bookshop or a flee market.