Happy New Year all! I hope you have a prosperous 2011.
I think I finished my resolutions for 2010, or at least, more or less. So Now that a new year is upon us, here are my brief literary ones.
- Finish the novel I’m working on. That way I can start the others. Optimism at its finest.
- Read books I own. The stack is huge and there is no way I could even read the whole stack in one year. I think you can see the problem.
- Read more in Spanish. I already do this, but I can do more of it.
Pretty simple. Have you similar ones?
By The Firelight 
I think mine might be exactly the same, except I need to edit 2) first get rid of some of the silly books people have given me so I don’t feel obligated to read them, and 3) substitute Arabic for Spanish.
all the best for the coming year
Hi Paul, great idea! Here are mine (also over on my blog): 1. To read whenever and wherever I can; 2. To make sure at least one in three of my choices is outside or at least somewhere near the edge of my comfort zone; 3. To celebrate reading, especially of Spain’s wonderful, multiple literatures, with as many friends, and to as many audiences as possible. Happy New Year!
For whatever reason, I always make a list of 12 books I plan to read during the year–one per month, although really I just read them whenever I want. This is a bit arbitrary as I’ll inevitably read more books than I’ve listed, but it is a way of reminding myself that there are certain things I definitely want to get to in the coming year.
On that note, I know you are a fan of Ana Maria Matute, so do you have any suggestions on a good book to start with? I’m looking for good women writers in Spanish (I feel like my reading, and perhaps the coverage of translations I see, has been very male-centered), and in the wake of the Cervantes Prize she seems like a good place to begin.
Otherwise, I’d like to get to the point where I could read an entire book in Spanish without TOO much dictionary reliance, but that may go beyond what I’ll have time for.
Dan,
For Matute I would recommend Celebration in the Northwest. I was going to recommend La Historias De Las Artamillas but I don’t think it is in English, but Celebration takes place in the same rural and dark place. You could also try the Lost Children (Los Ninos Muertos) which won a major prize in the 60s and is in English. Although she has been widely translated, it looks like much of her stuff has gone out of print.
If you want to try something in Spanish, I would definitely recommend Las Historias de Las Artamillas. I read them when I was at a lower level of Spanish than I am now and they were quite enjoyable and readable. You will find that Brillar seems to be her favorite word.
I’ll be curious to hear what you think of her work.
Thanks for the recommendations. I was able to find a used paperback copy of Celebration in the Northwest (weird that it only seems to be available in hardback) that I hope to get to pretty quickly.