Tag: translation

Fever Dream

A surreal novella by Samanta Schweblin and translated by Megan McDowell

4/5 Star Review

It’s nearly the end of September and I am wrapping up the month-long anniversary celebration for The Ladies of Horror Fiction. This lovely team celebrated their first full year of spotlighting the amazing ladies of horror! There was a read-a-thon taking place for the entire month and it featured five different reading challenges – check out this link for the details!

I read Fever Dream for Challenge #3 – Read a Book by a POC (Person of Color). This is my third “official” pick for the read-a-thon.

Fever Dream is a hallucinatory tale of a woman called Amanda who is dying in a rural clinic. At her side sits a young boy called David who pushes her to tell the story of how she arrived there.

I hesitate to say much more about the plot as this is only a novella and it is easy to give too much of the story away. Schweblin is originally from Argentina and paints that landscape clearly in a short amount of time. The tale is set in the country – an area that is still heavily reliant on traditional healers rather than modern medicine.

My only complaint, and it is minimal, is that I felt this story needed to be a little bit longer, needed a little bit more time to cook. There are ambiguous endings and there are endings that just don’t quite feel complete – this felt like the latter to me.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this cautionary tale of modern evils and the plight of those who are only beginning to understand them and their consequences. The novella is a gorgeous blend of surrealism, hallucinations, confusion, unreliable characters, and magic. This is a great little book which should be devoured in one sitting and I recommend this to those who enjoy a healthy mix of magical realism and horror.

The Graveyard Apartment

A Japanese horror novel written by Mariko Koike and translated by Deborah Boliver Boehm

3/5 Star Review

It’s September and I am still reveling in the month-long anniversary celebration for The Ladies of Horror Fiction. This lovely team is celebrating their first full year of spotlighting the amazing ladies of horror! If you would like to join in the festivities, there is a read-a-thon taking place for the entire month and it features five different reading challenges – check out this link for more details!

I read The Graveyard Apartment for Challenge #5 – Read a Translated Book OR A Book Set in Another Country. This is my second “official” pick for the read-a-thon and happened to fit the bill on both accounts.

The Graveyard Apartment tells the story of Teppei, Misao, and their young daughter, Tamao. The couple has bought their first apartment – it’s an absolute bargain for the location and close to school and the train. However, there is a downside. The apartment building overlooks an old Buddhist graveyard and crematorium. Strange occurrences begin on the first day in their new home and continue to ramp up all the way to the very end.

One thing this book does very well is creating a certain atmosphere. The entire book has a very claustrophobic feel to it which adds to the spookiness. It feels dark, dreary, and cold – even when it is a beautiful summer day.

There are several issues that I have with the book, and I feel that they may have simply been “lost in translation.” Without dropping any spoilers, the main issue that I have is the reason for the haunting. The book alludes to a few possibilities, but they don’t necessary correlate with the end of the book. There were many statements and descriptions where the translation seemed almost too literal and it made for some awkward dialog and narration. Lastly, my interpretation of the story may have also been incorrect due to cultural differences and societal norms.

I enjoyed the book, but I definitely didn’t “get” it. The Graveyard Apartment has a bit of a slow build, but once it ramped up, I couldn’t put it down. I would recommend it if you are a fan of Japanese horror – a lot of the common ghost story tropes are there, but the average horror reader could give this one a pass. Have you read it? What are your thoughts?

Things We Lost in the Fire

Stories by Mariana Enriquez

5/5 Star Review

Continuing on with Women in Horror Month, I read the phenomenal short story collection Things We Lost in the Fire. Mariana Enriquez is a novelist and journalist from Argentina and this is her first work to be published in English. I truly hope that there will be more of her work to come.

Short stories are my favorite medium for horror, but it is rare to find a single collection where every story is fantastic – Things We Lost in the Fire is an exception to this. There are twelve stories in this book and Every. Single. Story. is impactful, some are brutal, and all are poignant.

The author seamlessly blends horror, culture, politics, and the socio-economic climate of Argentina into these perfectly executed tales of ghosts, sadness, loss, and monsters. Each story has its own particular flavor and the collection is home to everything from magical realism to cosmic horror.

Trying to pick favorites out of this collection is near impossible, but some that have stuck with me are The Dirty Kid, about Saints, sacrifices, and missing children; Adela’s House, what happens when you face your fears and explore the haunted house; The Neighbor’s Courtyard, why you should always question a rental that seems to good to be true; Under the Black Water, about awakening an ancient evil that’s been asleep for a long time; and the title story, Things We Lost in the Fire, a sort of feminist call-to-arms. I realize that is nearly half of the stories – but this is book is just that good! 

I purchased this collection after reading so many positive reviews and am so glad that I did! It has to the potential to speak to so many different audiences – don’t let this one pass by. Highly recommended!