Saturday, April 25, 2020

Flights

https://bookshop.org/a/1155/9780525534204

Book menu for Flights by Olga Tokarczyk, translated from Polish by Jennifer Croft

Food mentioned in Flights:
Goulash, 6
Meatballs in tomato sauce, 6
Curry, 9
     Vegetable curry, 324, 326
Beer, 22, 51, 80, 93, 174, 196, 255, 295
Coffee, 33, 49, 64, 77, 104, 134, 173, 153-154, 230, 339, 372
Grapes, 34, 336
Fried fish, 38, 145
Wine, 38-39, 45, 67, 140, 145, 150, 163-164, 183, 191, 267
     White wine, 65, 127, 161
Ajvar, 45
Kopico candies, 47
Herbal tea, 52
Coffee cake, 59
Oysters, 61
Yogurt, 64
Salade Niçoise, 66
Croissants, 67
Potatoes with bacon and onion, 82-83, 92
Vodka, 83, 222, 289
Chocolate bars, 94, 123
Port, 152
Apples, 183, 253, 314
Pirozhki, 233, 253
Borscht, 243, 252
Blinis, 254-256
Mandarin oranges, 274
Figs, 274
Pierogi, 288
Pork chops and cabbage, 295
Apple pie, 295
Samosas, 324
Ice cream, 339, 374
Sole and broccoli, 369
Feta salad, 369
Oatmeal, 372
Ouzo, 374

Books/Authors mentioned in Flights:
Anathemas and Admiratins / Emil Cioran, 23
Ghent, 68
Moby-Dick / Herman Melville, 72
Jorge Luis Borges, 96, 107
The Thousand and One Nights / Edward William Lane, 107
Inferno / Dante, 142
James Joyce, 175
Stendhal. 175
Corporis Humani Anatomia / Philip Verhenen, 205
Karl May, 289
George Sand, 316
Ovid, 373

Music mentioned in Flights:
Mozart, 61, 141
     Requiem, 315-319
Bach, 126
"Who Wants to Live Forever" / Queen, 157
Chopin, 308, 312, 321
Eric Clapton, 226

Page numbers refer to the paperback edition (ISBN: 9780525534204)

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Saturday, April 18, 2020

August

https://bookshop.org/a/1155/9781558614307

Book menu for August by Romina Paula; translated from Spanish by Jennifer Croft

I've started reading more literary translations because I'd like to try doing some translations (French to English) myself.  This winter and spring I read all of Jennifer Crofts translations. She translates from Spanish and Polish and was slated to be on the faculty of the 2020 Bread Loaf Translators Conference. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference has been postponed until 2021. I was to attend the conference and so was reading up on Ms. Croft. I hope she is on the faculty next year and that I get to meet her then. I also highly recommend her memoir, Homesick.


August is a quick but somber and mysterious novel that follows a twenty-something Argentine woman who travels back to her hometown on the fifth anniversary of her best friend's death.

Food mentioned in August:
Wine, 69, 120,, 175-176, 178, 180
     White wine, 1, 3, 62, 124
          Chablis, 2
Coffee, 1, 13, 128, 170
Whiskey, 13
Chocolates, 14
Yerba Mate, 15, 41, 121, 123, 139-140, 144, 170
Beer, 77-78, 167, 172, 175-176, 185
Salami and Cheese sandwiches, 128
Cookies, 139
Steak and fries, 176-178
Provencal toast, 176
Ice cream, 181
Dulce de leche, 181
Peanuts, 185
Orange juice, 196
Yogurt, 196
Croissants, 196

Books/Authors mentioned in August:
Hospital Britanico / Hector Viel Temperley, epigraph
Pablo Neruda, 55
The Little Prince / Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 158

Films mentioned in August:
Bleu, 8
Rouge, 8
The Sound of Music, 21
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 112
Reality Bites, 125-126, 141, 176
Mermaid, 126
Beetlejuice, 126

Music mentioned in August:
Ricardo Montaner, 16
Counting Crows, 56-57, 125, 145-146
     "Round Here", 56, 146
The Police, 70
     "Every Breath You Take", 75
     "King of Pain", 76
Bob Marley, 83
Babasonicos, 152, 155, 157

TV Shows mentioned in August:
Six Feet Under, 3, 20
The Simpsons, 125, 179

Page numbers refer to the paperback edition (ISBN: 9781558614307)

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Saturday, April 11, 2020

Caging Skies

https://bookshop.org/a/1155/9781419740121

Book menu for Caging Skies by Christine Leunens

Caging Skies was adapted into the award-winning film Jojo Rabbit. The wonderful movie is a loose adaptation of this very dark novel. If you've seen the film but haven't read this novel, you're missing out on a haunting tale that stays with you for days after reading it.

Food mentioned in Caging Skies
:
Sekt, 10
Schnitzel, 5
Kaiserchmarrn, 15
Coffee, 29, 34, 55, 99-100
Cake, 37
Apples, 56, 77, 170
Brioche, 86
Omelet, 127
Beef Stroganoff, 127
Walnuts, 171
Olives, 175
Vodka, 181
Serviettenknodel, 223-224
Sugar-coated almonds, 242
Fudge, 242
Caramel popcorn, 242
Pancakes, 242
Boxed chocolates, 242
Punschkrapfen, 283

Books/Authors mentioned in Caging Skies:
Sigmund Freud, 30
Kurt Freitag, 30
Paul Nettl, 30
Heinrich Heine, 30
Robert Musil, 30
Tractus Logico-philosophicus / Ludwig Wittgenstein, 74 

Music mentioned in Caging Skies:
"Die Fledermaus" / Johann Strauss, 87
"Slumber Now, Ye Eyes So Weary" / J.S. Bach, 91
Edith Piaf, 188

Discussable Quote:
"The most secret, powerful gift given to a man isn't life, but the capacity to snip at it in his mind, trim it in his heart, cultivate all the branches that should have been and were given life within the nicks in his will, the cuts of his soul. This is where the tree of life is hidden, grafted in each and every man."
(page 293)

Page numbers refer to the hardcover edition (ISBN: 978140739088) 

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Saturday, April 4, 2020

Bloom

https://bookshop.org/a/1155/9781626726413

Book menu for Bloom by by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau

Bloom is a poignant graphic novel for young adults. It also has a very unique color scheme of just blue, black, and white. And, you WILL be craving freshly-baked sourdough bread when you finish reading it!


Food mentioned in Bloom:
Doughnuts, 42
Carrot Cake, 67
Coffee, 69-70
Baguettes, 75
Blueberry muffins, 95
Streusel, 95-96
Sourdough rolls, 111, 114-115, 117
Croissants, 111
Funnel cakes, 172
Red velvet cupcakes, 185, 190, 200
Baklava, 224
Spanokopita, 224
Bagels, 237
Ravani cake, 254
Keke Fa'i, 276

Television shows mentioned in Bloom:
Gilmore Girls

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Thursday, April 2, 2020

Find Me

https://bookshop.org/a/1155/9780374155018

Book Menu for Find Me: A Novel by André Aciman 
Find Me is the sequel to Call Me By Your Name

Food mentioned in Find Me: 
Coffee, 7, 49, 58-59, 66, 100, 110-111, 137, 141, 162, 162, 205, 252, 254     
     Double Americanos, 70
Cake, 18, 27-28, 33, 48 
Profiteroles, 18
 Fish, 28, 31, 33-34, 66, 106      Branzini, 40 Leafy greens, 28, 32 Scallops, 31, 33 Wine, 33-34, 36, 38-39, 42, 97, 106, 116     
     Friuli, 31
     
     Sancerre, 31-32
     
     Barbaresco, 116
     
     Calvados, 176, 182-183
     
     Prosecco, 216, 220, 232, 234-236
  
Persimmons, 32, 52, 106  
Puntarelle, 36  
Walnuts, 52, 66, 100  
Oranges, 63-64  
Chicken soup, 63  
Hot toddies, 63 
Gelato, 85      
Grapefruit, 85      
Pistachio, 85  
Goat cheese, 97  
Figs, 101-102, 106  
Sardines, 106  
Berries, 106  
Peaches, 106 
Plums, 106  
Apricots, 106 
Mulled cider, 123, 126, 199, 211 
Caol Ila scotch, 130  
Pain Poilâno, 130 
Croissants, 205 
Chicken pot pie, 224 
Cabbage salad, 224 
Martinis, 232 
Boiled eggs, 253 

Books/Authors mentioned in Find Me:  
Dostoyevsky, 19-20  
Edith Wharton, 22  
The Memoirs of Chateaubriand / François-René Chateaubriand, 57, 100  
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 82, 92  
Howards End / E. M. Forster, 167 
Cavafy (Greek poet), 250, 257-258  

Music mentioned in Find Me: 
 Mozart, 24, 185-186, 189, 208      
     Concerti in E-flat Major and D Minor     
      Piano concerto in D Minor, 185  
Beethoven, 104, 106, 127, 206, 208      
     Sonata in D Minor, 137      
      Waldstein sonata, 185, 187, 191-192       
Kol Nidre, 191-192, 203  
Haydn, 122-123, 127  
Brahms, 190  
Bach, 227, 229-231, 233, 237, 243-244 
     “Bohemian Rhapsody”, 228

Discussable passages from Find Me: 
 p.223: "And some of our fondest desires end up meaning more to us unrealized than tested..."

p.254: "...time is always the price we pay for the unlived life"

p.210: "You know, life is not so original after all. It has uncanny ways of reminding us that, even without a God, there is a flash of retrospective brilliance in the way fate plays its cards. It doesn't deal us fifty-two cards; it deals, say, four or five, and they happen to be the same ones our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents played. The cards look pretty frayed and bent. The choice of sequences is limited: at some point the cards will repeat themselves, seldom in the same order but always in a pattern that seems uncannily familiar. Sometimes the last card is not even played by the one whose life ended. Fate doesn't always respect what we believe is the end of a life. It will deal your last card to those who come after. Which is why I think all lives are condemned to remain unfinished."

Title mentioned on pages 115, 208-209, 243, 260

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