READING ROUNDUP

2666 by Roberto Bolaño
This is definitely Bolaño's masterpiece. I have completed book one of five contained within, and am beginning book two. This is even better than his Savage Detectives, although very similar in tone.

Voice of Ice - Voix de Glace by Alta Ifland
Ifland wrote the original prose poems in this collection in French and then translated them into English herself. Versions in both languages are presented side by side. These short pieces inhabit the realm of fairy tale and myth as well as the contemporary world. I keep reading these to figure out how she does what she does.


What is a Trade? by Donald Fels
Donald Fels is a Pacific Northwest artist who has collaborated with signboard painters of southern India. His work is fascinating because of it use of local color and imagery, collaborative nature, and political statements. I have been running around Tacoma and Port Angeles visiting various exhibits. This is the Tacoma Art Museum show catalog and it contains images of paintings in the exhibit as well as an essay by Dr. Samuel Parker of University of Washington Tacoma, one of my former professors.

Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found by Suketu Mehta
Mehta's meditation on his hometown (if you can call a crowded city of 19 million inhabitants a "town") is all the more timely with the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. This is a haunted, longing look at the power and pleasures that form the fabric of this wonderful and vibrant city.


The New York Times, various
I have been reading it more so than usual, in both print and online versions, to keep myself informed of the Mumbai attacks. I have supplemented it with narrative and photographs by someone on the ground, a resident of Mumbai who lives near Nariman House—Vinu.

The Believer, February 2008
I reread a piece in this issue by Suketu Mehta to supplement the other Mumbai information bouncing around in my brain.


Poetry, November 2008
An issue with recently translated poems by Roberto Bolaño (he's everywhere!), beautiful word art by visual poets, and a challenging essay by Adam Kirsch.

Tuesday; An Art Project, 2:1, Third Issue, Spring 2008
This is a collection of 5" x 7" cards that have been hand printed and pressed. They contain poems, photographs, and prints. They are "bound" together by a belly band and wrapped up in 11" x 17" heavy paper poster. I am as fascinated by its architecture and presentation as I am by its contents.


Selected Poems by Jorge Luis Borges
Poems by one of the heavyweights of world literature are presented side by side in the original Spanish and the translated English. A cadre of contemporary translators and scholars really make these poems shine.

Oregon Humanities, Fall/Winter 2008, The "Civility" Issue
I picked this up at Wordstock 2008. The state of Oregon has a great publication in this magazine that is free to all residents of Oregon. The civility issue looks at manners, over-the-top political correctness, incivility, public conversation in a democracy, and other issues of a civil society from varying viewpoints and perspectives.