Hello, lovely readers,

It’s been some time since I last wrote to you (or wrote a book review, as a matter of fact…). Spring term has just begun here in Germany, so during the past weeks I was quite busy preparing lectures, helping students with their papers and – in between – trying to move forward with my own research project.

Nonetheless, here I am again,  diving into a few more reading projects, as if there were no tomorrow…

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Sor Juana Ines de La Cruz Readalong

Ms. Arachne over at A Canon of One’s Own and I are planning a Readalong of Sor Juana Ines de La Cruz Selected Works. The idea is to read and review the book until May, 31th. As always, you are welcomed to join in!

• Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Selected Works, tr. Edith Grossman (W. W. Norton & Company, 2014, 240 p.

We are reading  Edith Grossman’s translation (see reference above), but, if you have another edition, no problem: the comparison could also be interesting.

Other editions:

• Sor Juana Ines de La Cruz: Selected Writings, tr.  Pamela Kirk Rappaport (Paulist Press, 2005, 448 p.);
• Poems, Protest, and a Dream: Selected Writings, tr.  Margaret Sayers Peden (Penguin Classics, 1997, 304 p.);
• A Woman of Genius: The Intellectual Autobiography of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, tr. Margaret Sayers Peden (Lime Rock Press, 1982, 104 p.)

Overviews:

• Sor Juana: Or, the Traps of Faith, by Octavio Paz, tr. Margaret Sayers Peden (Belknap Press, 1990, 564 p.);
• Sor Juana y su mundo: una mirada actual, by  Poot Herrera Sara (Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1995, 555 p. , Spanish edition).

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Lendo a Ditadura (‘Reading the Brazilian Military Dictatorship’)

This is a reading project hosted by a group of Brazilian and Portuguese book bloggers and passionate readers, who decided to read and review Brazilian fictional books whose plots revolve around the military dictatorship (1964-1985). Given the current political turmoil and coup threat in Brazil (more here and here), I felt prompted up to join in the project. As the group itself states about it, “we believe in the power of words to foster reflection about the world (…).” The group maintains a spreadsheet with reading suggestions (in Portuguese). Here I’ll list the books which are currently available English (I will add more as I go along):

• Avalovara, by Osman Lins, tr. Gregory Rabassa (Dalkey Archive Press, Latin American Literature Series, 2002, 331 p. Original title: Avalovara. Originally published in 1975);
• The Girl in the Photograph, by Telles, Lygia Fagundes, tr. Margaret A. Neves (Dalkey Archive Press, 2012, 247 p. Original title: As Meninas. Originally published in 1973);
• Crow Blue, by Adriana Lisboa, tr. Alison Entrekin (Bloomsbury, 2014, 228 p. Original title: Azul corvo. Originally published in 2010) ✓
• Zero, by Ignacio de Loyola Brandão, tr. Ellen Watson (Dalkey Archive Press, Latin American Literature Series, 2003, 305 p. Original title: Zero. Originally published in 1974);
• The House in Smyrna, by Tatiana Salem Levy, tr. Alison Entrekin ( Scribe, 2015, 160 p. Original title: A chave de casa, 2007) ✓

To all the Latin American and Portuguese readers out there: I would also welcome some reading tips on the dictatorships in Portugal, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay…! Please, leave a comment below if you’ve read a fictional book on the subject. 🙂

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Margaret Kennedy Day

Hosted by Jane over at Beyond Eden Rock, Margaret Kennedy Day will take place on June the 20th this year. I’ll be reading  The Forgotten Smile (1961), from my Classics Club List.

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Beryl Bainbridge Reading Week

Hosted by Gaskella over at Annabel’s House of Books, the Beryl Bainbridge Reading Week will take place from June 13th – 19th this year. I’ll be reading Harriet Said (1972) (from my Virago Modern Classics list).

 

That’s all for now, I guess. Which books do you recommend? What are your reading projects? Do tell me about them.

Yours truly,

J.

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