Safe Return Doubtful

One correct.. that’s better than usual.. (On The Calculation of Volume)..

The full list is here.

I’ve read three of them though, and they’re perfectly good, though I didn’t think of the standard to make the cut..

Eurotrash by Christian Kracht translated from the German (Switzerland) by Daniel Bowles.

This is a roadtrip novel that begins in Zurich. The egocentric narrator and protagonist has just been with his mother for her eightieth birthday, in a psychiatric ward. Wracked by guilt for spending such little time with her in recent years, he takes her off on a journey through Switzerland, though the family is German, and the novel really a blend of German and family history. The mother’s grandfather, for example, was an unrepentant Nazi, and, upon his death, the family discovered a secret stash of S&M devices as part of his fantasy, which involved young Icelandic women, as they alone represented ‘the Nordic ideal’. The various characters are all nasty and flawed, but that is beauty of the novel. Kracht’s writing carries the piece, his humour is a highlight, as are the short anecdotes scattered throughout, that make the book much more entertaining than it may seem from its précis.

Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda translated from the Spanish (Mexico) by Heather Cleary.

This isn’t a story collection in the usual sense. It says in the publishers’s summary that the stories are inter-connected, but that isn’t quite the case either. Rather, the chapters in the first half of the book (following the introductory story) link together with a murder plot, further details of which are revealed as each character (or ‘bitch’) tells their version. It is completely gripping and excellent writing, cinematic in its quality. De la Cerda’s narrators have live very different lives, but they blend into one another. Yuliana is the heiress from a drug empire, teenage mother Stefi works 14 hour shifts at a shoe store, though blonde and blue eyed, Constanza makes herself up as mixed race to help her husband’s political campaign. These are a set of really powerful stories, on four occasions the narrator is talking to us from the grave. Though other themes are touched upon, the overriding message is of femicide; de la Cerda doesn’t shy away from the horrific violence and senseless murder – that the response to it can only be feminist action seems trivial.

and On The Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle translated from the Danish by Barbara J Haveland. (The first of seven volumes, two are published now. I’ve read them both and am inexplicably addicted..)

Balle presents a year in the life of Tara Selter, beginning on 18th November when she leaves the northern French town where she and Thomas, her husband and business partner, run an antique-book business to attend an auction in Paris. The following morning, she wakes up to a conundrum indeed, time, it appears, ‘has fallen apart’; the day repeats itself, Groundhog Day style. The novel is presented as a sort of diary, though not every day is chronicled, and the narrative actually begins on day 121, then skips around. It is a similar scenario to the Bill Murray film though with the difference that the days aren’t exact repeats. Tara is more thoughtful than Bill, who was after all playing to a different audience, and does various things to try and break the circle; for example, one day she returns to her husband in northern France, who believes her, another she returns to her house, but hides from him. I hadn’t realised that so much could be done with such a circumstance, and had doubted whether my attention would be held by what at the outset seems like it could get boring. Balle’s writing though is compelling and hypnotic, desperate to know what Tara’s next move will be. As a one-off the novel is successful, though short on twists. I had something of a dilemma in being impelled to carry on reading but often underwhelmed next reveal at the same time. Though Tara’s behaviour is at times suspicious and unpredictable, which gives a separate appeal.. no doubt many readers will have suggestions as to what Tara should do that she does not seem to have considered..

I’ll be reading the rest of the Longlist, which certainly looks interesting, and will of course post here..