Paris in July 2013 "Madame Zabee's Guest House" by Marie Redonnett

This is my third year as a participant in the Paris in July Reading Event hosted by Book Bath and Thyme for Tea.   I find this a very interesting and creative event of the sort that helps build the book blog community.

There are suggestions as to how you can participate on both blogs.  In addition to reading and posting on a work set in Paris, you can post on your attempts to recreate a classic French dish or tell us about your trip to  Paris.

One of the very best annual anthologies of "best off" is the Best European Fiction series edited by Aleksander Hemon.   I really liked a set in Paris story centering on a guest house for transvestite prostitutes, Madame Zabee's Guest House" by Marie Redonett.   All of those who live in the house are from outside of France.   The story is told through the eyes of the night watchman, who also lives there.   It takes about one third of the story for the full  idea of what is going on to be revealed.  I think the story is making a comment about the nature of France's international relations and colonial history through the casting of non-French men from weaker third or second world countries as available for sex for money.   We get to understand a bit abut why some of the men wound up in the house and Madame Zabee is  very interesting character.

Marie Redonnet

About the Author
Marie Redonnet was born in Paris in 1947. In 1985, after teaching for several years in a lycée, she published her first volume, the quirky fascinating book of poetry Le Mort & Cie (first English translation, Dead Man & Co., Leaping Dog Press, 2004). Her second book, Doublures was an intriguing suite of interlinked short stories (first English translation, Understudies, Leaping Dog Press, 2005). Since then, she has published five novels, a novella, and three dramatic works. The five novels appeared in English translation from University of Nebraska Press. An author of growing international stature, Marie Redonnet has had her work translated into 11 languages: Danish, Dutch, English, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, and Swedish.

Mel u

"The Sins of the Wolf" by Lasha Bugadze

"The Sins of the Wolff"" by Lasha Bugadze (2012, 15 pages)

Project 196

A 196 Short Stories From 196 Countries in 196 Weeks

A Reading Life Short Story Project

Georgia-Country One
Project 196 in 196

My Introductory Post on Project 196

If you are an author and want to represent your country, please contact me.  If you want to do a guest post on your favorite story for the feature please contact me also.

If you are a publisher that has an anthology that is done in the 196 spirit, please contact me as I will be spotlighting appropriate collections.  

"The Sins of the Wolf" by Lasha Bugadze (1977, Tbilisi, Georgia) is a perfect story to begin my attempt to read short stories from 196 countries over the next 196 weeks.  It is hilarious, centers around matters directly related to the nature of the reading life in terms of how readers can become totally involved in the lives of their characters and how authors can sometimes lose control of their creations.  It is brilliant and a lot of fun to read.   Bugadze is a playwright and a novelist.  He won an award from the BBC International Radio Play Writing competition in 2010.  He is also a cartoonist, screenwriter, producer and TV personality with the Georgian Public Broadcast Company.

As the story opens an author is on the phone talking to a fan of his work who has stalked him enough to get his private phone number.  She tells him that she really liked his book The Sins of  the Wolf.  She sounds like a young woman to him and his wife says "who is that on the phone"?   The caller keeps saying she has something she wants to ask him but she is shy to do so.  She finally asks to be put in touch with Bakar Tukhareli.  The author is not sure he heard her right as the name refers to a character in his novel, a purely made up person.   Now he starts to think this is some kind of prank but the woman insists she is serious.  

He talks about how his publisher had told him the more people that are killed in his books the better they will sell.  

The next day he is taking his children to their first guitar lesson and the woman who called him is standing in front of his building.  She comes running up to him and says she is the woman who called him and asked about Bakar Tukhareli..  Now he is getting nervous, she looks crazy and he has his kids with him.  He tries to tell her that there is no such person but the woman will not have it.  She wants to know if the Baron let him go.  

I have told enough of the plot.  The ending was just great and anybody who ever loved somebody in a novel will relate to it, I know I did.  

I read this story in Best European Fiction 2013.  I expect to get 25 of the 196 countries from stories in this anthology.

This is the first in a series of what I hope will be 196 posts.

I would also like to publish 196 short stories by writers from each of the world's countries.  I realize this is near impossible but who knows I do have 196 weeks!

Mel u