"A Father to Be" by Saul Bellow 1955

Long ago I read a number of novels by Saul Bellow.   I was very glad to find one of his short stories, originally published in The New Yorker in 1955, in an excellent anthology I am very slowly working my way through, Wonderful Town: New York Stories from The New Yorker. 

"A Father to Be", set in New York City, opens with the male narrator talking to his girl friend on the phone.  She tells him to stop by the delicatescent to pick up some roast beef and a few other things. He has a younger brother he is sending through college and he is helping his elderly mother out financially and with the day to day living tasks that advancing age has made difficult.  As he rides the train through New York City, he thinks about his girl friend.  She is unemployed but too educated to work at a simple job.  She has a rich female housemate.  He loves her but he is troubled by something he cannot quite put his finger on.  He likes to look at the other people in his subway car and imagine their lives.  He sees a forty or so year old man he takes an instant dislike to for what he perceived as the snobbish cold elitism of the man.  Then he thinks " this is the kind of son my girlfriend and I will have".  

"A Father to Be" is a fine short story.  

"Memories of an Indian Childhood" by Qurratulain Hyder - 1965

Qurratulain Hyder (Urdu: قرۃ العین حیدر; January 20, 1928 – August 21, 2007)

"Memories of an Indian Childhood" is just what sounds like.  It centers on the experiences of a Muslim girl, growing up in the days of the British Raj in pre-partition India.  The family is affluent with several servants but not super rich.  Most of the fathers in the neighborhood seem to have high ranking jobs in the government.  All the marriages are arranged and there are rumors of affairs.  The streets of the neighborhood are trodden by various kinds of tradesman.  The wives are always trying to "one up" each other and the latest craze is to get musical lessons in the sitar for your sons or classical dance lessons for your daughters.  The neighborhood is rife with gossip.  A great source of pride to the Indian Grandees is to be, in their mind at least, be thought of as equal by the English higher ups.  The descriptions of the English houses and the ways the wives fill their time was very interesting.  There are tragic events, turn over in the servants, a sad event involving a beloved cat.  There are even motor cycle death circus rides!

This was a good story and I am glad I had the opportunity to read it.  It was originally published in Urdu and translated by the author herself.

About this author

Qurratulain Hyder, also known as Qurrat-ul-Ain Haider (Urdu: قرۃ العین حیدر; January 20, 1928 – August 21, 2007) was an influential Indian Urdu novelist and short story writer, an academic, and a journalist. One of the most outstanding literary names in Urdu literature, she is most known for her magnum opus, Aag Ka Darya (River of Fire), a novel first published in Urdu in 1959, from Lahore, Pakistan, that stretches from the 4th century BC to post partition of India. Popularly known as "Ainee Apa" among her friends and admirers, she was the daughter of writer and pioneers of Urdu short story writing Sajjad Haidar Yildarim (1880–1943). Her mother, Nazar Zahra, who wrote at first as Bint-i-Nazrul Baqar and later as Nazar Sajjad Hyder (1894–1967), was also a novelist and protegee of Muhammadi Begam and her husband Syed Mumtaz Ali, who published her first novel.

She received the 1967 Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu for Patjhar Ki Awaz (Short stories), 1989 Jnanpith Award for Akhire Shab Ke Humsafar, and the highest award of the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 1994. She also received the Padma Bhushan from the Government of India in 2005.

A prolific writer (she began to write at the young age of 11), her literary works include some 12 novels and novellas and four collections of short stories. Hyder has also done a significant amount of translation of classics. Her own works have been translated into English and other languages. From Goodreads.

"When Problems Happen" by Victoria - A Poem From the Anjali House Wriiting Project

"When Problems Happen" by Victoria - A poem from the Anjali House Writing Project

Sue Guiney's Introductory Post  - contains important links 

My Overview of the Project

My Q and A with Dana Hui Lim author of Mother and the Tiger- A Memoir of the Killing Fields. - essential background information 

"When Problems Happen" is the first of several poems that will be included for the event.  I am very proud to be able to share it with you.  All of the authors are just starting to learn English.  English and Cambodian share no historical roots and their structures are very different, making the writers accomplishments all the more marvelous.  

"When Problems Happen" by Victoria

In my dream I want to travel around the world.

When I see bad things happen to people

I want to help, too, but I don’t know who they are.

When I look to the sky

I see the bird fly in the sky.

I want to fly, too, but I don’t have a wing to fly.

I want to touch the sky,

but I can’t touch the sky,

because the sky is very high.

I feel unhappy because there is a flood in a country.

I want to help the people.

When their trouble is over I will help them to build a house.

Victoria, age 12 (all writers are using pen names in order to protect their privacy) author supplied data.

One day at Khmer school I had a test. I did some tests and some I didn’t. One week after that, my teacher checked the tests.Some tests had good scores, some had bad scores. Then the next week my teacher gave the student record book and I saw that I had a good score. I had passed my exam. I took the student record book to give to my mother to see it. My mother was very happy and I was very happy too.

"Fun in the Field" by Sally from the Anjali House Writing Project

"Fun in the Field" by Sally is the second story from the series of poems and stories written during the 

Anjali House Writing Project directed by Sue Guiney.  (All of the authors have been given pen names as required under Cambodian privacy statues.). The authors are all just starting to learn English.  Be sure to also read Sally's autobiography.  She is sixteen.  There will be lots more stories posted.  Please take the time to read at least Sue's introductory post. 

Sue Guiney's Introductory Post  - contains important links 

My Overview of the Project

My Q and A with Dana Hui Lim author of Mother and the Tiger- A Memoir of the Killing Fields. - essential background information 

Fun in the Field, by Sally

   Today, people are busy working under a sunny day in the field, but Naron is free. He doesn’t like working. He likes playing with his friend, Billy. Naron is 17 years old.

   One day his mother comes and talks to him. His mother says, ”Naron, why don’t you go and help your neighbor in the field?”

   “But mum, now I am busy. I can’t go and help them,”

he answers.

   His mother asks, “So, what are you doing?”

   Naron answers, “I am playing football with my friend,

Billy.”

   “That’s not the good answer,” says his mother. “You should

go and help your neighbor in the field. It is also fun and you can learn how to farm.”

   Naron walks outside to the field angrily. He thinks he can’t play with his friend any more. But he is wrong. His friend also goes to the field and they start to help their neighbor. It is fun, too. Now he knows that besides playing football, he can do other things to have fun.

Sally, age 16 

Author supplied data 

One day that I always remember since I was a child is trying to learn new letters. When I was 10 years old, my parents sent me to school. That time I loved learning. Every day when I went to school I tried to read new letters and write them down. Every time that I couldn’t write the letters that I read, I always cried and asked for help from my parents or my brothers. They always helped me and cheered me up. My mum told me that learning is not easy as you might think. So you need to try hard and do your best. We are here to help you! I felt warm when my mum said that. Since that time I tried and tried until I passed all my examinations and went to grade 2. And now I still try hard to achieve my goal.

I am very honored to be able to publish this story.  

November 2013 on The Reading Life. - A Month End Review

November 2013 was a tragic one for the Philippines.  The worst typhoon to strike land in recorded history struck the  Visayan Islands.  The people of the Philippines are very strong and resilient.  We all offered our prayers for those who lost their lives, their families, their homes, their schools but not their faith.  

I ended the month with 3035 Twitter followers, 795 Google Connect Contacts and my blog received 85,715 page views.  The top countries of visitor residence are USA, the Philippines, India, Russia, and the U.K.  The most common city of residence is Manila then Mumbai.  The most viewed posts are those on short stories by authors from the Philippines.  

I accidentally erased about 250 old comments.  

My reading this month was mostly focused on German Language works in translation read for German Literature Month.

     

Here is what I read for the event:

The Tin Drum-by Gunther Grass. I am glad I read his master work.  No further reading plans

"The Judgement" by Franz Kafka. -  always good to read more Kafka

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque -very powerful war novel - must read 

"A Letter from an Unknown Woman" by Stefan Zweig. - decent story

The Death of the Adversary by Hans Klein - I liked it a lot

"The Job Application" by Robert Walser -great new to me writer

Chess Game by Stefan Zweig-I will read much more of his work- very good work

"The Battle of Sempach" by Robert Walser

I have also listed to podcasts of "Basta" and "Frau Wilkes" by Robert Walser

The March of Radetsky by Joseph Roth I hope to read all his work- has master work

Memoirs of an Anti-Semite by Gregor von Rezzori amazing work of art.

"Flypaper" by Robert Musil

"Mendel the Bibliophile" by Stefan Zweig - I totally love this story.

"The Dead are Silent" by Arthur Schnitzler an entertaining work from 1907

"There Will Be Action" by Heinrich Boll a very good short story by Nobel Prize Winner

Transit by Anne Seghars 1942 very much worth reading

The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig - an elegy to a lost culture. 1942

Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald. 2001. A modern must read

The Emperor's Tomb By Joseph Roth 1938  a sequel to the first of his works I read. 

"Flower Days" by Robert Walser 1907 (no post) 

"Trousers" by Robert Walser -1909 (no post)

Medea By Crista Wolf very interesting 

An Ermine in Czernopol by Gregor Von Rezzori loved it

"Forgotten Dreams" by StefanZweig (no post)  

Leviathan" by Joseph Roth decent

"The Legend of the Holy Drinker" by Joseph Roth great story

Passport by Herta Mueller

Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse

"Forgotten Dreams" by Stefan Zweig

"The Incomplete Collection" by Stefan Zweig

Of these writers I will try to read as much Joseph Roth as I can, more Stefan Zweig and Robert Walser plus the remaining work by Gregor Von Rezzori in kindle I have not read.

I participated for the third year in Literature in Ghana week hosted by one of my old blogging friends, Kinna of Kinna Reads. 

I continued to read short stories.  

I continued to read Yiddish literature, thanks to a generous gift from Yale University Press. 

I also read these books

Redemption Falls by Joseph O'Connor - an Irish in the US post civil war novel - first rate

The Assassination of the Arch-Duke of Sarajeno by Gary King -non-fiction - popular history

Highway to Hell by Matt Roper - important book on child prostitution in Brazil

The Wilde Passions of Dorian Gray by Mitzi Szereto - an entertaining novel based on premiss that Dorian did not die at the end of the novel but lived on for many decades, maintaining his beauty and becoming ever more decadent.  I enjoyed this as an escapist read. It is very sexually explicit and not for the homophobic. 

I began a new project I am very excited about.

 

German Literature III November 2013. A Great Reading Experience

When you think of Germany's contribution to world culture does your mind go to the great philosophical works of Kant or Hegel, the poetry of Rilke or Goethe,or the great cathedral of Ulm,

or the novels of Nobel Prize Laureates like Thomas Mann and Hermann Hesse? Or do you think of Nazis, concentration camps and the terrible consequences of World War Two?  One of the paradoxes of the human condition is how can one society do all these things?  

GLIII was a great reading experience for me.  Here is what i read with a few comments.   I read a number of new to me writers that have added to my read all I can list.

What I Read.

I am really glad I decided to once again participate in 

German Literature Month November 2013.  I thank Caroline and Lizzy for hosting this great reading event.

The Tin Drum-by Gunther Grass. I am glad I read his master work.  No further reading plans

"The Judgement" by Franz Kafka. -  always good to read more Kafka

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque -very powerful war novel - must read 

"A Letter from an Unknown Woman" by Stefan Zweig. - decent story

The Death of the Adversary by Hans Klein - I liked it a lot

"The Job Application" by Robert Walser -great new to me writer

Chess Game by Stefan Zweig-I will read much more of his work- very good work

"The Battle of Sempach" by Robert Walser

I have also listed to podcasts of "Basta" and "Frau Wilkes" by Robert Walser

The March of Radetsky by Joseph Roth I hope to read all his work- has master work

Memoirs of an Anti-Semite by Gregor von Rezzori amazing work of art.

"Flypaper" by Robert Musil

"Mendel the Bibliophile" by Stefan Zweig - I totally love this story.

"The Dead are Silent" by Arthur Schnitzler an entertaining work from 1907

"There Will Be Action" by Heinrich Boll a very good short story by Nobel Prize Winner

Transit by Anne Seghars 1942 very much worth reading

The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig - an elegy to a lost culture. 1942

Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald. 2001. A modern must read

The Emperor's Tomb By Joseph Roth 1938  a sequel to the first of his works I read. 

"Flower Days" by Robert Walser 1907 (no post) 

"Trousers" by Robert Walser -1909 (no post)

Medea By Crista Wolf very interesting 

An Ermine in Czernopol by Gregor Von Rezzori loved it

"Forgotten Dreams" by StefanZweig (no post)  

Leviathan" by Joseph Roth decent

"The Legend of the Holy Drinker" by Joseph Roth great story

Passport by Herta Mueller

Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse

"Forgotten Dreams" by Stefan Zweig

"The Incomplete Collection" by Stefan Zweig

Of these writers I will try to read as much Joseph Roth as I can, more Stefan Zweig and Robert Walser plus the remaining work by Gregor Von Rezzori in kindle I have not read.

I again thank Caroline and Lizzy for hosting this inspiring event and I hope they do it again next year and I hope to once again participate.

  

The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers 1946

“Listen,” F. Jasmine said. “What I’ve been trying to say is this. Doesn’t it strike you as strange that I am I, and you are you? I am F. Jasmine Addams. And you are Berenice Sadie Brown. And we can look at each other, and touch each other, and stay together year in and year out in the same room. Yet always I am I, and you are you. And I can’t ever be anything else but me, and you can ever be anything else but you. Have you ever thought of that? And does it seem to you strange? ” 

― Carson McCullers, Member Of The Wedding

Carson McCullers is most famous for her southern Gothic coming of age novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.  I think her shorter novel, A Member of the Wedding is in second place.  I really enjoyed them both.  McCuller is a master at bringing forth the state of mind of alienated adolescents, especially girls. I think her work is very American, rooted in a time and place where race concerns were paramount.  Her work needs no praise from me.

I want to advise my readers against buying  the Kindle edition of the book below.

This is a very poorly done Kindle edition.  I understand when books are turned into kindle editions via some OCR scanning programs it produces errors.  This book is full of them and it is clear the publisher did not have anyone look the text over before putting it on the market. There is also no clickable table of contents.  

To me this shows contempt for both Carson McCullers and readers.  

I really liked the stories in this collection.