From Borges to Garcia Marquez, Vargas Llosa, Marias or Bolano , the Spanish language has given us some of the 20th century's most beloved writers. But as the reach of Spanish culture extends far beyond Spain and Latin America, and the US tilts towards a majority Hispanic population, the time is right to ask who and what is next in Spanish language fiction? In this, the first translated issue of Granta's Best of Young Novelists, a distinguished panel of six judges looks to new writing across the Hispanophone world and asks, 'Who are the most promising novelists telling the stories from the old and new worlds today?' Granta 113, published simultaneously in Spain as Los mejores narradores jovenes en espanol, will showcase the work of 20 promising new writers. Granta's previous Best Young Novelist issues have been startlingly accurate crystal balls, by first calling attention to the work of writers from Salman Rushdie to Jonathan Franzen to Zadie Smith. Here, for the first time in translation, we will again attempt to predict the stars of the future.
Granta 113
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Certificate, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
About the Author
John Freeman's criticism has appeared in the Guardian, The New York Times, and The Sydney Morning Herald. Between 2006 and 2008, he served as president of the National Book Critics Circle. His first book, The Tyranny of E-Mail, was published in 2009.
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Ripple
TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The chances are that unless you are Spanish speaking, you won't have heard of many, if any, of these writers (I certainly hadn't) as most haven't been published in English before. Granta turns it's focus on Spanish language writers featuring 22 writers under the age of 35 from Spain (7), Argentina (8), Chile (2), Peru (2), Mexico, Uruguay, and Bolivia. If you are used to the magical realism of Latin American writers such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and others, you are in for a bit of a surprise as this is the new generation of writers who, as the introduction notes, have largely grown up in more stable and democratic political times. It's interesting to compare the overall tone with Granta's most recent "best of" collection from young American writers. There, there was an undeniable preponderance of stories on aging and death - the Spanish writers here are generally much more youthful in outlook, generally writing about students and young adults (although Andrés Neuman covers the after effects of a wife's death in his tale of feuding university professors and Sònia Hernández muses on life after an accident that should have resulted in death).
The edition gets off to a cracking start with Lucía Puenzo's Havana-set story full of Latin sexiness and threats of violence. The steam almost comes off the pages. The same might be said of the story by Carlos Yushimito. Santiago Roncagliolo considers the relationship of Latin America with the US while Oliveiro Coelho evocatively portrays the plight of many out of work men in rural Argentina in the extract from his novel. Alberto Olmos considers the alienation of consumer culture in a terrific piece and Elvira Navarro writes of the end of a relationship.... Read more ›
The edition gets off to a cracking start with Lucía Puenzo's Havana-set story full of Latin sexiness and threats of violence. The steam almost comes off the pages. The same might be said of the story by Carlos Yushimito. Santiago Roncagliolo considers the relationship of Latin America with the US while Oliveiro Coelho evocatively portrays the plight of many out of work men in rural Argentina in the extract from his novel. Alberto Olmos considers the alienation of consumer culture in a terrific piece and Elvira Navarro writes of the end of a relationship.... Read more ›
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Eileen Shaw
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
Writers from all over Latin and South America writing in the Spanish language are featured in this excellent collection. I've highlighted four below, but I found I had listed ten of the twenty-two writers featured with the aim of following-up any future translations I may come across. I am not sure I could characterise the kinds of writing found here, in any definitive way, which is surely a good thing. That they are all (relatively) young and have young preoccupations is perhaps their one distinguishing feature, but that is by no means a more interesting fact than the diversity, energy and ambition shown in their writing.
Lucia Puenzo's (from Argentina) short story, Cohiba is a mesmerizingly dark and erotic adventure which starts in a cinema when a beautiful young man sits down next to a very young and naïve girl. It ends two baking-hot days later as the girl, ready to leave the institute, hears the fate of an acquaintance to whom she had introduced Cohiba.
I was moved by Alberto Olmos' (from Spain) excerpt from his novel. It was a situation between husband and wife, between Eva and Diego, seen from the point of view of Eva - a dislocated view of a woman for whom life seems to be slipping out of control. "I told Diego that life's capped. That's what I said, it's capped, and I put my hands over my cup of coffee in the shape of a small roof." One of the shops she passes every day cannot seem to stop mutating: from a shoe shop to an electrical goods shop, a dentist's, a plumbers. And then another large building disappears and she cannot remember what used to be there. Intrigued, hypnotised, by the way things happen, the way everything changes and yet nothing seems to make any real difference. How we just move from one thing to another.... Read more ›
Lucia Puenzo's (from Argentina) short story, Cohiba is a mesmerizingly dark and erotic adventure which starts in a cinema when a beautiful young man sits down next to a very young and naïve girl. It ends two baking-hot days later as the girl, ready to leave the institute, hears the fate of an acquaintance to whom she had introduced Cohiba.
I was moved by Alberto Olmos' (from Spain) excerpt from his novel. It was a situation between husband and wife, between Eva and Diego, seen from the point of view of Eva - a dislocated view of a woman for whom life seems to be slipping out of control. "I told Diego that life's capped. That's what I said, it's capped, and I put my hands over my cup of coffee in the shape of a small roof." One of the shops she passes every day cannot seem to stop mutating: from a shoe shop to an electrical goods shop, a dentist's, a plumbers. And then another large building disappears and she cannot remember what used to be there. Intrigued, hypnotised, by the way things happen, the way everything changes and yet nothing seems to make any real difference. How we just move from one thing to another.... Read more ›
1 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'd better start by coming clean: I don't have much time for fiction. Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoy fiction, but life is too short to read stuff which isn't true.
I am a Granta subscriber. I have been for years. I love it. The non-fiction articles and the photojournalism are excellent. But editions like this which are entirely dedicated to fiction just leave me cold, and make me question whether I should renew my subscription. The whole point of Granta is that is supposed to be a mix of different types of writing.
It might be my imagination, but Granta seems to have been placing more and more emphasis on fiction since Ian Jack stopped being editor. I see this as a very bad move.
Come on, Granta. You can do better than this! Granta 102, for example, was a masterpiece!
I am a Granta subscriber. I have been for years. I love it. The non-fiction articles and the photojournalism are excellent. But editions like this which are entirely dedicated to fiction just leave me cold, and make me question whether I should renew my subscription. The whole point of Granta is that is supposed to be a mix of different types of writing.
It might be my imagination, but Granta seems to have been placing more and more emphasis on fiction since Ian Jack stopped being editor. I see this as a very bad move.
Come on, Granta. You can do better than this! Granta 102, for example, was a masterpiece!
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see both reviews
4.5 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
