iranianmulatto's review
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
homingpigeon's review against another edition
4.0
I spotted this at the library when I was in the mood for short stories (and too busy for full-length novels).
Some of the stories spoke to me more than others: Hameed Nylon for its humor; On the Sacks for its miniature coming-of-age story, and A Tale of Music for its demonstration that musical appreciation is for all, even those who are oppressed and so poor that they struggle to eat two meals per day.
The language in many of the stories is a bit dry because of the translators' devotion to absolute correctness in bringing the authors' words to a foreign audience, and that can take ease and enjoyment from the read, but the book is still important because it offers a rare look at the modern literature of cultures about which most Americans know far too little.
Some of the stories spoke to me more than others: Hameed Nylon for its humor; On the Sacks for its miniature coming-of-age story, and A Tale of Music for its demonstration that musical appreciation is for all, even those who are oppressed and so poor that they struggle to eat two meals per day.
The language in many of the stories is a bit dry because of the translators' devotion to absolute correctness in bringing the authors' words to a foreign audience, and that can take ease and enjoyment from the read, but the book is still important because it offers a rare look at the modern literature of cultures about which most Americans know far too little.
val_halla's review against another edition
3.0
This is an incredible project, so I really hate to give it a negative review, because we need more books like it. I would love to read more literature from all of these countries! Unfortunately, having a different translator for every short story or poem means that the work has no cohesion. The introductions to each segment were also very poorly written. I've read a lot of "brief histories" of the Korean War, or summaries of American hostilities with Cuba, etc., and these were mediocre at best. If Words Without Borders could hire better translators and editors for their next project, it could be really amazing. Three stars because the content was often good. In particular, some of the Cuban and Iranian works really stood out to me. Even the North Korean works were enlightening once you filtered out the mandatory nationalism.
gwentolios's review
3.0
Like all story collections, there are good stories and bad stories. I loved the opportunity to read stories from other countries, but only a handful really interested me and so at times I had to remind myself I was in the middle of reading this. Still, I love the project.
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