Getting a Boxwalla subscription is the best way to discover artists and artisans from all over the world for $49.95 every two months. There are four boxes to choose from: the Green Beauty Box, Book Box, Food Box and Film box. I went for Boxwalla Book (always for the books) since it gives an opportunity to really branch out and learn about the world.
A short letter asking people to stay connected via social media but more importantly a quick glimpse into the each of the featured writers and literary goodies. This month Boxwalla is drawing attention to the translators who marry linguistic precision with an artistic intuition that helps convey not only the rhythm and flavor of the original language but also the universality of the writer’s ideas.
This month’s literary goodie is a delightful book pin from Ideal Bookshelf. Each pin is an endeavor, by artist Jane Mount, to “capture the essence of a book in less than an inch square.” I love that the book on this pin is Jane Eyre, a true romantic classic.
Satantango by Laszlo Krasznahorkai ($10.85)
From the winner of the 2015 Man Booker International Prize
A dark, haunting masterpiece by the author of The Melancholy of Resistance and Seiobo There Below
Now in paperback, Satantango, the novel that inspired Béla Tarr’s classic film, is proof that the devil has all the good times. Set in an isolated hamlet, the novel unfolds over the course of a few rain-soaked days. Only a dozen inhabitants remain in the bleak village, rank with the stench of failed schemes, betrayals, failure, infidelity, sudden hopes, and aborted dreams. “Their world,” in the words of the renowned translator George Szirtes is “rough and ready, lost somewhere between the cosmic and tragic, in one small insignificant corner of the cosmos. Theirs is the dance of death.” Into this world comes, it seems, a messiah…
I took a few minutes to read the beginning of this book and was pleasantly surprised by the flow of the words from the pages. They read like a sweet song even though the story is supposed to be very bleak. I’m looking forward to completing this gem.
Chronicle in Stone by Ismail Kadare ($13.77)
Masterful in its simplicity, Chronicle in Stone is a touching coming-of-age story and a testament to the perseverance of the human spirit. Surrounded by the magic of beautiful women and literature, a boy must endure the deprivations of war as he suffers the hardships of growing up. His sleepy country has just thrown off centuries of tyranny, but new waves of domination inundate his city. Through the boy’s eyes, we see the terrors of World War II as he witnesses fascist invasions, allied bombings, partisan infighting, and the many faces of human cruelty—as well as the simple pleasures of life.
Evacuating to the countryside, he expects to find an ideal world full of extraordinary things, but discovers instead an archaic backwater where a severed arm becomes a talisman and deflowered girls mysteriously vanish. Woven between the chapters of the boy’s story are tantalizing fragments of the city’s history. As the devastation mounts, the fragments lose coherence, and we perceive firsthand how the violence of war destroys more than just buildings and bridges.
This is the novel I’m looking the most forward to reading. I love coming of age stories and the backdrop of a war-torn country is something that intrigues me. World War II has always fascinated me and to read about its effect on Albania is an opportunity that I can’t wait to embark on.
The Natural Order of Things by Antonio Lobo Antunes ($14)
A novel the Los Angeles Times Book Review called “a work of poetic and erotic genius from a master navigator of the human psyche”, The Natural Order of Things is a tale of two families and the secrets that bind them. The voices of his characters — an army officer being tortured in prison on charges of conspiracy; an elderly man, once a miner in Mozambique, now reduced to dreams of “flying underground”; a diabetic teenage girl and the middle-aged husband she despises; the officer’s illegitimate sister, locked away to haunt the house like Bertha Rochester in Jane Eyre — create a portrait of a disintegrating Portugal, a personal political history that attains the brilliance and surreality of Elias Canetti and Nikolai Gogol.
Honestly, this is the book I looked least forward to reading just by the title alone but once I saw the reference to Jane Eyre on the back cover I was sold. I also like how it’s broken down into five sections and each section has its own title.
Boxwalla is one of the most challenging and rewarding subscription boxes I’ve received. Challenging because I am forcing myself to read outside of my comfort zone – I’m a mystery/thriller junkie – and rewarding because I am able to see the world from someone else point of view. Every two months, I’m able to broaden my horizons and gain an appreciation for other cultures and to see how truly amazing translators are in bringing stories to life in a manner that still resonates in my language.
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