Posts Tagged ‘translation’

Going old school | Writing chez moi | Isn’t that odd?
Approximately 18h
The Czechs clash with their former overlords today on the ice. A little too much mustard, a little too late, don’t you think? ;-P There will be drunks on Prague’s streets tonight…

Kang Chol-Hwan’s bestselling North Korean captivity memoir found itself on my required reading list for May. When it slid into my mailbox last week I – again – nearly plowed through its pages in record time. These “single sitting finishes” have been happening to me often lately, a good sign, alas. Means I’m picking them correctly. Means we’re getting close. Means…well, it means a whole lot of things!

So what is it about titles like The Aquariums of Pyongyang?

Why do I find myself drawn so magnetically to these sorts of emotive sagas recounting the tragedies of seemingly hopeless individuals who find themselves staring dead into the snake eyes of what Life has to offer, only to emerge on the other side wiser, more enlightened, and more worldly then ever before?

The story of author Kang’s life is horrific in the extreme.

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