The Penguin Book of the International Short Story is a dream tome for anyone who loves short stories, or translated fiction, or both! This anthology contains over 30 “international” stories (in this sense, international means non-US), translated to English from Persian, Swedish, Spanish, Polish, Korean, Chinese; the list goes on. Rabid Alameddine and John Freeman have gathered a varied collection, and pretty much all the stories are worth a read.
I’m a huge fan of short stories, and I loved being introduced to new writers, as well as being reminded of some classics.
Below are some of my favorites:
The Weird
Superfrog Saves Tokyo, by Haruki Murakami (Japanese, translator Jay Rubin) – A loan collector comes home to find a giant frog in his apartment, who wants him to help in fighting a Worm to save Tokyo from an earthquake. This is the first story in the anthology, and I feel like this was a “Cerberus” story; if you get past this one unscathed, you will more than likely enjoy the rest of the collection.
My Sad Dead, by Mariana Enriquez (Spanish, trans. Megan McDowell) – A woman lives in a rough neighborhood, but does not want to leave because the ghost of her dead mother still lives with her. The woman sees other ghosts too, most importantly, young people who have died. This is absolutely heartbreaking. Enriquez is one of my favorite writers.
The Fruit of My Woman, by Han Kong (Korean, trans. Deborah Smith) – This one was oddly moving. A woman begins to find strange bruises on herself, before starting a strange transformation. Told from the perspective of the woman and her partner, this is a brilliantly unconventional love story.
An Unlucky Man, by Samanta Schweblin (Spanish, trans. Megan McDowell) – Along with Enriquez, Schweblin is another of my favorites. A surreal tale of a girl somewhat abducted while in a hospital waiting room. Like a lot of Schweblin’s work, there is a dreamy, uncanny feeling to this story.
War of the Clowns, by Mia Couto (Portuguese, trans. Eric M. B. Becker) – file this under weird, but also chillingly prescient. A brief fable, beginning as a small fight between two literal clowns, which escalates, and embroils a whole town. I had to take a breather after this one.
Beautiful and Heartbreaking
The Illumination of Santiago, Nona Fernandez Silanes (Spanish, trans. Idra Novey) – A gorgeous little tale about electric street lights being installed for the first time in Santiago. Told from the perspective of a young girl, who has literally never seen anything like it before.
Amira, Who Knows, by Rawaa Sonbol (Arabic, trans. Katharine Halls) – A woman in her seventies sits outside some public toilets, and watches. There is a lot of sadness in this story, but a lot of love too.
The Flower Garden, by Mieko Kawakami (Japanese, trans. Hitomi Yoshio) – Oh my word, this story is heartbreaking. A woman loses her home and her beloved garden due to her husband’s misdeeds, and is forced to sell to a young, single woman. Lots of resentment here, and some cringeworthy behavior. A wonderful story.
You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town, by Zoe Wicomb – This is the most upsetting story in the collection. A young girl makes a fateful, life-changing bus journey with her boyfriend. An absolutely devastating ending.
California Reading 