Vote for the August book club book

This is a room for the discussion of travel plans or experiences and the culture of places you have visited or plan to visit.

Which book(s) do you want to read in August?

Poll ended at Sun Jul 26, 2020 11:08 am

Tiempos recios
1
100%
The Overcoat
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 1

Mista
Blue Belt
Posts: 608
Joined: Wed May 11, 2016 11:03 pm
Location: Norway
Languages: Norwegian (N), English (QN). Studied Ancient Greek (MA), Linguistics (MA), Latin (BA), German (BA). Italian at A2/B1 level. Learning: French, Japanese, Russian (focus) and various others, like Polish, Spanish, Vietnamese, and anything that comes my way. Also know some Sanskrit (but not the script) and Coptic. Really want to learn Arabic and Amharic.
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7497
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Vote for the August book club book

Postby Mista » Thu Jul 16, 2020 11:08 am

The two nominated books this time are:

Tiempos recios by Mario Vargas Llosa
350 pages
Goodreads wrote:Una historia de conspiraciones políticas e intereses encontrados durante la Guerra Fría. Una mentira que pasó por verdad y cambió el devenir de América Latina.

«¿Era la historia esa fantástica tergiversación de la realidad?»

Guatemala, 1954. El golpe militar perpetrado por Carlos Castillo Armas y auspiciado por Estados Unidos a través de la CIA derroca el gobierno de Jacobo Árbenz. Detrás de este acto violento se encuentra una mentira que pasó por verdad y que cambió el devenir de América Latina: la acusación por parte del gobierno de Eisenhower de que Árbenz alentaba la entrada del comunismo soviético en el continente.

Tiempos recios es una historia de conspiraciones internacionales e intereses encontrados, en los años de la Guerra Fría, cuyos ecos resuenan hasta la actualidad. Un suceso que involucró a varios países y en el que algunos verdugos acabaron convirtiéndose en víctimas de la misma trama que habían ayudado a construir.

En esta novela apasionante, que conecta con la aclamada La Fiesta del Chivo, Mario Vargas Llosa funde la realidad con dos ficciones: la del narrador que libremente recrea personajes y situaciones, y la diseñada por aquellos que quisieron controlar la política y la economía de un continente manipulando su historia.


Last month, Goodreads had only a German translation in addition to the Spanish original. When I checked now, it has also appeared in Polish. Since this is a very recent publication, from October 2019, more translations are likely to appear soon, and some may be available already for all I know.


Шинель/The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol
45 pages
Goodreads wrote:The Overcoat which is generally acknowledged as the finest of Gogol's memorable Saint Petersburg stories, is a tale of the absurd and misplaced obsessions.

This is a short story, and will often be found in a collection with other short stories. Everyone is free to just read this story or pick the collection of their choice (they are likely to differ between languages)

Link to discussion thread: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... d0ec184621
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