Comments on: Review: Broken Glass Park, Alina Bronsky (translated by Tim Mohr)

By: Learning A New Culture « Solitary Spinster

Learning A New Culture « Solitary Spinster — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 14:16:58 +0000

[…] Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky is also set in Germany (I read a lot of German books last year). Here we travel to Berlin through the eyes of a young, Russian emigre. This is a lively debut novel with a cheerfully cynical narrator, first published in Germany in 2008, from Russian-born Bronsky. The focus of the narrative is the consciousness of Sascha Naimann, a 17-year-old emigre from Russia to Germany. She’s skeptical, witty, loving, intimidating, vulnerable and understandably furious that her stepfather, Vadim, murdered her mother a few months before the story opens. […]

By: Amanda

Amanda — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 14:34:01 +0000

In reply to Jenny. Um...more like you can control the dream after you go in it. Like once I was in this horror film of a dream and a girl pulled a knife on me in a locked room. And I told myself to turn around, and when I would turn back to her, the dream would transform from horror to something kind. I did, and when I turned back, she no longer had a knife and she was my best friend.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:27:45 +0000

In reply to Michael. Thanks for stopping by! Tim Mohr deserves all the credit in the world for doing such a great job. And, er, I know I've just said I have trouble with translations, but I really appreciate y'all putting out all these translated books. I think it's amazing that we can have access to works by authors from around the world.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:32:39 +0000

In reply to anna. I can't, I gave up swearing for Lent.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:31:51 +0000

In reply to trapunto.

Er, spoilers ahead, so if you didn’t actually want to know what the THING was, then don’t carry on reading. 😛

They don’t actually jump into bed. Volker acts really protective of Sascha and offers her a rescue if she needs it. So she takes him up on it, goes to stay with him and his son, and she sleeps with his son. Then the son gets very sick, and when Volker and Sascha come back from hospital, Volker like jumps on her and they make out. But they don’t (unless I’m remembering incorrectly because it displeased me so much) have sex. I hated it because I didn’t want him to be taking advantage of her! Why must everyone be taking advantage of her?

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 12:35:31 +0000

Jenny, thanks for your very insightful and all-round lovely review of B.G.P. Thanks especially for your mention of the translation. Tim is a remarkable young translator and he did such an extraordinary job with Alina Bronsky’s book! It’s really pleasing when his hard work and talent are noted.

best
Michael Reynolds
Editor in Chief
Europa Editions

By: anna

anna — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:08:34 +0000

Jenny, darling, if you’re going to grumble about the FCC, shouldn’t you do it properly, in words that you would not be allowed to say on TV?

…and now my head is running over with all the first amendment cases regarding this that I memorized last semester.

By: trapunto

trapunto — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 23:18:42 +0000

There are authors just can’t resist having certain characters do that THING. (If its the thing I think it is, which is jumping into bed with no prior warning. If it’s not, let’s just say anything kind of scuzzy and wildly out of character.)

Iris Murdoch is a notable culprit; otherwise I have the greatest respect for her. It usually happens 3/4 through the book. I wonder if it doesn’t go like this: “Ho hum. I’m bored with these people. They need to do something to ramp up the emotional intensity I no longer feel on their behalf, so I can find my way to the next stage of the plot.”

By: Jenny

Jenny — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:14:01 +0000

In reply to Amanda. So sometimes it does work like I could travel back in time and hang out with Oscar Wilde, if I wanted to? I mean, if I keep on lucid dreaming, that might be on the horizon? *really wants to have a dream of hanging out with Oscar Wilde*

By: Jenny

Jenny — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:12:08 +0000

In reply to softdrink. Oo, really? Will you tell me stories to the FTC's discredit? It would be nice if I didn't have to feel guilty every time I accidentally excoriated them. :)