Micro Review 28 (2025)

 

Barbara Isn't Dying by Alina Bronsky, translated by Tim Mohr (Europa Editions)

I really must start writing down where I see books mentioned that I go on to request from the library - I'd certainly not have discovered this book without seeing it mentioned somewhere but I really can't remember where and so can't thank the person who first brought it to my attention.

Walter Schmidt has lived his whole life within the narrow, “comfortable” confines of traditional gender roles: he has made it to retirement without learning how to fry an egg or use a vacuum cleaner. After all, he could always count on his wife, Barbara. But when one morning she can’t get up from bed anymore, everything changes.

With biting humour and great warmth, Alina Bronsky writes about how Walter, nearing the end of his life, is suddenly forced to reinvent himself as a caregiver and house-husband, and become the caring partner he never was in all his years with Barbara. Little by little, Walter’s rough facade begins to crumble—and with it his old certainties about his life and family.

At the very beginning I really disliked Walter, a man so useless he can't even make a cup of instant coffee, and to be honest he remains a prickly, proud, and annoying character throughout the book. However this is one of the things that really makes this book - Walter's changes are incredibly subtle and he remains uncompromising in so many things. By the end however I was rooting for him completely and became as frustrated by the people around him as he was - no one seemed to meet him half way. And the final things we learn about him are just heart breaking.

In other hands this would have been just another book about a character with a probable autism diagnosis struggling to fit in to the world but ultimately making compromises or having a talent so that everyone suddenly loved him, but Bronsky keeps Walter whole and the book is all the better for that. 

I am struggling to articulate what captivated me so much about this book but I really did love it, but I'm very grateful that Mr Norfolkbookworm is far more capable around the house!

Microreview 27 (2025)

 

Jellyfish Have No Ears by Adele Rosenfeld, translated by Jeffery Zuckerman (McLehose Press)

This was an interesting read, and while I don't think that it will feature in my top 10 books of the year it will be hovering just outside...

The book is about a young woman who has had hearing problems for years but suddenly these have worsened and she is becoming profoundly deaf. She is told, however, that some of her hearing can be saved if she has a cochlear implant.

Louise has always felt adrift between communities: not deaf enough to be a part of Deaf culture, not hearing enough to be fully within the hearing world. Hearing, for Louise, is inseparable from reading other people's lips. Through sight, she perceives words and strings them together like pearls to reconstruct a conversation.

Then an audiology exam shows that most of her hearing has gone, and her doctor suggests a cochlear implant. With this irreversible intervention, Louise would gain a new, synthetic sense of hearing - but she would lose what remains of her natural hearing, which has shaped her unique relationship with the world, full of whispers and shadows.

As she weighs the prospect of surgery, she must also contend with the chaotic reality of her life as she falls in love, suffers through her first job, and steadies herself with friends.

A masterclass in wordplay and language's possibilities and limitations, this fiercely original debut plunges readers into Louise's world as she grapples with loss, and considers what she might gain in the process.

I found the book to be an immersive read into the life of someone wrestling with the decision regarding undertaking treatment that will be life changing - and possibly not all in a positive way.

However the reason that I have been thinking about this book so much since finishing is that I realise it is in fact a double translation. 

As well as Zuckerman having to tackle the translation from French - including making all of the very clever wordplay work, the book has also had to try to translate the experience of being D/deaf in the real world to non hearing impaired readers. While this book is only the protagonist's experience of the latter I felt like I had a much better understanding of the struggles faced in day to day life in France and the alienation not being 'normal' causes.

It came as no surprise to read that both the author and translator are deaf - I think that this must make a difference from a hearing person writing a deaf character. 

Reading the World update

 

As three quarters of the year has now passed I am really impressed at how much more of my map I have scratched off since June- I appreciate that reading books from Russian authors and also a couple of Canadian book has really made a difference but when I look back through my reading journal for 2025 I can see that I've read books set in 68 countries.

Of these 68 the great majority are by authors from these areas and for the most part not by British authors using an exotic destination. There are also pleasingly few travel writing books bumping up the totals - and several of the ones I have read were already in translation so gave a non British-centric view to the journey.

Books from Japan still make up the majority of books in translation that I've read in 2025, but so far it is France that holds second place (with South Korea and Germany) in hot pursuit.

If I add in books from last year I can say that I have read books from 83 countries which isn't bad too bad at all really!

My joy in this project is also making me start to think how I can share my discoveries more widely and as I work for the library service and as 2026 has been designated a Year of Reading all I can say is watch this space...

Reading Map 1st July