As I write this we currently have five books by Scholastique Mukasonga translated into English. Each has been published by Archipelago Books (the subject of our Episode 23). These are vital, though painful, books. It has been an enriching experience reading them each over the past few months in preparation for today’s episode on her work.
Honestly, it was hard to talk about these books for a few reasons. First, the subject is heart-wrenching. Mukasonga’s family was murdered in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, following decades of fear. But they were also hard to talk about because, frankly, Paul and I felt relatively insignificant, or, at least, that any take we could have on these was pretty insignificant. It’s just not enough to say that these books are written and translated beautifully.
But they should be talked about! And so we try, and I hope we are part of a conversation about these horrors and about remembering the lives lost. After all, these books contain so much love as well.
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Shownotes
Books
- Badluck Way: A Year on the Ragged Edge of the West, by Bryce Andrews
- Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St. John Mandel
- The Glass Hotel, by Emily St. John Mandel
- Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel
- The Guest Lecture, by Martin Riker
- A Horse at Night: On Writing, by Amina Cain
- “My Wonderful Description of Flowers,” by Danielle Dutton
- The Diaries of Kafka, translated by Ross Benjamin
- The Hearing Trumpet, by Leonora Carrington
- Grand Hotel, by Vicki Baum, translated by Basil Creighton, with revisions by Margot Bettauer Dembo
- Cockroaches, by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated by Jordan Stump
- Our Lady of the Nile, by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated by Melanie Mauthner
- The Barefoot Woman, by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated by Jordan Stump
- Igifu, by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated by Jordan Stump
- Kibogo, by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated by Mark Polizzotti
- Ce que murmurent les collines, by Scholastique Mukasonga
- Cœur tambour, by Scholastique Mukasonga
- Sister Deborah, by Scholastique Mukasonga
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About the Podcast
The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast is a book chat podcast. Every other week Paul and Trevor get together to talk about some bookish topic or another.
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