tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post3932749514630965211..comments2024-03-29T03:04:00.853-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: Realists are people who think reality isn’t how you think it is. - Down the Rabbit Hole by Juan Pablo VillalobosAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-83501104547679533842017-02-02T13:27:34.253-06:002017-02-02T13:27:34.253-06:00The hippopotamus really is cryptic, and I feel luc...The hippopotamus really is cryptic, and I feel lucky I noticed it. I wonder if Villalobos worked backwards - "gotta put a hippo in my book," and then it expanded into actual plot.<br /><br />I see Villalobos had a new book in English last year, plus a new new book in Spanish that won a prize that puts him in good company. I'll have to keep an eye out for these.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-14415813038846404942017-02-02T13:15:04.795-06:002017-02-02T13:15:04.795-06:00This is such a great and laugh-inducing little boo...This is such a great and laugh-inducing little book--even without my being up to date on all the cryptic Lewis Carroll homages you mention here. I only wish it hadn't taken me five years to get around to following your implied advice to go ahead and read the damn thing. My bad.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-14348947728225944272012-08-26T23:13:31.368-05:002012-08-26T23:13:31.368-05:00I don't know the state of affairs now, but the...I don't know the state of affairs now, but the import of foreign editions used to affect copyright. There was something of an issue with <i>Lolita</i>, since the legendary first edition was published in France.<br /><br />Which leads to border official alert #2, obscene books. See the <i>Ulysses</i> legal history - or is it <i>Lady Chatterley's Love</i>? Or both? Or neither, some other book I am thinking of?<br /><br />Anyway, I did not find the novel to be a little short, but rather just right.<br /><br />Apparently there is now a Mexican crime or thriller genre called <i>narcoliteratura</i>. The Villalobos novel just sort of glances off that genre. It is more of a relative of <i>2666</i>, except horribly adorable.<br /><br />I know what you mean about the bookstores - like record stores in Olden Times with their import section and Rough Trade and Stiff 7" singles and Depeche Mode picture discs and New Musical Express and...<br /><br />Here's <a href="http://www.thebookhive.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">The Book Hive</a>, for all the good it does me.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-82432270611392811972012-08-26T16:23:57.896-05:002012-08-26T16:23:57.896-05:00Since it isn't yet available in the U.S., I ho...Since it isn't yet available in the U.S., I hope you'll please excuse this shameless plug for the U.K. publishers of the book, And Other Stories Publishing: www.andotherstories.org<br />They are a very young non-profit press, but already have an impressive record, and they are particularly interested in literature from around the world. <br /><br />This particular alien copy of Down the Rabbit Hole was purchased in Norwich, one of the UNESCO cities of literature, at The Book Hive, a simply wonderful independent bookstore. die geneigte Leserinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-92114111948367940702012-08-25T10:32:57.181-05:002012-08-25T10:32:57.181-05:00There must be a whole genre of Alice inspired lite...There must be a whole genre of <i>Alice</i> inspired literature (I mean, <i>directly</i> inspired, like this one, not just influenced by), not that I can think of anything off the top of my head. There also seems to be an emerging Mexican literature around the drug war. I just wouldn't have expected these two genres to intersect.<br /><br />An aside, but I have often longed for a local bookstore that carried titles published in the UK but not (yet) in the U.S. - it's quite dismaying how much literature gets published over there but not here, or how long the delay can be before a U.S. edition appears. And then there's that unfortunate <i>Harry Potter</i> phenomenon of dumbing down some books for American audiences...seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-79016223424569065332012-08-24T23:18:34.264-05:002012-08-24T23:18:34.264-05:00Smuggled? Are American border officals really loo...Smuggled? Are American border officals really looking out for contraband literature? If so, I'm in trouble because one of my recent posts was on a book which hasn't come out in Australia yet...<br /><br />Anyway, this is a great book, if a little short - and you really can't go wrong with a Pygmy hippo in the story ;)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07546287562521628467noreply@blogger.com