Book excerpt
-
The story of Grandpa’s tigress
Excerpt from Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan This is an excerpt from the book Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan, translated from the Bahasa Indonesia by Labodalih Sembiring. More astonishing that the genies was the story of Grandpa’s tigress. According to Ma Muah the village storyteller, many a man in the hamlet had a tigress of…
-
You made this?
Excerpt from Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree This is an excerpt from the book Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree. Thimble rapped on the front door as the two of them prepared to open. In his hands he clutched a cloth-wrapped lump that trailed wisps of steam. Viv smelled something warm and yeasty and…
-
I was alive. Or was I?
Excerpt from Confessions by Kanae Minato This is an excerpt from the book Confessions by Kanae Minato, translated from the Japanese by Stephen Snyder. But I was awake, and I was in my room, even if it had been trashed somehow, and I was still breathing. I could still move my arms and legs. I…
-
The Cave
Excerpt from Bunny by Mona Awad This is an excerpt from the book Bunny by Mona Awad. Workshop is held in what is called the Cave, but is really just a black-box theater in the basement of the Narrative Arts Center. No visible doors, no windows, and of course, no clocks. Only dark, damp walls…
-
It’s worse than I imagined
Excerpt from The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin This is an excerpt from the book The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin, translated from the Chinese by Joel Martinsen. The Dark Forest is the second book in the trilogy titled Remembrance of Earth’s Past, or commonly known as the The Three-Body Problem series. I should note…
-
By living in the future
Excerpt from Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin This is an excerpt from the book Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Ichigo, though it was not yet called Ichigo, was supposed to be easy. Something that Sam and Sadie could accomplish during the summer between their junior and senior years. Although…
-
If you will have me
Excerpt from Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati This is an excerpt from the book Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati. Back in the half-deserted stables, Tantalus is feeding a chestnut stallion. She walks to him slowly, as if she hadn’t run the whole way. When he sees her, he gives the horse a last handful of hay, then…
-
The darkness closed in
Excerpt from Human Acts by Han Kang This is an excerpt from the book Human Acts by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith. After they left, the darkness closed in around us. The faint afterglow that had lingered in the western sky dissolved slowly into the surrounding blackness. I moved quickly up to the top…
-
My present self
Excerpt from Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata This is an excerpt from the book Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori. “My present self is formed almost completely of the people around me. I am currently made up of 30 percent Mrs. Izumi, 30 percent Sugawara, 20…
-
Certain phrases fascinate me
Excerpt from Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan This is an excerpt from the book Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan, translated from the French by Irene Ash. The first dinner was very gay. My father and Anne talked of the friends they had in common, who were few, but highly colourful. I was enjoying myself up…