What we’re about
Did you know that there are over 7,100 languages in the world today, but only 3% of the books that reach American readers each year are translated? There's a lot of great stuff out there to discover! If you're an adventurous reader looking to expand your knowledge about the world, then this book club is for you. We exclusively read works in translation, picking something from a different country every month and meeting to discuss our thoughts in a friendly and accessible environment.
For a full list of what we've read and where we've been so far, click here.
Upcoming events (2)
See all- November Meeting: THE APPOINTMENTMadison Public Library - Central, Madison, WI
For November we'll be reading THE APPOINTMENT by Herta Müller, translated by Michael Hulse and Philip Boehm!
"I've been summoned. Thursday, ten sharp." Thus begins a day in the life of a young factory worker during Ceausescu's totalitarian regime. She has been questioned before; this time, she believes, will be worse. Her crime? Sewing notes into the linings of men's suits bound for Italy. "Marry me," the notes say, with her name and address. Anything to get out of Romania.
As each tram stop brings the young woman closer to the appointment, her thoughts stray to her father and his infidelities; to her friend Lilli, shot trying to flee to Hungary; to her grandparents, deported after her own husband informed on them; and to Paul, her lover, her one source of trust despite his drunkenness. In her distraction, she misses her stop and finds herself on an unfamiliar street. And what she discovers there makes her fear of the interrogation pale by comparison.
Bone-spare and intense,THE APPOINTMENT powerfully renders the humiliating terrors of a crushing regime and its corrosive effects on family and friendship, sex and love.
Please consider obtaining your copy from one of Madison's wonderful independent bookstores or from Bookshop.org! There are also used copies available from several online retailers.
- December Meeting: HUMAN ACTSMadison Public Library - Central, Madison, WI
For December we'll be reading HUMAN ACTS by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith!
Amid a violent student uprising in South Korea, a young boy named Dong-ho is shockingly killed. The story of this tragic episode unfolds in a sequence of interconnected chapters as the victims and the bereaved encounter suppression, denial, and the echoing agony of the massacre. From Dong-ho's best friend who meets his own fateful end; to an editor struggling against censorship; to a prisoner and a factory worker, each suffering from traumatic memories; and to Dong-ho's own grief-stricken mother; and through their collective heartbreak and acts of hope is the tale of a brutalized people in search of a voice.
An award-winning, controversial bestseller, HUMAN ACTS is a timeless, pointillist portrait of an historic event with reverberations still being felt today, by turns tracing the harsh reality of oppression and the resounding, extraordinary poetry of humanity.
Please consider obtaining your copy from one of Madison's wonderful independent bookstores or from Bookshop.org! There are also used copies available from several online retailers.
