Institut Ramon LLull

"Why, Why, Why?" by Quim Monzó, translated by Peter Bush, featured on The New York Times shortlist

Literature.  USA, 17/02/2020

In the Catalan writer Quim Monzó’s version of classic fairy tales, a prince kisses a toad and is rewarded with the woman of his dreams. Then he wonders what to say. "Should he suggest they go straight to his place or will she take it the wrong way?”




Prestigious US daily, The New York Times (NYT), has chosen a book by Catalan writer, Quim Monzó, as one of the four best works of fiction translated into English in 2019. Monzó's collection of short stories, 'El perquè de tot plegat,' which originally appeared in Catalan in 1993, was translated from the Catalan by Peter Brush as 'Why, Why, Why?' and published in the US by Open Letter Books

According to the NYT's review of the book, the "all too human neuroses laid bare in Monzó’s pithy stories can be discomfiting to read." The reviewer also points to Monzó's ability to subvert expectations: "In this Catalan writer’s hands, everything can be turned on its head and nothing is sacred."

The 67-year-old Monzó is one of Catalonia's leading contemporary writers, with more than a score of novels and short story collections to his name.

The three other translations on the list are 'The Factory' by Hyroko Oyamada, 'The Pelican' by Martin Michael Driessen and 'A kitchen in the corner of the house' by Ambai.

Literary translator, Peter Bush, has translated works from Catalan, French, Spanish and Portuguese into English, including work by some of Catalonia's major writers.

 

 

Read the full review by Alison McCulloh in The New York Times: Not Lost in Translation: Provocative Foreign Fiction

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