Reviewing a short story collection presents a challenge. Reviewing a short story collection of translations from thirty-five different authors hailing from almost as many countries presents an even greater challenge. Much has been said about Best European Fiction 2010, we’ve rhapsodized the anthology here. It’s great. Essential.
How about three stories to start with?
And All Turned Moon – Georgi Gospodinov (Bulgaria): Good sci-fi incorporates the science without attracting attention to it, the lives of the people in the world envisioned stay at the forefront. And All Turned Moon is a good example of this. The science never overwhelms, and we’re given insight to how different a world with advanced space travel would be, and how similar.
Resistance—Stephan Enter (Netherlands): A group of students lose their beloved chess instructor, replaced by a superior teacher who they keep at arm’s length and tease not so subtly because of his peculiar demeanor. This ruminative tale examines what it is to be young, the yearning for independence while inevitably susceptible to the demands and whims of the group(s) to which you belong.
Bulbjerg—Naja Maria Aidt (Denmark): A young couple’s relationship disintegrates in a remote park as they battle over how best to care for their injured child, that each of their sordid trysts come to light during the ordeal only amplifies the discord.
Read these. Read all of the collection.
