Marukami's "Samsa in Love"

I stumbled on this short story from Marukami.  Interestingly enough, the tagline says "October 28, 2013".  Hmmm...

At any rate, you can find the story here, if you're interested:

http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2013/10/28/131028fi_fiction_murakami?currentPage=all

Let us know your thoughts if you read it!!

Mo Yan

This year, the Nobel prize for literature goes to Mo Yan. 

Happily for us, many of Mo Yan's works are available in English translation by the estimable Howard Goldblatt:

Red Sorghum
The Garlic Ballads
Big Breasts and Wide Hips
Life and Death are Wearing Me Out
The Republic of Wine
Shifu, You'll Do Anything For a Laugh

Western bookmakers, of course, had Haruki Murakami as the favorite to win.  I've never quite understood why, given that Murakami's work does not grapple with social issues in the manner of Mario Vargas Llosa, Orhan Pamuk, J.M. Coetzee, Imre Kertesz, V.S. Naipaul, and other Nobel  winners.  Perhaps just because he is a popular non-English author? 

In any case, congratulations to Mo Yan!  I look forward to reading some of his work.  For those who have a headstart on me, do you have a recommendation as to where to begin?