the Literary Saloon https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/index.htm opinionated commentary on literary matters en-us Copyright 2026 the Complete Review http://backend.userland.com/rss mao@complete-review.com '100 best novels' https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw8 The Guardian's The 100 best novels of all time (that have been published in English), selected by 172 authors, critics and academics who each listed their top 10 novels of all time in ranked order (you can see how each one voted by clicking the "See all the votes"-button, which is fun (if time-consuming)).
       George Eliot's Middlemarch came out on top, with most of the usual suspects also figuring; the Anglophone make-up of the pool of voters also means the list is predictably dominated by books written in English, though the heavy-hitter foreign classics (Tolstoy, Madame Bovary, etc.) also make the cut.
       Pure click-bait, of course, but hard to resist -- as is complaining about/commenting on the choices .....

       (These sorts of things get done/published regularly, including by foreign publications, and I chanced across one from Der Spiegel last year yesterday, which is also available online -- promising 'The best books of the world' (avoiding the homer-bias by not including German-language works). Not quite the same exercise in other respects, too -- only four jurors decided the lot, and it covered all 'narrative works' (not just novels), but only from the last hundred years (so Middlemarch etc. wasn't eligible). It, too, is (overly) English-language heavy and a very mixed lot; props to them, however, for selecting Finnegans Wake (!) (though I suspect they only did so because Ulysses wasn't eligible, narrowly missing the date-cutoff).) ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw8 Self-Control review https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw9 complete review is my review of Stig Sæterbakken's Self-Control, which Dalkey Archive Press brought out in 2012 and is now re-issuing. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw9 Orwell Prize longlists https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw5 announced the longlists for this year's Orwell Prize for Political Writing and Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, eight titles each.
       Good to see a prize for political fiction, though none of these are under review at the complete review.
       The winners will be announced 25 June. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw5 Pope blesses book fair participants https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw6 Turin International Book Fair in a telegram -- along with the Pope's call that:
We need literature that helps us recognize the dignity of every person
]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw6 Essential US works ? https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw7 Publishers Weekly they: "polled PW's staffers and freelance reviewers, as well as members of the National Book Critics Circle, on the most essential books published in the U.S. since 1776" -- each of the 151 participants asked to nominate three titles --, coming up with their list of: 15 Essential Works of American Literature.
       (Nice/interesting to see that translated works were eligible, though I doubt a one was mentioned.)
       Not sure what 'essential' means but, hey, it's another list to debate ..... ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw7 Dylan Thomas Prize https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw3 announced the winner of this year's Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, "the world's largest and most prestigious literary prize for young writers", and it is Joy Is My Middle Name, by Sasha Debevec-McKenney; see also the publicity pages from Fitzcarraldo Editions and W. W. Norton & Company. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw3 Laura B. McGrath Q & A https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw4 The Paris Review blog Rosa Lyster has a lengthy Q & A with Laura B. McGrath on her new book about literary agents, Middlemen. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw4 New Zealand Book Awards https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw1 announced the winners of this year's Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, the leading New Zealand literary prize, with All Her Lives by Ingrid Horrocks winning the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction and Te Āhua o ngā Kupu Whakaari a Te Kooti by Tā Pou Temara (Ngāi Tūhoe) (see also the Auckland University Press publicity page) winning the Mūrau o te Tuhi – Māori Language Award. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw1 Stella Prize https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw2 announced the winner of this year's Stella Prize, an Australian prize, "celebrating Australian women and non-binary writing", and it is Cannon, by Lee Lai; see also the Giramondo publicity page. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lw2 Wolff Translator's Prize https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv7 announced the winner of this year's Helen & Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize for a translation from the German published in the US or Canada, and it is Max Lawton, for his translation of Michael Lentz's Schattenfroh; see also the Deep Vellum publicity page.
       (I haven't seen this one but expect to get to the German original at some point.) ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv7 'Gaza's lost books' https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv8 How to preserve what remains.
       As he notes:
During the Gaza War, most public libraries, private book collections and many bookshops were significantly damaged or almost completely destroyed, mostly because of Israeli air strikes.
       Countless tragic losses in this conflict, from its beginnings, and this certainly isn't the least of them -- but at least here something can be salvaged. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv8 Sami Rohr Prize finalists https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv9 this year's prize. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv9 Libris Literatuur Prijs https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv5 official site, last I checked, but see, for example the announcement at ... sponsor Libris.nl --, a leading Dutch prize for a work of fiction, and it is Aan het einde van de oorlog, by Bert Natter.
       This is forthcoming next year in English, as At the End of the War, from Summit Books UK; see, for example, the Australian publicity page or pre-order your copy at Amazon.co.uk (there's no US listing yet). ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv5 FAF Translation Prize finalists https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv6 post.
       The only one of these under review at the complete review is one of the two Mark Polizzotti translations that he a finalist for, The Emotions, by Jean-Philippe Toussaint.
       I've only seen one more of these titles. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv6 Wales Book of the Year shortlists https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv2 announced the shortlists for this year's Wales Book of the Year, two times three titles in each of its four categories, once for books written in English, once for those written in Welsh..
       The winners will be announced 9 July. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv2 AI and interpreting https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv3 The Interpreter-author Diego Marani writes that AI will make language barriers disappear -- and diminish our understanding of other cultures at The Guardian.
       Even though he believes: "The age of the interpreter is over", with AI taking over that role, he suggests this comes with a great loss:
The first effect of the AI translation revolution will be to render the study and learning of languages superfluous for individuals. It will be enough to turn to our phones to understand whoever speaks to us and to translate our own speech into any language. Eventually, we shall be able to read information in every language, to write texts that can be read from one end of the world to the other. Yet knowledge -- true understanding of others, of their cultures and customs, of the cast of mind of another country -- will not thereby become ours.
]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv3 Apologies https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv4        I hope to get fully back on track once I have relocated; thank you for your patience. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605b.htm#lv4 AI and translation https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu9 The Guardian Philip Oltermann explores: ‘Being human helps’: despite rise of AI is there still hope for Europe’s translators ?
       Yes: "Even people who develop machine translation software concede there are tasks that remain beyond their product's reach" -- though one has to wonder: for how long ..... ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu9 Suzuki Koji (1957-2026) https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lv1 Ring -- has passed away; see, for example, reports at nippon.com and the AV Club.
       Five of his novels are under review at the complete review. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lv1 Jackson Poetry Prize https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu7 Poets & Writers have announced the winner of this year's Jackson Poetry Prize, awarded to: "an American poet of exceptional talent" and paying out US$100,000, and it is Marianne Boruch. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu7 Philip Caputo (1941-2026) https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu8 A Rumor of War, has passed away; see, for example, the obituary in The New York Times (presumably paywalled) or David E. Petzal's In Memory of F&S Contributor Philip Caputo, 1941-2026 at ... Field & Stream. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu8 EBRD Literature Prize finalists https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu4 announced the finalists for its EBRD Literature Prize.
       One of the three finalists is under review at the complete review: Ice by Jacek Dukaj, translated by Ursula Phillips.
       The winner will be announced 2 July. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu4 Charles Ardai Q & A https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu5 Charles Ardai on Noir, Comics, and the Ongoing Adventures of Hard Case Crime.
       Among his responses:
A lot has been written about the death of the mass market paperback, which is of course connected to the rise in ebooks, but I am curious what that’s looked like from your perspective as a publisher and editor, and how has this changed the way the imprint works and the business side of things ?

We started out publishing mass-market paperbacks, those wonderful pocket-sized volumes that resembled the sort our parents and grandparents carried on trains and read in motel rooms and that famously were sold in wire spinner racks in drugstores throughout the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. [...] Eventually, stores stopped wanting to carry these low-priced, pocket-sized books (though I don’t think readers ever stopped enjoying them) [...] No one can stay in business with a 70% return rate (never mind 80% or 90%), and in fact the first publishing partner we worked with, the venerable Dorchester Publishing, which put out books only in the mass-market format, did go out of business.

When we hooked up with Titan Books after Dorchester’s demise, they made it clear it would be trade paperbacks and hardcovers only – but every publisher that offered to work with us said the same thing, so it wasn’t really a choice. We had to publish in a larger format or not publish at all.
       A number of Hard Case Crime books are under review at the complete review -- but, yeah, I miss those mass-market paperback volumes ..... ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu5 OCM Bocas Prize https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu6 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature , and it is The Snag by Tessa McWatt, the nonfiction category-winner.
       See also the publicity pages for The Snag from Random House and Scribe. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu6 Thomas-Mann-Preis https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu2 To the End of the Land-author David Grossman; see, for example, the Börsenblatt report.
       He gets to pick up the prize on 25 September. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu2 James Tait Black Prize on hold ? https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu3 The Scotsman, there's a Threat to UK's oldest literary prize with DH Lawrence among winners amid university strike action, as lead judge of the The James Tait Black Prizes -- "The UK's longest running literary award" -- Hannah Kate Boast has announced that: "at present, there will be no prize".
       At issue is: "a marketing and assessment boycott" at the University of Edinburgh. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu3 Joyce Carol Oates Prize https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt8 announced the winner of this year's Joyce Carol Oates Prize, which honors: "mid-career authors of fiction who advance the vision and mission of NewLit -- to drive social change and unleash artistic power across the generations and the nation", and it is Erika Krouse. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt8 Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize longlist https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt9 this year's Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize.
       Awarded to translations "published for the first time in print form in the United Kingdom in the year 2025", the list includes some that came out in the US years ago, including the one longlisted title under review at the complete review, Susan Bernofsky's translation of Tawada Yoko's The Naked Eye. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt9 Ethiopian monuments https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu1 Addis Ababa Unveils Monuments Honoring Ethiopia's Legendary Artists, Literary Icons.
       Among those honored were literary figures Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin and Seed-author Sebhat Gebre-Egziabher. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lu1 Pulitzer Prizes https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt6 announced the winners of this year's Pulitzer Prizes, with Angel Down by Daniel Kraus taking the Fiction prize; the other finalists were Audition by Katie Kitamura and Stag Dance by Torrey Peters.
       No literary critics were finalists in the Criticism category. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt6 Zbigniew Herbert Award https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt7 announced the winner of this year's Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award, and it is Ana Blandiana.
       Quite a few of her books have been translated into English, including the recent(ly translated) collection The Shadow of Words; see the Bloodaxe publicity page. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt7 Annie Ernaux profile https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt4 Annie Ernaux participated in this year's Salon International de l'Edition et du Livre, and at Morocco World News Firdaous Naim now reports on how At SIEL 2026, Annie Ernaux Dismantles the Fiction of Literature. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt4 Publishing in ... Asia https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt5 In an Age of Doom Scrolling, Asia's Book Market Is Thriving.
       But ...: "Demand is being driven by something more practical: a desire to get ahead" -- and so: "Textbooks, exam preparation materials and self-help titles are among the bestsellers". ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt5 'God of the Little Road' exhibit https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt3 Pather Panchali-author Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay, in ‘Bibhutibhushan’s writings are a commentary on our ideas of civilisation inherited from colonisers’ -- as Banerjee recently curated an exhibit on the author, God of the Little Road. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt3 Katie Kitamura Q & A https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt1 The Guardian features Katie Kitamura: ‘Almost every writer changes my mind – that’s the point of reading’.
       Among her responses:
My favourite book growing up

I read a lot of Theodore Dreiser growing up, for reasons that are mysterious to me now.
       Also: all the authors she mentions are dead. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt1 Prix Émile Guimet finalists https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt2 official site, but see, for example, the ActuaLitté report.
       The winners will be announced 3 June. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#lt2 Edgar Allan Poe Awards https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#ls7 announced the winners of this year's Edgar Allan Poe Awards, with The Big Empty by Robert Crais winning for best novel -- and Richard Kopley's Edgar Allan Poe winning the critical/biographical category; see also the University of Virginia Press publicity page. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#ls7 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel longlist https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#ls8 announced the eighteen-title-strong longlist for this year's Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award.
       The shortlist will be announced 18 June, and the winner on 23 July. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#ls8 Middlemen review https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#ls9 complete review is my review of Laura B. McGrath on Literary Agents and the Making of American Fiction, in Middlemen. ]]> https://www.complete-review.com/saloon/archive/202605a.htm#ls9