#KATIE KITAMURA

[judgingbooksbycovers]

Audition: A Novel

By Katie Kitamura.

[viecome]

Katie Kitamura: “Las políticas migratorias en Europa son extraordinarias comparadas con EE. UU.”

Katie Kitamura. Foto: Irene Medina La escritora norteamericana se encuentra en España para presentar ‘Intimidades’, su nueva novela, elogiada por los principales medios de su país Origen: Katie Kitamura: “Las políticas migratorias en Europa son extraordinarias comparadas con EE. UU.”

[fitzgeraldo-s]

’Yes, it is the most important love [a partner’s love], the love of the mother is a given, it is taken for granted. A child is born and for the rest of his or her life the mother will love the child, without the child doing anything in particular to earn it. But the love of a wife must be earned, to be won in the first place and then kept.’

[prairielights]

Intimacies

Katie Kitamura

The protagonist of Intimacies is the daughter of bi-cultural parents, whose international upbringing left her with a facility for mastering languages and the ability to feel as at home in once city as another.  The death of her father in New York City, where she also soon finds herself at the end of a job, inspires her to apply for (and she is accepted) the job of translating for the International Court in the Hague. There in the Netherlands she is new and yet not new- they had lived there for a time when she was a small child, but now she has no real connections to speak of, other than an acquaintance from when she worked in London.  While at dinner at that friend's apartment, the evening is disturbed by the police responding to a mugging closeby, where a man is seriously injured. She gets back to her apartment without incident, but the event's occurrence disturbs her and she becomes obsessed with finding out more about the victim. She finds out more about him from her friend, from information in the news, from visiting his bookshop, and her curiousity grows.  She is involved with a man who may or may not be completely available.  At work, she becomes the translator for a war criminal- the former President of an unnamed country, whose words she must interpret and translate for the court, to have them, in turn, translated by someone else to the victims. 

Intimacies has stayed with me. One of the things that the protagonist says of her work is that court translation takes a deep level of concentration and focus- that the job of the translator is to keep the gaps that exist between the words of one language and another as small as possible.  The novel shows how gaps exist not only in the translation from one language to another, but between people sharing an experience, between criminal and victim, witness and witness.  The book is that and a lot more. I read it in a single day, and emerged from it in awe

-Kathleen

[thehappyscavenger]

Books Read April 2024

White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link

I've been told to read Link for years, and, well she lived up to the hype. These are some gorgeous re-interpretations of classic fairy tales and folklore which is exactly what I love. I would say I only loved about half the stories and found the rest meh but Link is clearly a gifted writer and this was an easy read.

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura

This felt weirdly like a really good companion novel to Study in Obedience. Both feature an unnamed narrator living in Europe which is not their homeland. Yet while SiO examines the eeriness of the countryside Intimacies is about the eeriness of the city. Loved this one better than SiO though. Will definitely be retuning to Kitamura though I admit that I read this early in the month and despite enjoying it it has faded a LOT. I guess that's what happens with plotless novels.

Dragonwyck by Anya Seton

Historical romance fiction. IDK this was okay but never got as weird as I wanted it to. A solid read though.

The Great State of West Florida by Kent Wascom

Made a bit of a mistake in picking this up as an ARC based on the cover only to later realize it was the last in a 4 book series. Still an enjoyable read that stands on its own. A weird modern western about a family trying to establish West Florida as an independent state and an alternate white supremacy movement trying to do the same. It's weird but interesting.

The Adults by Alison Espach

Went into this blind after hearing this raved by several people and just absolutely loved it. It's hard to describe but it's basically about a snarky, wealthy white 14 year old and how her life is jutted off course by decades. Don't want to share more than that but I love Espach's voice and will be reading more of her in the future.

The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

A wonderful, alternate history crime novel. The ending didn't stick for me but this is still a full five stars. Gorgeous writing, a lived in world. I will be returning to this one.

Dual Citizens by Alix Ohlin

I love books about sisterhood but I found this entire book underdeveloped and kind of boring. Colour me baffled by another Giller choice.

[riservadopamina]

"Passai al quadro successivo, che ritraeva una giovane donna seduta accanto a un tavolo, il volto illuminato dalla fiamma di una candela – la fronte larga e le guance tonde bagnate dalla luce dorata, le nette pieghe della camicetta bianca quasi accecanti. L’artista aveva fatto un uso del chiaroscuro davvero straordinario, almeno al mio occhio inesperto – non avrei saputo descriverne con precisione le caratteristiche, ma la luce sembrava tridimensionale, sembrava estendersi oltre la cornice del quadro, fino a dare l’impressione che la tela stessa fosse la fonte di illuminazione. Alle spalle della giovane donna c’era un uomo; appoggiato al tavolo in una posa disinvolta e volgare, un po’ lasciva, sembrava invadere lo spazio personale della giovane, che però non l’avrebbe definito spazio personale. Anche questo era un anacronismo. Mi avvicinai al quadro. La giovane donna – più una ragazza, in realtà – stava ricamando, un lavoretto domestico che sembrava non interessare il giovane in cappello e tunica da cosacco. Il suo sguardo era rivolto a lei, era lei l’oggetto del suo interesse, non il lavoro di ricamo. La ragazza era in bianco, lui in nero, il simbolismo era piuttosto chiaro, ma l’esatta natura di quell’incontro mi risultava opaca. Sbirciai la targhetta con il titolo – quei quadri avevano in genere titoli descrittivi, mai molto poetici, privi di quella forzata nebulosità dei titoli di arte contemporanea. Sulla targhetta c’era scritto ‘Uomo che offre denaro a una giovane donna’. Tornai a guardare il dipinto. Questa volta notai che l’uomo aveva delle monete nella mano a coppa, e le porgeva con discrezione alla ragazza, mentre con l’altra mano le tirava leggermente il braccio, come per distoglierla dal lavoro e metterla davanti alla sua proposta. Notai la rara capacità con cui l’artista aveva trasmesso le sfumature di forza e resistenza – la teatralità della mano che le tirava il braccio, la postura rigida della ragazza, i suoi occhi aperti e spaventati. La tensione del dipinto, però, non stava nella perfetta coerenza con cui era stato reso il momento del contatto, ma nell’incoerenza al cuore dell’immagine. Per quanto a lungo osservassi il quadro, non riuscivo a conciliare l’assoluto pudore della giovane donna, che aveva scoperte solo faccia e mani, con l’offerta e i modi osceni dell’uomo. Le stava solo proponendo di comprare il tessuto ricamato? Se fosse stato così, perché la ragazza aveva quell’espressione di paura? Perché manteneva quella concentrazione, così fragile e carica di significato, come se fosse l’unico modo di rifiutare a sua disposizione? Guardai di nuovo la targhetta, con sorpresa vidi che il quadro era opera di una donna, Judith Leyster. Non l’avevo mai sentita nominare, pur sapendo che era insolito per una donna raggiungere un risultato simile nel Secolo d’oro. Perfino adesso era raro che una pittrice raggiungesse lo status dei colleghi maschi. Secondo la targhetta, Leyster era nata nel 1609. Il quadro era datato 1631: l’aveva realizzato a soli ventidue anni. Sembrava un miracolo che l’avesse dipinto una persona sotto i venticinque anni, non solo per la tecnica sorprendente – per quanto straordinario aver raggiunto quel grado di maestria così giovane – ma per l’ambiguità dell’immagine stessa. Tornai alla tela, e mi venne in mente che solo una donna avrebbe potuto realizzare quell’immagine. Il dipinto non parlava di tentazione, ma di molestia e intimidazione, una scena che avrebbe potuto aver luogo in quell’esatto momento in qualsiasi parte del mondo. Il quadro operava intorno a uno scisma, rappresentava due inconciliabili punti di vista: l’uomo, che la riteneva una scena di passione e seduzione, e la donna, immersa in uno stato di paura e umiliazione. Quello scisma, capii in quel momento, era la vera incoerenza che animava la tela, e il vero oggetto dello sguardo di Leyster."

Katie Kitamura, 'Tra le nostre parole'

Bollati Boringhieri

[Judith Leyster, Uomo che offre denaro a una giovane donna, 1631, Pinacoteca Mauritshuis, L'Aia]

[eva248]

Lecturas de julio. Cuarta semana

Hagan juego (Subjefe Rocco Schiavone 7) / Antonio Manzini. Editorial Salamandra, 2023 Un homicidio en el casino de Saint-Vincent, uno de los más prestigiosos de Europa, sumerge a Rocco Schiavone en el mundo de la ludopatía, los juegos de azar y la avaricia. A pesar de la complejidad del caso, el subjefe no puede liberarse de su pasado… y recomponer su vida se torna más difícil porque la sombra…

[commonplacenook]

I thought -- I want to go home. I want to be in a place that feels like home. Where that was, I did not know.

Katie Kitamura, Intimacies

[quo-usque-tandem]

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura

[anokatony]

The Top 12 List of My Favorite Fiction that I Have Read in 2022 (Plus 1 More)

The Top 12 List of My Favorite Fiction that I Have Read in 2022 (Plus 1 More)

  Here we go again. Another year is almost over, and here again is a list of my favorite books which I read this year. This year definitely has the most fiction by woman writers of any of my end-of-year lists. This appears to be a trend. Of the 53 Notable Books in the Fiction and Poetry category for 2022 in the New York Times recently, 38 books were written by women and 15 books were written by…

[coella-cox]

Public list of authors whom I am kindly asking to return to their google docs:

Yaa Gyasi

BRIT BENNETT

Katie Kitamura

Susan Choi

Diana Reid

Imogen Crimp

Lisa Taddeo

Elif Bautman

Ellie Eaton

Sarah Henstra

Jonathan Frazen (don't really need him to return, just kindly send in his resignation letter, so it's official)

[librarycards]

Do you know of any good "sad girl books"? Good being the emphasis here lol.

you got it! i'm really picky and hate a lot of them, just a warning, but here are some sad girl/sad girl-adj books you might be interested in, which may also stretch your conception of, like, the Sad Girl in lit:

Yasmin Zaher, The Coin

Jenny Hval, Paradise Rot

Melissa Broder, Death Valley

Zania Arafat, You Exist Too Much

Ling Ma, Bliss Montage

Ruth Madivesky, All-Night Pharmacy

Katie Kitamura, Intimacies

Mary H.K. Choi, Yolk

Samantha Hunt, The Seas

Sarah Rose Etter, Ripe

[viecome]

Lectura: ‘Intimidades’, de Katie Kitamura

La escritora Katie Kitamura, en Roma en julio de 2022.MARILLA SICILIA (MONDADORI PORTFOLIO / GETTY IMAGES) ‘Intimidades’, mujer en busca de un hogar imposible | Babelia | EL PAÍS Katie Kitamura describe con precisión la vida de una traductora que solo puede compartir su intimidad superficialmente Origen: ‘Intimidades’, mujer en busca de un hogar imposible | Babelia | EL PAÍS Textos En el…

[fitzgeraldo-s]

“Every romance requires a backdrop and an audience, even - or perhaps especially - the genuine ones, romance is not something that a couple can be expected to conjure by themselves you and another, the two of you together, not just once but again and again, love in general is fortified by its context, nourished by the gaze of others.”

[acetone4veins]

Mean Girls + Quotes Part 2

Find part 1 here

More quotes that remind me of mean girls characters and their various relationships :)

Regina

"i became bitter and untouchable. i craved affection but even the mere thought of someone caring made my stomach turn."

unknown

"i have survived everything but i fear that i cannot survive myself."

Cynthia Chapman

"was i raised without love? or was i born unlovable?"

unknown

"am i lonely because no one cares, or am i lonely because i'm not strong enough to let anyone get close enough to care?"

Rob Hill Sr.

"of course i look angry all the time. my entire life i've been fighting a war. i am soaked in pain and sadness. the irony however, is that i'm not actually angry, i'm trying to learn how to be happy. and that in itself is a war."

unknown

Cady

"i thought - i want to go home. i want to be in a place that feels like home. where that was, i did not know."

Katie Kitamura

"i understood myself only after i destroyed myself. and only in the process of fixing myself did i know who i really was."

Sade Andria Zabala

“do you ever wonder where you took a wrong turn? where your life became the exact opposite of what you wanted it to be?”

unknown

"i have always tried to make a home for myself, but i have not felt at home in myself."

Jeanette Winterson

Janis

"of course i'm angry. do you have any idea how many times someone should have helped me?"

unknown

"hurt an artist and you'll see masterpieces of what you've done."

unknown

"i don't feel guilt at being unsociable, though i may sometimes regret it because my loneliness is painful."

Susan Sontag

Gretchen

"what a sick little head, your love always turns into obsession."

unknown

"i don't think people love me. they love versions of me i have spun for them, versions of me they have construed in their minds. the easy versions of me, the easy parts of me to love."

unknown

“i only know how to exist when i’m wanted.”

Mary Lambert

"i don't want to beg. i know you can feel it, my longing, the aching, my need for love. i don't want to beg. but oh god - oh god, please. please. love me. love me."

unknown

"for once i need to choose myself, or else i'm going to lose myself."

Veronika Jensen

Karen

“i believe in some blending of hope and sunshine sweetening the worst lots. i believe that this life is not all; neither the beginning nor the end. i believe while i tremble; i trust while i weep.”

Charlotte Brontë

Regina and Janis

"longing, how soft a word for such a ravenous feeling. how we hunger in silence."

Pavana

"dig your teeth into me. come on, i dare you. take a bite. open me up; raw and candy floss pink on the inside. make it hurt. i figure, you're going to hurt me one way or another. might as well be with your mouth."

Ashe Vernon

"i don't know what to do without you, i don't know where to put my hands."

unknown

"you are the knife i turn inside myself; that is love."

Franz Kafka

"i love you and i always will and i am sorry. what a useless word."

Ernest Hemingway

Regina and Cady

"i love you. i love you unconditionally. i loved you even in my ignorance. i loved you when i didn't even know. i just love you."

unknown

"and on some days, i wish our paths had never crossed because you don't know how heartbreaking it is to know that someone like you exists in this world and i cannot have you."

unknown

“i must have you exclusively, fiercely, possessively.”

Henry Miller

"i still haven't figured out how to sit across from you, and not be madly in love with everything you do."

William C. Hannan

“fuck my pride. fuck everything. i’m so desperately hungry for you.”

Henry Miller

Gretchen and Karen

"the way our fingers intertwine feels so natural and right; as if our hands hold memories of meeting in a thousand other lifetimes."

John Mark Green

"when i think of life, i think of you. when i think of love, i think of you. safe to say that i really like thinking about life with you."

unknown

"come on, dance with me. the earth is spinning. we can't just stand on it."

Dino Ahmetovic

Regina and Gretchen

"i suffer in my loving, and you know it."

Willa Cather

"i loved you to the point of ruin. i loved you until my lungs were filled with ash."

Tina Tran

[thehappyscavenger]

"It was only an anecdote. But it was one example of how the city's veneer of civility was constantly giving way, in places it was barely there at all."

-Kate Kitamura, Intimacies