Geoffrey Fox

Reflections & Inquiries

Ost-Afrika: what the Germans left

2021.12.28 - Tags: , ,

Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah My rating: 4 of 5 stars Abdulrazak Gurnah has given us a vivid reimagining of the Africans’ experience during and following the German administration and wars in Deutsch-Ost-Afrika, German East Africa, from the 1880s until the defeat of Germany in November 1918, when the victors then divided up the enormous, formerly … read more »

Spanish dancer—Spanische Tänzerin

2021.12.13

Rocío Molina and Yerai Cortés, guitar, in the Matadero 12 December 2021 She strides to the lip of the stage Till erect before the lean and seated figure of man and guitar, Her gaze unseeing directed to us in the shadows in the darkened hall. She stretches down an arm that seems to move of … read more »

Des jeux mortels: André Gide, Les faux-monnayeurs

2021.11.27 - Tags:

Les vies de douzaines de personnages, entre eux des étudiants de bachelier ou mineurs, leurs parents et leurs professeurs, s’entrechoquent dans ce roman qui parle des conflits intergénérationnels, leurs jeux sociaux et leur cruauté, mais principalement de la création littéraire. Le romancier Édouard, l’oncle et figure de référence de ces «enfants » , est en … read more »

Seduced by the Simurgh

2021.11.14

Cover, A Gift for the Sultan

This essay began as a response to fellow novelist Dirk van Nouhuys, about how he gets caught up in research when writing a new novel. For more on Dirk, see link below. I think what you are calling « research » is the always fulfilling and energizing process of learning. You, like me, are probably … read more »

Magic, desire and comedy

2021.11.10

In Search of the Magic Theater by Karla Huebner My rating: 5 of 5 stars Two women, a generation apart though their lives intertwine, tell us in their most intimate voices of their quite different, sometimes comical and mostly but not always disappointing adventures with men. And careers, and cellos, and dope. When the quest … read more »