MISSING PERSON by PATRICK MODIANO Translated from the French by Daniel Weissbort

 MISSING PERSON by
PATRICK MODIANO

Translated from the French by Daniel Weissbort

In 2014, the Nobel Academy awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature to Patrick Modiano. His book Missing Person, translated into English by Daniel Weissbort, was originally published in French under the title Rue des Boutiques Obscures (Street of Dark Shops). This novel also won the prestigious Prix Goncourt in 1978.

The story follows a private detective who has lost parts of his memory and suffers from this amnesia—especially memories from before World War II and the Nazi occupation of France.

The protagonist, Guy Roland, who narrates his own story, remembers neither his real name nor his nationality. After the retirement of his boss, Hutte, and the closure of the detective agency, he decides to embark on a deeply personal investigation—one that leads him to search for his own identity after years of solving other people’s problems.

Identity and memory are the central themes that Modiano explores in Missing Person. To ease the pain of his forgotten past, Guy searches for clues to uncover who he really is.
On the very first page of the book, a sentence sets the tone for the entire story:
"I am nothing. Nothing but a faded figure, a ghost in that night on the café terrace, waiting for the rainbow to disappear. When Hutte left me, the heavy rain had already begun." — Page 1

Old photographs, addresses, names written on letters and envelopes, and vague recollections of streets, alleyways, and Parisian building facades—these fleeting fragments pass through his mind like shadows, guiding him in his quest to reconstruct his past.

As Guy Roland searches for his lost identity, readers follow him on this journey. However, due to his fragmented memories, they sometimes doubt the reality of his story. Was he a Greek-Jewish exile living in France under an assumed name? Or was he merely a South American diplomat? His past remains shrouded in uncertainty.

For instance, one of his hazy memories involves paying a guide who was supposed to help him and a friend escape across the cold, snowy mountains from France to Switzerland. Along the way, they became separated, and his past slips further into mystery.

Modiano emphasizes the fragility of human identity, shaped by memory. The theme of searching for the past is evident in many of his works. In Accident Nocturne (Night Accident), he writes:
"Scents… they are the best way to bring the past back to life."
Our memories, stored in our minds, shape who we are. Without them, like Guy Roland—the novel’s narrator—we become lost and disconnected from our own identity. When memories fade, nothing remains of us.

It’s also important to note that beyond personal memory, which this book focuses on, collective memory holds even greater significance. For example, traditions like the ancient Nowruz celebrations are part of the shared memory of Iranians. Without them, understanding Iranian identity would be incomplete.

Many of Patrick Modiano’s books, including this one, have been translated into Persian by talented Iranian translators, some of whom I will mention in the video description.
Finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Nowruz and a wonderful new year. I hope you get the chance to read this book and enjoy it!

DEAR LIFE by Alice Munro

 DEAR LIFE

by Alice Munro

In 2013, the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Alice Munro, with the Swedish Academy praising her as a "master of the contemporary short story." Their statement commended Munro for her precise storytelling, characterized by clarity and psychological realism.

Alice Munro was born in the town of Wingham, Ontario, Canada, a place situated along the Maitland River. The reason for highlighting her birthplace is that at least four of her stories are deeply connected to her life and surroundings, forming a kind of autobiography. These four final stories are titled: "The Eye," "Night," "Voices," and of course, her finest story, "Dear Life."

This book is one of Munro’s last works and beautifully showcases her mastery of short story writing.

Wherever people go, they often carry their religious beliefs, cultural traditions, and even ethnic perspectives with them—and they strive to pass these beliefs on to their children.

Canada has long been a country that welcomes immigrants and has officially embraced and actively implemented a multicultural policy. Munro’s stories profoundly reflect the diverse beliefs and cultures of this vast land. This is why her stories feel deeply connected to reality, making them both relatable and believable.

Munro draws inspiration for her short stories from her surroundings, portraying the world of women who grapple with loneliness, gender-based challenges, financial and intellectual independence, and struggles against outdated beliefs.

As I mentioned earlier, this collection tells its stories in the simplest way possible, without using overly complex phrases or overly refined sentences. The focus remains on people’s lives, making the stories both profound and impactful.

Munro’s narratives explore themes such as memory loss in old age, the search for lost identity, disillusionment with everyday life, difficult choices at life’s crossroads, the fading of love over time, and the transformation of beliefs due to social and geographical changes.

For example, in the story "To Reach Japan," Munro explores a woman’s inner conflict between her role as a mother and her identity as a poet. At the same time, the story highlights emotional fulfillment and the consequences of choices in personal and family relationships. A tension arises in the protagonist’s mind as she struggles between her inner desires and societal expectations.

Munro has a way of immersing readers in the lives of her characters, making them feel real and tangible. I won’t be summarizing all fourteen stories in this book, but I will touch on some of their key themes.

Love, aging, regret, life-altering moments, the passage of time and its impact on our choices, moral values, childhood innocence, confronting fears and past sins, and social hypocrisy are among the themes explored in this collection.

For instance, in the story "Paradise," a young girl is placed under the strict control of her religious uncle in the absence of her parents. Her uncle expects both her and his wife to conform to his rigid religious and traditional values. The story directly addresses gender roles within family control, the power structures within households, and the suppression of individual identity.

In "Pride," the central theme revolves around human relationships and unspoken emotions. Here, pride is depicted as a double-edged sword—it can protect one’s dignity, yet it can also cause harm, preventing deep emotional connections.

The story "Train" presents an unexpected and involuntary situation where a war veteran jumps off a train near a village and finds himself entangled in a complex life he neither anticipated nor was prepared for.

The short story "In Sight of the Lake" focuses on aging and memory loss, touching on the theme of dementia and how memory shapes our identity. It raises an important question: What role do we play in the memories of others, and what memories of them remain in our own minds?

I hope you find the opportunity to read this book and enjoy it!

RED SORGHUM (ˈsôrɡəm) By MO YAN

 RED SORGHUM (ˈsôrɡəm)

By MO YAN

Translated by Howard Goldblatt

Notes from book:

“The people of my father's generation who lived there ate sorghum  bvnout of preference, planting as much of it as they could. In late autumn, during  the eighth lunar month , vast strangers of red sorghum shimmered like a sea of blood. Tall and dense, it reeked of glory, cold and graceful, it promised enchantment, passionate and loving, it was tumultuous.” page 4

“ Uncle Arhat had died the year before on the Jiao Ping highway. His corpse, after being hacked to pieces, had been scattered around the area.” page 9

“In country records I discovered that in 1938, the twenty -seventh year of the Republic, four hundred thousand man- days were spent by local workers from Gaomi,Pingdu,and Jiao countries in the service of the Japanese army to build the Jiao- Ping highway.” page 14

“Father heard Grandma say," Even if you can't agree, you mustn't abandon Justice and honor. This isn't the time or place to fight. Take your fury out on the Japanese" page 27

"Uncle Arhat's blood is in this wine." she said "If you're honorable men you'll drink it, then go out and destroy the Jap convoy. After that, chickens can go their own way, dogs can go theirs. well water and river water don't mix.” page 28

“The long, sorrowful blast of en bugle near the bridge is immediately followed by the staccato rhythm of machine-gun fire. Grandma's blood continues to flow in concert with her breathing.” page 70

“Grandma and granddad exchanged their love surrounded by the vitality of the sorghum field: two unbridled souls, refusing to knuckle out under to worldly conversations, were fused together more closely than their ecstatic bodies. They plowed the clouds and scattered rain in the field, adding a patina of lustrous red to the rich and varied history of Northeast Gaomi Township.” page 71

" Financial losses, lucky bosses." Page 110

"Heaven has no eyes ... Heaven has no eyes ... " page 111

“you pitiable, frail, suspicious, stubbornly biased child, whose soul has been spellbound by poisonous wine, go down to the Black Water River and soak in its waters for three days and three nights- remember, not a day more or a day less- to cleanse yourself, body and soul. then you can return to your real world.” page 359

“ Then said to uncle Arhat," Foreman, that's not all I can do. Now look, when the wine comes down the spouts, the steam dissipates. If you put another, smaller distiller over the spouts, you'd have nothing but the best wine." page 149

“The Japs torched The village before withdrawing. Flames shot up into the heavens, and kept burning, turning half the sky white. The moon that night was full and blood-red, but the war below turned it pale and weak, like a faded paper cutout hanging grimy in the sky.

"where to now, Dad?

No response.”

page 165

"I'm not with the Eighth road Army," Granddad said, "or Ninth Route. I'm Yu Zhan'ao the bandit." Page 183

“when I look back up on my family's history, I find that the lives of all the key members have at some point been linked inextricably with some sort of dark, dank or hole,beginning with Mother.” page 190

“After helping fill in the pit, I stayed with her to look down at this resting place of a thousand bodies, and kowtowed three times. "It's been forty-six years", Mother said " I was fifteen then." page 204

"As the ancients said," Heaven never seals off all the exits." Page 225

"the Japanese entered the village.

The Sun, stained by human blood, set behind the mountain as the crimson full moon of mid-autumn rose about the sorghum.

My Father heard Granddad's muted call:

Douguan-!" page 236

"Hungry? Listen to me. Rivals and Lovers are destined to meet. Men die over riches, birds perish over food. The young must not scoff at the old, for flowers don't bloom forever. One must know when to yield to others. No sign of weakness, it will work to one's later advantage ..." page 241

" It's easy to invite the gods, hard to send them away," Granddad said". page 244

"Grandad and the others are argued" A man only lives once. Don't let the world look down on the people of Northeast Gaomi Township." page 257

"single-stalk garlic is always the the hottest." page 270

“As a result, the years of 1925 to 1928 marked a golden age of banditry in Northeast Gaomi Township. Granddad's reputation rocked the government.” page 274

“But Granddad forget the simple dialectic that a bright sun darkens, a full moon wanes, a full cup overflows, and decay follows prosperity. Grandma's grand funeral would be yet another of his great mistakes.”page 297

" Rumors of brutality were hard for the people to put aside, especially in their dreams." page 311

" A stable , peaceful Society is the training around for humanity, just as caged animals, removed from the violent unpredictability of the wild, are influenced by the behavior of their captors in time. Do you agree? Yes? No? well, say it, Yes or no?" page 323

" I sometimes think that there is a link between the decline in humanity and the increase in prosperity and comfort. Prosperity and comfort are what people seek, but the costs to character are often terrifying." page 334

"Not to be intimidated, the other officer Said, Is it the mission of resistance fighters to starve or freeze? No, we must be flexible and resourceful. Tolerance must be one of our stratagems. The only way we'll win this way of resistance is by conserving our strength.” page 349

“For ten years I had been away from my village now I stood before my second grandma's grave, affecting the hypocritical display of affection. I had learned from high society, with a body immersed so long in the filth of urban life that a foul stench oozed from my porse. I had paid my respect at many gravesites before coming to that of the woman whose short but magnificent life constitutes a page in the most heroic and most bastardly history of my hometown.” page 356

RED SORGHUM

Mu Yan mentions the use of numbers in names as part of Chinese tradition.

“ Did Fenglian, we call her Little nine.”

“ Village Chief, Five Monkeys Shan”

“ Nine Dreams Cao” 

“Five Troubles”

“Old three”

“Second master Cao”

“Eighth Route Master”

"Eighteen Stabs Geng"