Best European Fiction 2010

Americans love to anthologize themselves. Not that it’s a sinister activity, but given that something like four percent of books published in the United States are translated, it’s at least a little funny that we persistently anthologize the kind of writing that everyone’s already seeing. Enter Dalkey Archive, which contracted Chicago author Hemon to edit this annual of writing from Europe. Hemon claims the book “is more interested in providing a detailed snapshot of the contemporary European literatures than establishing a fresh canon of instant classics,” and it feels more canvassing than defining.

“New Norwegian” writer Jon Fosse contributes an ethereal story about a man and woman standing on a cliff, while a “dark and transparent man” stands among them, conducting eruptions of stone. We don’t really know what’s going on, but it has that grand, mystifying feel of the best experimental fiction. And there are beautiful stories from Croatian writer Neven Usumovic, Lithuanian author Giedra Radvilaviciute and Catalan author Josep M. Fonalleras.

The book tilts toward unconventional storytelling techniques. And while we’ve heard complaints about this before—why only translate the most difficult work coming out of Europe?—it makes sense here. The book isn’t testing the boundaries, it’s opening them up.

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