Mondo & Other Stories

Mood and description take precedent over narrative in this vivid, subtle collection by the winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature, originally published in France in 1978. In the title story, 10-year-old Mondo arrives mysteriously in a seaside village. He makes a wide variety of friends while avoiding the dogcatcher, who also rounds up stray children. "The Shepherds," about a group of children fighting for their survival in a wild land, takes a harsher tone. More typical is "Lullaby," where a girl decides she would rather be around the sea than in school. "The Mountain of the Living God" describes a mystical encounter, and "Daniel Who Had Never Seen the Sea" features a bored schoolboy who dreams of having Sinbad-like adventures. One day, he simply disappears, and when he finally sees the ocean it's even more wondrous than he'd imagined. Le Cl%C3%A9zio's prose is unusually fine throughout; dry earth is described as sounding "under your feet like the skin of a drum." The reader is always aware of being in the hands of a master, thanks also to Anderson's strong and graceful translation. (May)