César Aira, The Little Buddhist Monk & The Proof
塞薩爾?艾拉《小和尚》和《證據》

Two distinctly different novellas, translated from the Spanish by Nick Caistor, show the range of this Argentine author of more than 90 books, known for playful experimentation, narrative tension and bite. In the first, a Korean monk meets a French photographer obsessed with "culturally charged spaces" and his wife. He offers to become their guide to Buddhist temples. Soon it seems he's ushering them into a parallel world and they may not be able to find a way back. In The Proof, two punk lesbians try to pick up a 16-year-old girl walking near Plaza Flores in Buenos Aires. With ice cream, witty interrogation and a supermarket heist the two gradually pull her into their orbit. Aira has been shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize. (Credit: New Directions)
阿根廷作家塞薩爾?艾拉的《小和尚》和《證據》由尼克?凱斯特翻譯，這兩本風格迥異的小說顯示了作者寬泛的題材涉獵，艾拉的小說超過90部，以創意有趣、敘事富有張力和感染力著稱。在《小和尚》中，一個韓國僧人遇到了癡迷于“文化空間”的法國攝影師和他的妻子。他提議做向導帶他們去佛教寺廟。很快，這位僧人似乎正把他們帶進一個可能找不到出路的平行空間里。在《證據》中，兩個女同小混混試圖在布宜諾斯艾利斯的弗洛雷斯廣場上搭訕一名路過的16歲少女。冰淇淋、機智的套話和一場超市搶劫案將讓兩人慢慢將少女拉入了她們的生活軌道。艾拉已經入圍布克國際文學獎。（來源：新方向出版社）