Last year I read ten books in translation thanks in great part to Kate's Reading Across Borders challenge. In the past I never really thought about whether a book was written in English or translated from another language. I'd like to be more conscientious when choosing, however, and continue reading more books in translation again this year. I was searching around the web for sources to find good books when I came across this Guardian article about publisher's resistance towards publishing books in translation. It really does seem a pity that so few works written in other languages are not published here or in the UK. I thought these statistics were interesting:
"In stark contrast to publishing throughout the rest of the globe, translated fiction accounts for only a tiny fraction of the books published in the English-speaking world. In Germany 13% of books are translations. In France it's 27%, in Spain 28%, in Turkey 40% and in Slovenia 70%, but in Britain and America the best estimates suggest that the fraction of books on the shelves which started off in another language is somewhere around two per cent."
I need to at least be more aware of what's out there (another problem I think--finding sources that write about these books). I found Three Percent, which describes itself as a blog "to brings readers information about goings-on in the world of international literature, and by providing reviews and samples of books in translation and those that have yet to be translated, we hope to serve as a resource for readers, students, translators, and editors interested in international literature". And there is World Literature Today of course, which I need to try and pick up at the bookstore more frequently (though you can also read it online).
As I hope to read more this year, here's a list I might be able to draw from. If there are more lists out there or resources I'd love to know about them. I would especially like to read a few non-European authors as well.
- Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (Russian)
- Les Miserables, Victor Hugo (French)
- Palace Walk, Naguib Mahfouz (Arabic)
- Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky (French)
- Embers, Sandor Marai (Hungarian)
- In Lucia's Eyes, Arthur Japin (Dutch)
- Snow Country, Yasunari Kawabata (Japanese)
- April in Paris, Michael Wallner (German)
- Austerlitz, W.G. Sebald (German)
- Embroideries, Marjane Satrapi (French? -- she was born in Iran however)
- Jar City, Arnaldur Indridason (Icelandic)
- Beware of Pity, Stefan Zweig (German)
- My Name is Red, Orhan Pamuk (Turkish)
These are all books I own. A couple I am definitely planning on reading, but of course I'd like to get them all read eventually. I know my list is not really very representative--nothing from Mexico, Central or South America, nothing from Africa, and not much from the Middle East. I'll be looking around this year for some good books which didn't start off in English.