recommend me a translated book

[WeshMaGueule]

It's the International Translation Day, so recommend me a good book you've read that was originally written in anything other than English :-)

Crime and punishment
Actually I love lots of Russian translations but that is my favourite.

Agree with Crime and Punishment

Also - The Language of the Birds ( Alisher Navoi)

Yes, like the Camilleri Montalbanos as well. Usually they are short, pacy and sweet, ideal weekend or journey books (never watched the TV adaptation as I want to keep the images of the characters in my mind instead).

The Master and Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov. The devil comes to Moscow . . .

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, it's a beautiful book

Flights (trans Jennifer Croft) and Drive Your Plough Over the Bones ofthe Dead (Antonia Lloyd-Jones trans) by Olga Tokarczuk.

Isabel Allende wrote a great trilogy - City of Beasts, Valley of the Pygmies and The Kingdom of the Golden Dragon.

A Bag of Marbles by Joseph Joffo is the book I always recommend when people ask me for a french book, but it sounds like you have no need of the translation!

@grosseconnasse yes, and NL too. I take it you're FR and IT?

I am definitely going to be making a reading list on the basis of this thread!

Just had another little skim through my bookshelves and found these. Am toying with the idea of re-reading them myself now.

The Makioka Sisters by Junichiro Tanizaki

The Exception by Christian Jungersen

The Master and Margarita, how could I have forgotten one of my favourite books? Since this post is about translations IMO the Michael Glenny translation is by far the best.

Also Wilful Disregard by Lena Andersson. Swedish, can’t remember the translator, alas — about an obsessive, one-sided relationship between an arts writer and an artist.

Asterix. Anthea Bell's translation is brilliant, great word play. Actually, I have no idea how closely it aligns with the French versions, but I do enjoy a good bit of Asterix every now and then.

The translation of Astérix into English is a very interesting story in fact (well I think so anyway). It took almost ten years after the publication of the original French, and most people thought it would be impossible, because the style is the same, lots of puns and wordplay which made a literal translation nonsensical.

Anthem Bell, who succeeded so brilliantly managed to convey the humour and feel of the original by putting her own interpretation rather than just translating it word for word.

I often see the Astérix books in French recommended to people wanting to encourage their DCs to read French, but this is misleading as they are far too complicated for people who only have basic language skills.

I am not a translator btw although I am fascinated by the subject and read English and French.

this is misleading as they are far too complicated for people who only have basic language skills.

I had a German teacher when I was a beginner who started with fairy tales, because they're children's stories. But they tend to have very particular language structures and vocabulary you don't come across that often. There's a reason lessons usually start with "my name is... I live in..."

Veronique olmi

Loooved the My Brilliant Friend series.

The Aeneid by Robert Fagles is a really lovely translation.

I love Russian novels and plays but by any translator other than Constance Garnett.

I love The Reader. Originally Der Vorsleher.

What a great thread - I’ve spent the last hour adding so many books to my Amazon wish list that I doubt I’ll ever have time to read them all!

Another vote for HHhH which has already been mentioned upthread. A book with a very distinct and interesting feel to it, that is also a real page turner.