Generally speaking, I read so little literature in translation! Just by chance, however, this month, I’ve read three books in translation. One was adapted from several Russian editions, one translated from German, and one translated from Swedish. Each is for a different age-group, and each one was enjoyable in its own special way. Here are a few quick reviews.
I’ve never owned a collectible book before, and this one is such a treat. Illustrated with linocut art by Lebanese printmaker Hassan Zahreddine, printed on handmade paper, using a vintage 1965 Heidelberg letterpress, translated from Russian by an Indian … I love how global the book is!
And apart from all the elements that make the physical book special, the story is lovely. I hadn’t read the original tale in any form, but I enjoyed reading this one. As I work with children all the time, silly quarrels aren’t new to me. Drawing the comparison between the way children solve their little fights and move on, and the way adults drag the tiniest arguments on was perfect!
One fear I keep encountering in a locked down world is that children no longer deal with conflict. When they’re angry, they cut the call. They no longer need to make up, share dabbas, and ride on the same school bus home. I do hope that when schools reopen, little girls continue to prove that they are wiser than men!
Author
Illustrator
Translator
Leo Tolstoy
Hassan Zahreddine
Gita Wolf (from Russian)
Tags
Picture Book, Collectible, Literature in Translation
Rating
David Days Mona Nights is one of those books that you simply cannot judge by the cover. It also annoys me when the blurb is not true to the story, as is the case with this one!
There were just two things that made me even begin the book – one, I love epistolary novels (the video above is a list of those that come to mind instantly when I think of epistolary novels I’ve enjoyed), and two, I received the book as a gift.
The authenticity of voice is what appealed to me most in David Days Mona Nights. Just like when I read To Night Owl, From Dogfish, I wondered: when two people write an epistolary novel together, does each one take on the role of one character? Is that what makes the two voices distinct?
Two teenagers, David and Mona, embark on an unusual relationship – through letters. And the relationship rings true with each letter. Every letter-writer knows this – you cannot possibly remember everything you wrote in your previous letter! And this is something that made me chuckle as I read David Days Mona Nights. When Mona suddenly mentions two names, I was taken aback. Who are these people? Did I forget all about them? And then, David, in his next letter asks her exactly that: who are these two?
The passion of teenage relationships – quick to anger, reacting vehemently to the tiniest things – secrets and longing – these made the book what it is: an unusual, engaging read.
Authors
Translator
Andreas Steinhöfel, Anja Tuckermann
Gita Wolf (from German)
Tags
Young Adult, Epistolary Novel, Literature in Translation
Rating
My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises turned out to be such a sweet book! I’ve placed it on a set of books of fairy tales for this picture because fairy tales are intrinsic to the story. In some ways, the book is a fairy tale in its own right.
When I started reading My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises, I was not sure if I would like it. For one, I could not place the target audience, which left me a little confused. The protagonist is an eight-year-old, and much of the sweetness of the book is childlike in a way that seems written for children, not adults. Yet, other kinds of sweetness – and of course, the language – make it clearly a book for adults. Because I was not drawn into the book immediately, I read it slowly, but eventually, I liked it all the more for that.
Elsa’s granny is a unique character. Free-spirited, foul-mouthed, imaginative, rebellious – she is, in every way that she can be, Elsa’s superhero. Because every almost eight-year-old needs a superhero.
But when Elsa’s granny dies, the girl slowly discovers that her grandmother was not quite the superhero she’d imagined. As the story goes on, however, she learns that her beloved grandmother, through all the mistakes she made, was a different sort of superhero altogether.
Intricately plotted and beautifully told, My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises was one of those books that kept throwing up gems that made me stop and smile. I love it when sentences leap off the pages and make me pause, just to agree, as vehemently as I can, This! Yes, so much this!
Authors
Translator
Fredrik Backman
Henning Koch (from Swedish)
Tags
Fairy Tales for Adults, Family, Literature in Translation
Rating
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