Episode 006 - Books in Translation

In our ongoing quest to become better librarians by reading every genre (regardless of our actual interest) we tackle Books in Translation.

Listen to your hosts Anna Ferri, Meghan Whyte, Matthew Murray, and Jorge Cardenas discuss the reasons for reading books in translation, publishing barriers to international works, the importance/effect of a translator, which language should you read a book in, the Canadian context, grants to read War and Peace, and what makes a great book.

Your Hosts This Episode

Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Jorge Cardenas | Matthew Murray

Recommended

• One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn; translated by H.T. Willetts (Russian)
• If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino; translated by William Weaver (Italian)
• Bitter Rose by Martine Delvaux; translated by David Homel (Quebec)
• Closely Watched Trains by by Bohumil Hrabal; translated by Edith Pargeter (Czech)
• Silk by Alessandro Baricco; translated by Guido Waldman (Italian)
• Conversation in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa; translated by Gregory Rabassa (Peru)
• The Rights of the Reader by Daniel Pennac; illustrations by Quentin Blake; translated by Sarah Adams (French)
• HHhH by Laurent Binet; translated by Sam Taylor (French)
• Arvida by Samuel Archibald; translated by Donald Winkler (Quebec)

Other Books Read/Listened

• 70% Acrylic 30% Wool by Viola Di Grado; translated by Michael Reynolds (Italian)
• The Cyclist Conspiracy by Svetislav Basara; translated by Randall A. Major (Serbian)
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery; translated by Alison Anderson (French)
• War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy; translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (Russian)
• The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin; translated by Ken Liu (Chinese)
• Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondō; translated by Cathy Hirano (Japanese) (audiobook)

DNF

• The Alphabet House by Jussi Adler-Olse; translated by Steve Schein (Danish)
• The Dinner by Herman Koch; translated by Sam Garrett (Dutch)

Questions:

• Do you seek out or avoid works in translation?
• Do you ever feel like you are missing context/need more footnotes?
• Have you read a book than was significantly better or worse in one language than another?
• Are there genres that exist only (or predominantly) in non-English languages?

Links/Other

• Good-Bye and Other Stories by Yoshihiro Tatsumi - “a bo...