Summer is nearly here and at Living Language we’re already fantasizing about lazy summer days by the pool or on the beach and what we’ll be reading as we work on our suntan. We asked our e-Tutors to share some summer reading recommendations which are available in English as well as their languages. If you’re confident enough, read the native version first or if you think you’re not quite ready for that, why not read the English version first and then try the native version? Knowing the book already will make the task of reading in the native language a lot easier.
Here’s what they came up with:
JAPANESE
Title: キッチン
Kitchen
Author: 吉本ばなな
Banana Yoshimoto
Summary: The novel “Kitchen” by Banana Yoshimoto is a contemporary classic in Japanese literature. Originally published in 1987, the story revolves around the life of Mikage Sakurai, a young woman who loses her grandmother and sole guardian. As a result, Mikage moves in with her grandmother’s friend Yuichi and his transgender mother Eriko.
Mikage endures a lot throughout this tale and takes delight in the ‘kitchen’ as a symbol of life and family. This debut by Yoshimoto continues to stand out as a quirky, modern Japanese meditation on the otherwise eternal themes of love and loss.
PORTUGUESE
While my favorite book of his remains, “Veronica Decides to Die”, I suggest one of Paulo Coelho’s masterpieces, Aleph, which is regarded as one of his most autobiographical to date.
Paulo Coelho resides in Geneva, Switzerland, and in doing so avoids the widespread recognition he would experience in Brazil. Nonetheless he is a Carioca (native from Rio de Janeiro, like me!), and keeps connected with all his people and native land in part by being incredibly active on social media.
Summary in Portuguese:
No Aleph, Paulo Coelho trilha três continentes, África, Europa e, por fim, cruza a Ásia pela ferrovia transiberiana, porém a viagem o leva para o seu próprio interior. Assim como em suas outras obras, o autor narra sua crença espirituosa. Há a estoria de amor pela sua Hilal, que nesta vida é uma instrumentista do mais belo instrumento na minha opinião, violinista. Ela é praticamente a sua alma gêmea. Mesmo com todo misticismo, que vem a ser a realidade do cotidiano do autor, esse relacionamente revela os altos e baixos de uma relação comum, com traição, perdão, enfim, os desafios normais da vida a dois.
ITALIAN
Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano (in English, in Italian)
Summary: A powerful expose of the involvement of the Italian criminal network known as Camorra in the economic and financial life of Naples and Italy, through its control of the highly profitable markets of illegal drugs, high fashion, construction, and toxic waste. The book became an instant bestseller when it was first published in Italy in 2006. Facing death threats from the criminals he exposed in this book, the author Roberto Saviano lives in hiding and under police escort to this day. The book was adapted into a motion picture by the same title in 2008, which earned excellent reviews both in Italy and in the United States.
I giorni dell’abbandono (The Days of Abandonment) by Elena Ferrante (in English, in Italian)
Summary: This is the second novel of Italian writer Elena Ferrante, whose identity remains hidden even after the author gained global popularity with her recent Neapolitan novels. It is the intimate and honest story of a wife and mother who experiences an unexpected and violent mental breakdown when her husband leaves her for another woman. Unable to make sense of what happened to her, Olga is overcome by a wave of anger and anguish that affects everyone and everything around her, until she finally finds the strength to reemerge out of her state with a new awareness of herself. A quick and compelling read written in beautiful and expressive language and skillfully translated into English by Ann Goldstein.
Un italiano in America (Ciao, America) by Beppe Servegnini (in English, in Italian)
Beppe Servegnini è un grande scittore e giornalista italiano, molto apprezzato anche all’estero. Questo suo divertente libro è un vero e proprio diario di un anno trascorso a Washington scritto dal punto di vista di un italiano. L’America è vista dagli occhi di un Italiano che ci mostra le differenze culturali con esiti quasi comici attraverso aneddoti incredibili dove l’autore è il protagonista. Questo libro è ideale per capire molte delle differenze tra due paesi che si amano, l’Italia e l’America appunto, e ridere allo stesso tempo.
Io uccido (I Kill) by Giorgio Faletti (in English, in Italian)
Uno straordinario thriller capolavoro, scritto dal compianto Giorgio Faletti, un autore dai critici definito geniale. Un DJ di una famosa radio a Monte Carlo nel Principato di Monaco, riceve, durante la sua trasmissione in piena notte, una telefonata di un uomo che rivela di essere un assassino. Si pensa sia uno scherzo di cattivo gusto ma Il giorno dopo vengono trovati brutalmente uccisi un pilota di Formula Uno e la sua fidanzata. Da questo momento si crea una vera e propria catena di omicidi, preceduti ogni volta da una telefonata con un indizio sulla prossima vittima e contraddistinti da una scritta tracciata con il sangue: «io uccido». Un bestseller che ti regalerá molti brividi!
SPANISH
Como agua para chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate) by Laura Esquivel (in English, in Spanish)
Summary: Like Water for Chocolate is beautiful story of a girl who uses cooking as an escape. The protagonist falls in love but her mother expects her to take care of her until she dies. Tita is a talented cook who gets praise for her savory dishes. She imagines what her life would be if she were free. It’s the kitchen that truly liberates her. The novel is broken into twelve chapters, each one named after a different month and with a different dish with its recipe. The novel became an international success and was turned into a motion picture which at the time became the highest grossing Spanish language film.
FRENCH
Fred Vargas is a successful French female author praised for her unconventional and well-crafted thrillers (roman policiers, also called polars). Some of her novels have been translated into English: L’Homme à l’envers (Seeking Whom He May Devour) (in English, in French) in which Chief Inspector Adamsberg is again called to investigate, this time a series of fantastic crimes in a remote village of the French Alps. In the same series of A Commissaire Adamsberg Mystery: The Chalk Circle Man; An Uncertain Place.
David Foenkinos is also a bestseller French writer whose works have been translated in other languages. In La Délicatesse (2009) (Delicacy) (in English, in French), the life of a young, beautiful woman with a lasting idyllic marriage suddenly stops when her husband dies in a traffic accident. To forget her pain, she immerses herself in work when an unlikely relationship presents itself. Based on the novel, Foenkinos and his brother Stéphane soon after made a movie (2011) with Audrey Tautou (from Amélie).-
GREEK
Umberto Eco: Zero Issue (Numero Zero, original title) (in English - November 2015, in Greek)
Μια τρομερή θεωρία συνομωσίας που συμπεριλαμβανει την CIA, το Μουσολίνι , τη δολοφονία ενός Πάπα, δεξιές πολιτικές οργανώσεις και μια βασιλική οικογένεια της Ιταλίας! Ένας έρωτας εν μέση όλων αυτών κ μία εφημερίδα που το «φύλλο μηδέν» της κρύβει περίεργα μυστικά.
“Zero Issue” revolves around a conspiracy theory that includes the CIA, Mussolini, the assassination of a Pope, some right-winged political organizations and one royal Italian family! In the midst of all that, a love story developing and a newspaper that its issue numbered 0 (zero) holds secrets yet to be revealed.
Ντένι Γκέντζ: Το θεώρημα του παπαγάλου
Denis Guedj: The Parrot’s Theorem. (Le theoreme du perroquet, original title) (in English, in Greek)
Ένας πρώην βιβλιοπώλης, τρία ετεροθελή αδέφια – εκ των οποίων το ένα κουφό και τα άλλα δίδυμα- και ένας παπαγάλος(!) που προσπαθούν να διελευκάνουν ένα φόνο.. Και όλοι έχουν σχέση με τα μαθηματικά;
Ο Γκέντζ με ένα μαγικό τρόπο παρουσιάζει την μαθηματική σκέψη των μεγαλύτερων μαθηματικών του κόσμου και τα εκάστοτε προβληματά τους.
Αλήθεια, πως τα μαθηματικά επηρεάζουν τη ζωή μας και την καθημερινότητά μας;
A former bookseller, three half siblings – one of whom is deaf and the other two are twins- and a parrot (!) are trying to solve a murder. And everything has to do with Mathematics?
Denis Guedj in a magical manner presents the minds of the greatest mathematicians of our times.
One has to wonder how does math, after all, affect and form our lives…
GERMAN
“Das Boot” by Lothar Günther Buchheim (in English, in German)
It is suspenseful, it is relatively easy to read, there is a good movie about it, the novel is out in English and it is a great tale for both men and female from an unusual perspective. It is about the adventures of a German submarine in WWII.
It accurately depicts what life was like in a tiny tin can under the ocean- days and days of boredom, interrupted by episodes of absolute terror and death. The book is a fictional summary of actual experience, made by German submarine observer and author Buchheim who channeled all his UBoot travels into one book and one story. It follows the story of a submarine commander, who is only referred to as “Der Alte” and the submarine’s crew from the harbor La Rochelle, to its adventures in the Atlantic, through Gibraltar and to its ultimate, bitter end.
ARABIC
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
بين القصرين لنجيب محفوظ
Naguib Mahfouz’s work ‘Palace Walk’ explores middle-class life after World War I. Mahfouz centers the work on the Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad family. The work takes place between 1917 and 1919, the revolutionary years. The family includes a tyrant husband, pious wife, and five siblings. Ahmad Abd al-Jawad demands absolute obedience from his family, even though he doesn’t give the same obedience to God. Instead, he depends upon God to give him mercy for his debauchery. His wife, Amina, prides herself on her absolute obedience, but she notices that one of her sons, Yasin, believes in the same type of thinking as his father. In contrast to Yasin, Fahmy, another son, is involved in law studies. Mahfouz paints a picture of the family’s life as the sons eat breakfast with the father and the daughters eat with the mother. Amina keeps a strict eye on the daughters. Conflict ensues within the family unit as Yasin has trouble calming his passions, Fahmy joins a revolutionary movement, and Fahmy is gunned down by British troops. Father and son never reconcile.
Summary in Arabic
عنوان الرواية اسم لأحد شوارع القاهرة الشعبية القديمة ، تجري أحداثها عشية ثورة 1919 المصرية ، تروي قصة حياة أسرة منتمية إلى طبقة برجوازية تجارية صغرى ، متمسكة بالعادات والتقاليد ، وشخصيتها المركزية الأب (السيد أحمد عبد الجواد ) المستبد الأناني الصارم تجاه أسرته المكونة من زوجته وخمسة أبناء ، كلهم يخضعون له دون معارضة ، يؤمنون بتقواه من منطلق أنه حريص على أوقات الصلاة وكأن التقوى والصلاة وجهان لعملة واحدة ، مخلص في عبادته لله بنفس مقدار إخلاصه لسطوته وجبروته وبطشه وكأنه على رأس نظام سياسي استبدادي شمولي.
Palace of Desire by Naguib Mahfouz
قصر الشوق لنجيب محفوظ
Summary in English
Palace of Desire , takes place some five years later after Palace Walk. It is largely focused on two of the sons, Yasin, the eldest, who is decadent, foolish, and very kind; and his much younger brother Kamal, a serious young student.
Yasin makes a series of bad marriages, ending with the scandal of marriage to a sort of prostitute. Kamal meanwhile passionately worships a girl he barely knows, and enrolls at a poorly regarded College because his intent on studying ‘higher’ subjects, such as philosophy, rather than subjects such as law. He undergoes a crisis when his beloved marries someone else, and begins to dip his toe into the world of prostitutes and alcohol frequented by his brother Yasin. On the other hand his father Al-Sayyid, who despite his strict control of his home turns out to be a bon vivant of the first order.
Summary in Arabic
وهكذا يمضي نجيب محفوظ في الجزء الثاني من ثلاثيته “قصر الشوق” كما تمضي الحياة ملونة بلون الزمان وبلون التطورات السياسية والاجتماعية والاقتصادية. تبدلات تقتفي أثرها سردية نجيب محفوظ الروائية التي يتابعها القارئ بشوق وشغف. ليقف على مجريات الأمور مع ياسين الذي تزوج ثم طلق زوجته، والسيد الغارق في مشاكل أولاده، وأمينة التي ومهما تغير الزمان تبقى الأم المتفانية بإخلاص لعائلتها ولزوجها تدرك مغامراته ولكنها تغيبها في ذهنها. وخديجة وعائشة وزيجات وأولاد… وكمال ونجاح بعد نجاح ووطنية مقلقة تزج صاحبها بأتون المظاهرات والاحتجاجات والنشاطات السياسية المعادية للإنكليز…
صفحات من التاريخ يقتطفها نجيب محفوظ يلونها بلون الواقع الممتزج بحيوية الحدث وبإبداع الخيال الروائي المتميز بالعفوية والتلقائية التي تلقي ظلالاً رائعة على “قصر الشوق”.
Photo credit: momo via Flickr
