A novel can have two lives: one in its original language, and another in translation. While the number of translated works of fiction published in English speaking countries still remains relatively small, there are some authors whose work has become wildly popular in translation. We’ll look at a few of them here.
Elena Ferrante has become a worldwide sensation for her Neapolitan novels — L’amica geniale (My Brilliant Friend), Storia del nuovo cognome (The Story of a New Name), Storia di chi fugge e di chi resta (Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay), Storia della bambina perduta (The Story of the Lost Child) -, originally published in Italian, and translated into English by Ann Goldstein. The author herself maintains a low profile — she has never done interviews in person, although her email correspondence has been published as its own book, out in English translation in November.
Haruki Murakami‘s dreamlike novels have reached audiences abroad thanks to the talents of translators Jay Rubin, Philip Gabriel, and Alfred Birnbaum. Gabriel wrote about the experience of translating Murakami’s 1Q84 into English at The Atlantic. Of the Japanese language, he says “It’s unlike any other language I’ve studied, and I’ve studied Russian, Chinese, French, and German. With Japanese verbs coming at the end I sometimes feel that translating Japanese into English is like giving away the punch line.”
Stieg Larsson‘s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (orig, Män som hatar kvinnor; or Men Who Hate Women) was not only a literary smash, but the trilogy of books became a sensational film series in both the original Swedish and in English version. Larsson’s translator, Steven T. Murray, translating under the pen name Reg Keeland, talks about writing and translation here.
Obviously many other authors have reached our shores in their English versions, from the Russian classics of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, to the Colombian novels of Gabriel García Márquez. Who are some of your favorites in translation?
Have you read any of the above? Have favorites to add? Share your thoughts in the forums. Or start learning one of the languages mentioned above with our online courses so you can read the books in their original language!