Well I was lucky enough to be asked to name five but actually got ten books for Booktrust Translated fiction Blog so if you click over there .You can see my main choices ,but here are some others .
Honourable mentions for fiction –
When picking the books for the Translated fiction list I tried to stick with certain places and countries thus two books I loved I didn’t mention there they are –
The flying creatures of Fra Angelico by Antonio Tabucchi -a clever collection of quirky stories and fictional letters from the late Italian writer .
Azazeel By Youssef Ziedan – A Coptic monk struggles with his consciousness as he works on some scripts in 5th century Egypt .
Best non fiction in translation –
A journey to Nowhere by Jean Paul Kaufmann -A man journey to Latvia to discover the long-lost country of Courland a small but important country in its time .
Honorable mention – brother mendels perfect horse by Frank westermann
Best memoir in translation –
The Patagonian Hare by Claude Lanzmann Editor of Les Temps Modernes Sartre’s famous lit mag ,resistance fighter in world war two, oh and he made the film Shoah as well .
Honourable mention fictional memoir – A Death in the Family By Karl Ove Knausgaard
Well that’s my year .
What a varied list!
I’ve read a fair few books in translation this year – nothing near 100, of course – and my favourite is, as almost every year, by Tove Jansson.
One of these days I will read one of your recommended books. This year I bought a few, but have fallen way behind in my reading. I do know i’ll enjoy then once I get to them. Thanks for all your comments and recommendations throughout the year.
Have read some of these & have a couple sat on my shelves. Will be attempting to reduce shelf pile next year 😉
None read. You do great. I tried to read one translation a month but couldn’t sustain it.
Lots of interesting books here, Stu. A few I’ll be trying to get into my reading schedule.
Nice to see Azazeel get a mention! Good selection Stu…
Azazeel doesn’t sound like my sort of thing, but I keep seeing it mentioned and so may have to give it a try. Great list!
All are new to me, all seem incredibly enriching to one’s reading life. You expand my horizons so much, Stu! xo
Wonderful lists, Stu. I will get around to reading some of them eventually! Have a joy filled holiday season!
As usual a minefield of great recommendations. I like the variety of your translation choices!
No-one could accuse you of sticking to the mainstream could they – a fascinating list which shows a highly sophisticated mind!
Have a wonderful Christmas and thanks for your visits to my blog over the last year
A very interesting list. We both got a Tabucchi on our lists. Apart from that I haven’t read a lot of non-English books this year and am leaning heavy towards genre. That can change next year again.
thanks for your fascinating list of titles that for sure we don’t often see.
here is my year, with pies and charts: http://wordsandpeace.com/2013/01/03/year-of-reading-2012/
Thanks for link and a happy new year all the best stu
Wonderful favourites list, Stu! ‘Azazeel’ looks like a fascinating book! I am intrigued by the name of the author Jean-Paul Kauffmann. I thought that Jean-Paul was French (or Belgian) while Kauffmann looks German – really intriguing!
Yes I had same with his name when first got the book last year was a wonderful year for books in translation I thought all the best stu