A recent article asked experts which books should be translated to English. Some of the suggestions included Israeli author Gabriela Avigur-Rotem’s Adom Atik (Ancient Red), Indian Manzoor Ahtesham’s Dastan-e Lapata (The Tale of the Missing Person), Norwegian Johan Harstad’s Buzz Aldrin, Hvor Ble Det av Deg i Alt Mylderet? (Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion?), and Cuban Ena Lucía Portela’s Cien Botellas en una Pared (A Hundred Bottles on the Wall).
If I were asked about Swedish literature, I think I’d recommend some of the children’s books. Swedish children’s literature is really good (it’s not just Pippi Longstocking!), which I discovered when I first moved to Sweden six years ago and learned Swedish in large part by reading children’s books. Some favorite authors include Gunilla Bergström (I adore her Alfons Åberg series), Inger and Lasse Sandberg, and Maria Gripe, but there are many other talented writers whose work I’d like to see in English.
What do you think? Which books from other languages do you believe should be translated to English?
8 comments:
I would love to see all of the Pettson and Findus books available in English. I'd be giving them as presents to people all the time!
Thanks for your comment! Those are very cute books and I agree that they should all be in English.
Best wishes,
B.J.
I read them in German, actually, since I can't read Swedish. I don't know how good they are in Swedish, but the German in the translations is lovely to read.
Perhaps a future project would be for you to learn Swedish, then!
I just checked out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sven_Nordqvist and learned that Pettson and Findus are called Festus and Mercury in English (that's an odd choice, in my opinion) and that some of the books have in fact been translated, though they may not be widely available.
Best wishes,
B.J.
They are all out of print. But a Canadian friend of mine whose Swiss sister-in-law lives in Stockholm told me that she saw P&F books in Stockholm in English.
Whoever renamed the characters did so before the last P&F book (about how P got F) was published. In it, the origin of F's name is explained (P received a kitten in a box that said "Findus green peas, 12 cans").
In German, Hermione Granger is called Hermine.
That makes me curious to know how that translation was handled (if it was) -- did the translator have to create a new reason for the cat's name? Or did the publisher just hope readers wouldn't notice? Maybe that book will serve as the impetus to give out new translations, with the correct names!
Best wishes,
B.J.
I'm not sure that P&F book was ever translated; I have only seen the early ones listed in various places (as out of print and very expensive second hand).
Not translating it is a good way of avoiding the problem!
Best wishes,
B.J.
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