February CATWoman: Women in Translation

The examples here are all for translations into English, but feel free to include works translated into any language that's relevant to you. Women in translation will include not just female translated writers, but female translators as well. When there is a pair of translators, one male and one female, I've defined them as female.

Written by Women, Translated by Women
Last Witnesses by Svetlana Alexievich translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky Russian
The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante translated by Ann Goldstein Italian
Nada by Carmen Laforet translated by Edith Grossman Spanish
The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Jennifer Croft Polish
Segu by Maryse Conde translated by Barbara Bray French (Guadalupe)
The House of Ulloa by Emilia Pardo Bazan translated by Lucia Graves and Paul O'Prey Spanish
China Witness: Voices from a Silent Generation by Xinran translated by Esther Tyldesley, Nicky Harman and Julia Lovell Chinese

Written by Women, Translated by Men
In Diamond Square by Merce Rodoreda translated by Peter Bush Catalan
The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi translated by John Bester Japanese

Written by Men, Translated by Women
The Crime of Father Amaro by Eca de Queiroz translated by Margaret Jull Costa Portugal
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin translated by Natasha Randall Russian
We Always Treat Women Too Well, The Sunday of Life by Raymond Queneau, translated by Barbara Wright French
Hidden camera by Zoran Zivkovic translated by Alice Copple-Tosic Serbia
The Blue Sky by Galsang Tschinag translated by Katharina Rout German (Mongolia)

To be continued.

To the Wiki

Books about Translating, Written by Women

Why Translation Matters by Edith Grossman
Found in Translation: How Language Shapes Our Lives and Transforms the World by Nataly Kelly and Jost Zetzsche

Links

Best New Translated Books (2019) https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/23/best-new-translated-books-fiction
13 Translated Books by Women You Should Read https://lithub.com/13-translated-books-by-women-you-should-read/
Best International Crime Novels 2021 https://crimereads.com/best-international-crime-novels-2021/ Some of these are by women and some are translated by women.

Crime
Fred Vargas
Karin Fossum
Camilla Lackberg

Science Fiction and Fantasy
Lonely Castle In The Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

Suggestions?

I'm going to read The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi.

I will be reading Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset, translated from Norwegian to English by Tina Nunnally.

>3 pamelad: I loved Lonely Castle In The Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura for fantasy.

Thanks Jayne.

I think I will read Dog Will Have His Day by Fred Vargas, translated from French by Siân Reynolds for female author and female translator.

I think I will be reading A Single Swallow by Ling Zhang, translated by Shelly Bryant. (female author, female translator)

I'm planning on reading Three Apples Fell From the Sky by Narine Abgaryan, translated by Lisa C Hayden. The author is Armenian, although the book was originally written in Russian.

Here to endorse the recommendation for Found in Translation.

I have the Emily Wilson translation of The Odyssey, the Caroline Alexander translation of The Iliad, and the Christine Donougher translation of Les Misérables on my shelves -- perhaps one of those will be read this year :)

I'm hoping to participate. I have 3 books on my shelves that qualify:

Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
The Appointment by Herta Müller; Müller won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2009.

I am planning on reading Missing by Swedish author, Karin Alvtegen. My version has been translated by Anna Paterson who won the Bernard Shaw Prize in 2000 for Literary Translation.

I am going to read The Core of the Sun by Johanna Sinisalo and translated by Lola Rogers.

I am planning to read Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri, who wrote the novel in Italian and then translated it into English. According to Wikipedia Ms. Lahiri has written a number of works in various genres in Italian recently.

That is a great reading prompt!

So far I have only found one unread book on my shelves that qualifies, but it is one I had on my radar to read soon anyway, so that is fine!

Ein Winter auf Mallorca by George Sand, translated from French to German by Maria Dessauer.
When I bought the book about five years ago I hadn't heard of George Sand and thought the author was a man, until I learned that it was a pseudonym. I am looking forward to reading this!

I'm likely to read:
Buzz, Sting, Bite / Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson

All 4 books in Christelle Dabos' Mirror Visitor Quartet are translated from French. The first one was great, with very good world building and a strong main character. I plan to read the second one, The Missing of Clairdelune.

Moving this up.

I have read The Waiting Years by Fumiko Enchi. It is set during the Meiji Restoration and was first published in 1957. A worthwhile read. Recommended.

I read Confessions by Kanae Minato (I snuck it in at the end of January as it was for a book club).

I'll probably read Bad Intentions by Karin Fossum.

I'm reading The Last Summer by Richard Huch, which is an epistolary novel.

And I want to recommend Winter Flowers for anyone still looking for something to read - I read it last year and loved it. Gave it the full five stars. Here is my review of it:


The writing in this was gorgeous. The author has written other books, but this is the first and the only one to be translated into English so far. Here's the Amazon blurb:

"It’s October 1918 and the war is drawing to a close.

Toussaint Caillet returns home to his wife, Jeanne, and the young daughter he hasn’t seen growing up. He is not coming back from the front line but from the department for facial injuries at Val-de-Grâce military hospital, where he has spent the last two years.

For Jeanne, who has struggled to endure his absence and the hardships of wartime, her husband’s return marks the beginning of a new battle. With the promise of peace now in sight, the family must try to stitch together a new life from the tatters of what they had before."

What is so well done here is that we are given a glimpse into both sides of the story. First, the wife who remained at home struggling to provide for herself and her young daughter. She makes and sells artificial flowers, which is where the title comes from. There is a lot of detail about the flower making, and it is fascinating. We also get to see into the husband's story and understand that he has experienced things that he cannot share properly with someone who wasn't there. They wrote during the war, but in order to spare each other, they did not write of the horrors they were each experiencing. They did not share their struggles. And when her husband is injured and he writes telling her not to come, she is hurt and angry.

"She always woke with a start first thing in the morning. She should have stirred herself, gone straight back to work, but for many months Toussaint's words tore at her. They were dark words.

I want you not to come.

Over time, the unusual construction so intrigued her that she tried to read into it what hadn't been said. Why hadn't he added 'my little darling', as he so often did, why hadn't he written, 'It's better if you don't come for now'? Or 'We need to be patient', or 'The doctor would rather we waited before you visit', or worst of all, 'I don't want you to come'? Touissaint hadn't chosen any of these. Perhaps he's had enough of not wanting, because no one ever listened to him. He had told his wife what he wanted, not what he didn't want.

I want you not to come."

When he finally does come home, bridging the gap seems too big an ask. This, for me, was a perfect read. Thanks so much to Charlotte for bringing it to my attention.

>23 Crazymamie: And thanks for bringing it to mine!

>24 clue: You're welcome. It is one that has stayed with me.

>23 Crazymamie: Winter Flowers goes straight to my ever-growing WL. I love the quote you included.

>26 MissBrangwen: Hooray!

I read The House by the Medlar Tree by Giovanni Verga, translated by Mary A. Craig. No touchstone available for Craig. Category: male author, female translater

I read The Soul of a Woman both written in Spanish and translated into English by Isabel Allende. Allende, a longtime feminist who founded a foundation helping women and children following the death of her daughter, is well aware of the conditions women live under worldwide. She also talks about her life and aging. She is very optimistic about young people improving conditions of women in the future.

I have finished Menschenwerk by Han Kang and translated by a Korean-born woman now living in Germany. She describes the ten days of the Gwangju uprising in 1980 and it makes for a harrowing read.

I read The Chalk Circle Man over the weekend. Female author & female translator. It had been sitting on my shelf far too long!

I just read An Astrological Guide for Broken Hearts by Silvia Zucca, which was translated from Italian to English. Zucca is also herself a translator, according to her author bio. Unfortunately I didn't like the book much, though the Milan setting was a plus.

I have finished Warum bist du nicht vor dem Krieg gekommen? written by Lizzie Doron, translated by Mirjam Pressler. The author looks back at her childhood in Tel Aviv in the sixties and especially at her mother, who often behaves oddly. She manages very well to keep the child's point of view at the time, and the explanation is given from her grown-up self. Very short and very touching.

I read Little Fadette by George Sand to kill two birds with one stone for the AuthorCAT and CATwoman challenges this month.

I've just finished The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain, translated by Emily Boyce an in-house translator at Gallic Books.

I finished The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. It was translated from Japanese, written by a woman and translated by a man.

I have started the following two novels:

• Monteverde: memoirs of an interstellar linguuist by Lola Robles, translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel


• The adventures of China Iron by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara, translated from Spanish by Iona Mcintyre and Fiona Mcintosh

>37 markon: Monteverde sounds intriguing. Wishlisted

I just realized that the graphic novel I read this evening fits this month's theme. The Property by Rutu Modan is a translated work. I believe the original is in Hebrew. The translator is a woman as well.

Just finished Bad Intensions by Karin Fossum.

I have completed my read of Missing by Karin Alvtegen, translated by Anna Paterson. This was a fun and suspenseful thriller that I really enjoyed reading.

The March thread is posted: https://www.librarything.com/topic/339601

I read The House of Ulloa by Emilia Pardo Bazan which was first published in Spanish in 1886, so it can fit in the AuthorCAT as well. It's well worth reading.

Buzz, Sting, Bite: Why We Need Insects / Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson
4 stars

The subtitle pretty much says it all. Chapters include insect anatomy, sex, the food chain, symbiosis between insects and plants, insects and human food, insects as “janitors”, industries, and more.

I found this really Interesting, but I’m afraid I won’t remember much. There were so many little tidbits of information, it will be hard to remember. I have heard it before, but even if they are pests, insects really are beneficial, and humans would be hard-pressed to live on a planet without them.

The Crime of Father Amaro by Jose Maria Eca de Queiros is translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa.

Although the translator is not a woman, the author is

Penance / Kanae Minato
3.5 stars

10-year old friends Sae, Maki, Akiko, Yuka, and Emily are playing in the schoolyard when Emily is lured away by a man. It’s a bit later when the other girls find Emily’s dead body. In Japan, there is (or was) a statute of limitations of 15 years. When, after a few years, the murderer is still not caught, Emily’s mother tells the four girls they will pay if the murderer is not found. Fifteen years later, the four girls are adults now, but they have been drastically affected by their friend’s murder and her mother’s curse.

I liked this. Each chapter was from a different character’s point of view as an adult and looking back on what happened when Emily was killed. There was also a chapter (after the four girls’ chapters) narrated by Emily’s mother. The chapters (and book as a whole) was fairly short, so trying to remember who was who was a bit tricky, but it usually only took a small reminder for me to remember each story as I continued through the book.

COMPLETED Dog Will Have His Day and The Accordionist, both written by a woman, Fred Vargas, and translated from the French by a woman, Siân Reynolds.

I finished Marzahn, Mon Amour by Katja Oskamp, translated by Jo Heinrich.

As someone coming up on 50 very soon, this spoke to me.

"You're almost fifty and you've realised that the time for you to do the things you want to do is now, not later. It might be an old self-help-book platitude, but it's true all the same. You're almost fifty and you're even more invisible that you were; ideal conditions for doing those things, be they terrible, wonderful of peculiar."

Finished Monteverde: memories of an interstellar linguist by Lola Robles. I knew going in it would be a fragmented tale and am fine with that. I also could surmise that Rachel would not get back to Aanuk. But oh how I want her grandchildren to go! And to see how things have changed on Aanuk, and how the Aanukians and the Fihdians are getting on and what stories are told or remembered about Rachel Monteverde and the Earth and the universe.

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset, translated from the Norwegian by Tiina Nunnally is actually a trilogy: The Wreath, The Wife, The Cross, in one volume. I started it at the end of January and finished it last night. There are a lot of characters and family connections, which for me was pretty daunting, one reason I would recommend reading this in one go, and this translation is purported to be the best one. But I loved it from start to finish and I was always eager to read it each time I picked it up. The portrayal of daily life in 14th century Norway with its customs, traditions, religious life and lingering pagan beliefs is richly depicted.

>50 marell:, agree. Really enjoyed reading this story set in 14th century Norway.

I've just finished Amatka. This was written in Swedish and translated to English by the author, Karin Tidbeck. I thoroughly enjoyed this dystopian tale, 4.5*.

I finished The Orchard by Yochi Brandes. Yochi Brandes is a female author from Haifa and teaches Bible and Judaism. This is a historical novel told through the memory of Rachel. Real characters, Rabbi Akiva, the revolt of Bar Kokhba, and the birth of Christianity from Jewish Nazareens are real historical people and events.


translation by Daniel Libenson

I ended up re-reading Still Waters, the first in the Sandhamn Murders series, written by Viveca Sten. Translated from Swedish by Marlaine Delargy.

>50 marell: >51 Kristelh: I loved Kristin Lavransdatter! Have you ever seen the short animated film "The Danish Poet"? It's about a poet who goes on a quest to meet the author Sigrid Undset and it's very funny and charming.
https://www.nfb.ca/film/danish_poet-edu/

For this challenge, I'd read In Concrete by Anne Garréta, translated from the French by Emma Ramadan. It's full of clever wordplay, but there wasn't much of a plot and I tired of the jokes before the book was half over. So I wouldn't really recommend it, but the translator's notes at the end of the book were very interesting.

>51 Kristelh: In spite of its size, it’s a book I would read again.

>55 mathgirl40: Thank you so much for sharing that. It is indeed witty and charming. My husband’s paternal grandparents were from the tiny Danish island of Samso, which was apparently an important stopping point during Viking days. His DNA shows hits in Denmark, of course, but also a lot of hits in Norway, especially in the Lillehammer region, so we have running jokes in our family about whether he is actually Danish or Norwegian (well, we’re Americans, but you know what I mean), so the humor in the film is especially funny to me. Thanks again.

>55 mathgirl40:, that was so very cute. Thanks for sharing. My family always identified as Swedish but the DNA testing that my brother had done, for what it is worth, showed Norwegian.

>57 marell: >58 Kristelh: I'm glad you enjoyed the film. Our family has rewatched it a couple of times over the years, as it is so sweet. There are some real gems in the National Film Board archives. Our other favourite is "The Cat Came Back". We used to read The Cat Came Back together when the kids were young.
https://www.nfb.ca/film/the-cat-came-back/

DNA results are interesting, aren't they? I've never had mine done, but my daughter (half Chinese, half European ancestry) did.

I just finished The Missing of Clairdelune today. It's the second in a four book series and I am enjoying them.

I just finished Three Apples Fell From the Sky and thought it was an absolute delight.

>61 Jackie_K: I'm in the middle of that one right now.

>62 Helenliz: SNAP! ;)

I read Extracts from The Second Sex - I will look out the full book. I had read a lot about Sinome de Beauvoir, but it was interesting to read her ideas from her own hand.