Around the World in 80 Books discussion

This is a great idea, we can widen our horizons with this challenge. I will be including names of the translator(s) along with the author in my posts and the language from which it was translated.

Rules for Challenge - until December 2018
Genres (Pick any 16)
1. Biography
2. Children's/Fairytales Japanese Fairy Tales / Pippi Longstocking
3. Classic Fiction (>50 years old) Notes from Underground, Embers, The Invention of Morel
4. Contemporary fiction The Accordionist's Son, The Travelling Cat Chronicles, Signs Preceding the End of the World
5. Fantasy A Dog's Heart
6. Folklore/Mythology Gilgamesh: A New English Version
7. Graphic Novels/Manga/Comics Cigars of the Pharaoh
8. History (Non-fiction) Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent
9. Horror The Prince of Mist
10. Humor The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared
11. Literary Fiction/Historical Fiction The Auschwitz Violin, The Blue Fox
12. Memoir/Autobiography Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and the Story of a Return
13. Mystery (Crime, Detective. Cozy, Noir, etc.) Death Spiral
14. Non-fiction The Gardener's Year
15. Poetry/Epics Lisbon Poets
16. Romance Girls of Riyadh
17. Science Fiction/Dystopia Around the World in Eighty Days
18. Short Stories Lust, Caution and Other Stories
19. Thrillers/Suspense/Espionage Cockroaches
20. Travel Writing
21. Wildcard (novella) The Passport (feminist fiction) Woman at Point Zero
22. Young Adult/New Adult A Hand Full of Stars

I'm beginning with the Graphic Novels/Manga/Comics genre: -
Cigars of the Pharaoh by Hergé translated from the French by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper and Michael Turner. The original title was Les Cigares du Pharaon

Ruth, I am glad you mentioned a French author. I had forgotten all about Tin-Tin. Is the book you are reading a stand-alone book?

Rosemarie wrote: "Ruth, I am glad you mentioned a French author. I had forgotten all about Tin-Tin. Is the book you are reading a stand-alone book?" Yes, it's the fourth in the series, first published in 1934 and in English in 1971 so one of the earlier books. I think it's the first book where Thompson and Thompson make an appearance and there's no Captain Haddock but Snowy the dog is there

That is old. I am glad Snowy is there.

The Prince of Mist (El príncipe de la niebla) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón translated from the Spanish by Lucia Graves. This book could be classified as children's or young adult fiction, fantasy or mystery, but I'm claiming it for Horror

Good choice on the Tintin graphic novel! I'll be reading a Tintin book later this year for traveling around the world, though probably not for this challenge, since I'll already be reading a French translation for another genre.

I've just finished The Prince of Mist, I had read the original Spanish version some years ago after really enjoying La sombra del viento ( The Shadow of the Wind) and wanted to read something else by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. This was his first book, published in 1993 but an English translation wasn't published until 2010. I did refer back to the original Spanish version at times to compare with Lucia Graves' translation. It's very well translated, sometimes using an economy of words in English while preserving the meaning and at others making subtle changes of vocabulary or sentence structure that fall better on an English speaker's ear. I found it hard to suspend my disbelief, both on my first read (in Spanish) and this time reading the translation. I think if I had read it as a teenager I would have been completely swept up in the plot. The atmosphere Ruiz Zafón and Lucia Graves create is very chilling. An enjoyable short read.

3rd book in my challenge (category Young Adult fiction) A Hand Full of Stars, original title Eine Hand voller Sterne by Rafik Schami, translated from the German by Rika Lesser, an award winning translator of German and Swedish.

For my fourth book I'm about to read Karel Čapek's The Gardener's Year with illustrations by his brother Josef. This was originally published in Czech as Zahradníkův rok and sadly, but all too typically the edition I'm reading does not name the translator, although the book begins with information about two other books by the same authors, Karel Čapek & his brother Josef, which do name the translators. So it is possible that either Dora Round or Paul Selver may have been responsible for this one. I know that there has been a more recent translation by Geoffrey Newsome. I haven't yet decided if this will fit genre 10 humour or genre 14 non-fiction.

Having read The Gardener's Year I've decided to have it for my non-fiction genre as although it raised a smile here or there it didn't make me laugh. Humour is quite a challenge for translation so I'll carry on searching. My next book is for the fairy tale genre Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki who has also done most of the translation.

I'm still reading the Japanese Fairy Tales but I'm only reading two or three stories a day so I decided to also read a children's book. I've read a book from my childhood Pippi Longstocking (Pippi Långstrump) with illustrations by Lauren Child - although these were fun they reminded me too much of Charlie and Lola. The anarchic Pippi was as good as I'd remembered her, living outside the petty limits imposed by the adult world. Lovely translation from the Swedish byTiina Nunnally.

For genre 12 memoir/autobiography I've started Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and the Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi. In the credits at the end of part 1 The Story of a Childhood the translators from the French are credited - Mattias Ripa and Blake Ferris

Now finished Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and the Story of a Return and about to embark on Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days Le Tour du Monde en quatre vingt jours in the original French. I've never read this before (don't know whether I should be admitting that in this group!). The copy I've borrowed from my local library is a large print edition published by the Ulverscroft Foundation and despite the first sentence of the introduction stating "One of the most frequently translated authors in the world" sadly no translator is credited. I'm going to have this for category 17 Science Fiction.

I finished Around the World in Eighty Days and Japanese Fairy Tales. I've also just finished The Auschwitz Violin by Maria Àngels Anglada, original title El violí d'Auschwitz translated from the Catalan by Martha Tennent, my choice for historical fiction, genre 11.

For genre 8 - history - I've just read Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano translated from the Spanish (Las venas abiertas de América Latina) by Cedric Belfrage.

For genre 21 - wildcard I've chosen a novella by a Nobel prize winning author Herta Müller set in Romania among the German speaking minority during the Ceausescu years. The Passport (Der Mensch ist ein großer Fasan auf der Welt) is translated by Martin Chalmers.

For the poetry/epics (genre 15) I've just read Lisbon Poets, this is a bilingual anthology of 5 poets: Luis de Camões, Cesário Verde, Sá-Carneiro, Florbela Espanca and Fernando Pessoa. I would class the translations from the Portuguese by Austen Hyde and Martin D’Evelin as reinterpretations - I think with poetry any good translator has to be able to translate more freely. The book is obviously aimed at foreign visitors to Lisbon (I bought it while on holiday there) but you don't need to know the city to appreciate these poems.

For the humour genre I've read The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared (Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann) by Jonas Jonasson, translated from the Swedish by Rod Bradbury. The humour did appeal to me, not laugh out loud but rather surreal, picaresque even.

For genre 18 short stories Lust, Caution and Other Stories by Eileen Chang translated from the Chinese by Julia Lovell, Karen S. Kingsbury, Janet Ng, Simon Patton, Eva Hung.

For genre 3 classic fiction I've just read Notes from Underground (Записки из подполья) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky translated from the Russian by Jessie Coulson

For genre 19 thrillers I've just read Cockroaches (Kakerlakkene) by Jo Nesbø, translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett

I've just read Girls of Riyadh (Banat Al-Riyadh) originally published in Arabic and adapted/translated for an English language edition by its author Rajaa Alsanea. I chose this for genre 16 romance which is not a genre I usually read but this was a book which I found engaging and gave me a glimpse of how educated, rich Saudi young women try to live their lives with all the restrictions imposed on them.

I've now read books for 16 of the 22 genres, translated from 13 different languages and set in 16 different countries, and I would like to continue with the challenge until I've read books for the 6 as yet unread genres: - biography, contemporary fiction, fantasy, folklore/mythology, mystery and travel writing. Any suggestions for biography would be welcome, I have some reads in mind for the others.

If you like ancient literature, you could read Plutarch's lives, which is a bit dry but very informative, or Suetonius Lives of the Caesars, which has more drama, since many of the people met untimely ends.

Congratulations on finishing the challenge, Ruth, and good luck as you continue with your last six! Do you prefer a certain language for your biography?
The closest I have come to biography so far in this challenge is Haruki Murakami's book long interview of composer Seiji Ozawa, though I ultimately decided to categorize it as non-fiction.

Rosemarie wrote: "If you like ancient literature, you could read Plutarch's lives, which is a bit dry but very informative, or Suetonius Lives of the Caesars, which has more drama, since many of the people met untim..." This is an excellent suggestion, I'm going to go with Suetonius and hope to read The Twelve Caesars which has been translated by Robert Graves and I'm sure this gave him plenty of material for I Claudius which I very much enjoyed reading.

Mome_Rath wrote: "Congratulations on finishing the challenge, Ruth, and good luck as you continue with your last six! Do you prefer a certain language for your biography?
The closest I have come to biography so far..." Thanks, I've enjoyed Murakami's fiction so I'll look out for that. I think I'll go for a translation from Latin as suggested by Rosemarie for the biography category.

Ruth wrote: "I think I'll go for a translation from Latin as suggested by Rosemarie for the biography category."

Excellent -- hope you enjoy it!

As I was reading the Suetonius book, I was thinking about I,Claudius. I remember watching the mini- series in the 1970's. It was shown on 2 channels in Toronto, PBS and TVO, Ontario's public channel. The version show on PBS had been edited, but the Ontario version had not.
They were both fascinating. John Hurt was amazing as Caligula, and Patrick
Stewart(with hair) was a perfect Sejanus.
I hope you enjoy the book, Ruth.

Congrats on finishing the challenge! Wow- that was fast! I'm going to see if I can find The Prince of Mist. Thanks for the suggestion!

For genre 4 contemporary fiction I've finally reached the end of El hijo del acordeonista translated from the original Basque (Soinujolearen semea) into Spanish by the author and Asun Garikanoa. It has been translated into several languages and it's English version is The Accordionist's Son: A Novel. I found it overlong and confusing in places. However the author's love for his childhood home and the Basque language made it an interesting read in parts.

For genre 6 folklore/mythology I've just read Gilgamesh: A New English Version, which Stephen Mitchell calls a "version" rather than a translation. He explains that he doesn't know Akkadian and can't read cuneiform but has used literal translations by seven different scholars with the aim of creating what he calls "a genuine voice for the poem". I thought it was about time I read probably the most ancient written story in the world and found it very readable.

I'm adding a few more books to categories I've already covered that I've recently read: -

Genre 3 Classic Fiction
The Invention of Morel (La invención de Morel) by Adolfo Bioy Casares, translated from the Spanish by Ruth L C Simms
Embers (A gyertyák csonkig égnek) by Sándor Márai, translated from a German translation of the original Hungarian by Carol Janeway

Genre 4 Contemporary Fiction
The Travelling Cat Chronicles (旅猫リポート Tabineko Ripoto) by Hiro Arikawa, translated from the Japanese by Philip Gabriel
Signs Preceding the End of the World (Señales que precederán al fin del mundo by Yuri Herrera translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman

Genre 11 Literary/Historical Fiction
The Blue Fox (Skugga-Baldur) by Sjón, translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb

Genre 13 Mystery (Crime, Detective…)
Death Spiral (Kuolemanspiraali) by Leena Lehtolainen translated from the Finnish by Owen F. Witesman

Genre 5 (fantasy)

A Dog's Heart (Собачье сердце) by Mikhail Bulgakov translated from the Russian by Andrew Bromfield. This could also serve for science fiction or satire.

I didn't do this challenge last year but enjoyed it in 2017 so here goes for 2020.

I've started with Life is a Dream La vida es sueño by the Spanish golden age dramatist Pedro Calderón de la Barca and translated by Denis Florence MacCarthy. As there's no drama genre here I've used this for classic fiction.

Genres (12/16 29 Feb 2020)
Children's/Fairytales
Classic Fiction (>50 years old) Life is a Dream 05/01/2020
Contemporary fiction
Fantasy/Magical realism
Folklore/Mythology
Graphic Novels/Manga/Comics The Little Black Fish 23/01/2020
Historical Fiction Silk 21/01/2020
History (Non-fiction) Meetings In No Man's Land 28/01/2020
Horror
Humor Moomin on the Riviera 25/02/2020
Literary Fiction/Realistic Fiction
Memoir/Autobiography/Biography Quicksand: What It Means to Be a Human Being 26/01/2020
Mystery (Crime, Detective. Cozy, Noir, etc.) The Boy in the Suitcase 24/02/2020
Other Non-fiction (Essays, Cookbooks, Self-help, True crime, etc.)
Poetry/Epics February: Selected Poetry 29/02/2020
Romance Memories of My Melancholy Whores 14/01/2020
Science Fiction/Dystopia
Short Stories
Thrillers/Suspense/Espionage After the Crash 06/01/2020
Travel Writing
Wildcard (Any genre/sub-genre not mentioned) All Quiet on the Western Front 13/01/2020
Young Adult/Middle Grade/Children's The Cat Who Came in Off the Roof 01/02/2020

Genre: thriller

After the Crash by Michel Bussi, original title Un avion sans elle translated from the French by Sam Taylor

Wildcard: War

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, original title Im Westen nichts Neues, the Vintage Books edition I read doesn't credit the translator, but it's Brian Murdoch who also writes the afterword. The English title is by A.W. Wheen from his translation for the first English language publication in 1929.

All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the best books I've ever read. I have yet to find anyone in one of my groups who dislikes it. I think it is the quintessential book to read for WWI.

Laurie wrote: "All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the best books I've ever read. I have yet to find anyone in one of my groups who dislikes it. I think it is the quintessential book to read for WWI." I found it very vivid, very well written - and translated.

Genre: romance

This might seem an unusual genre for a novella by Gabriel García Márquez but Memories of My Melancholy Whores Memoria de mis putas tristes, despite its title, it is a love story. The translation from the Spanish is by Edith Grossman and I listened to the audio book beautifully narrated by Thom Rivera.

Genre: historical fiction (but would also work for romance)

Silk Seta by Alessandro Baricco, translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein

Genre: graphic novels

The Little Black Fish by Bizhan Khodabandeh this is an adaptation rather than a translation of the Farsi story The Tale of the Little Black Fish (ماهی سیاه کوچولو) by Iranian author Samad Behrangi.

Genre: memoir/autobiography

Quicksand: What It Means to Be a Human Being by Henning Mankell original title Kvicksand, translated from the Swedish by Laurie Thompson

Interesting final offering from both the writer and the translator.

Genre: History (non-fiction)

Meetings In No Man's Land Frères de Tranchées by Marc Ferro with contributions by Malcolm Brown who has worked with the Imperial War Museum, Rémy Cazals, Olaf Mueller with translation from the French by Helen McPhail.

Genre: Middle Grade/Children's

The Cat Who Came in Off the Roof by Annie M.G. Schmidt original title Minoes translated from the Dutch in 2014 by David Colmer

Genre: mystery - crime The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis original title Drengen I kufferten and I think it was translated from Danish by Lene Kaaberbøl

Genre: humour Moomin on the Riviera, original title Mumin på Rivieran Familjen lever högt translated from the Swedish, translator not credited

Wonderful, madcap, eccentric - the Moomins don't quite fit in with the all the glamorous personalities sunning themselves in "the south" but they manage to have quite a holiday.

Genre: Poetry February: Selected Poetry by Boris Pasternak - this is a bilingual edition of poetry written by Pasternak in the 1940s and 1950s, I enjoyed the translations from the Russian by Andrey Kneller.