Nordic Noir discussion

Translated from Swedish by: Laurie Thompson
Translated from the Swedish by: Ebba Segerberg
Translated from the Swedish by: Steven T Murray
Translated from the Icelandic by: Bernard Scudder
Translated from the Icelandic by: Philip Roughton
Translated from the Norwegian by: Don Barlett
Felicity David - Translator
Translated by Marlaine Delargy

A good translated makes the author?

Do translators get the credit they deserve?

Who do you like? Do you notice when they change?

Translated from the Swedish by: Reg Keeland (GWTDT series)

I really hope Jim jumps in on this because he had some really good input on it.

Hey, I actually read one of Jim's books in Finnish :) - didn't think it was translated but some things were a bit too American in the ways of expressing them. But it was translated... from English (despite the English version not having been published yet).

(I'll need to see if I find a copy of Snow Angels in Finnish, I'd love to see how that one differs from the original).

A good translation makes a book enjoyable.
A really good translation makes a book as close to an original as it can - still leaving a few expressions from the source language.
A mediocre translation does harm for the book. It prevents the book from being liked by many.
A bad translation for fiction - when published - is a crime that should not be committed.

I seldom find mediocre or worse translations, but one mediocre one comes to mind immediately. The Stone Murders by Matti Yrjänä Joensuu was translated in English by a Raili Taylor. Here's my detailed ramble about why it was quire ruined by translation (and still for respect and effort I ignored some of the bad ones).
Inconsistencies in place names, lack of details that would have made the book more enjoyable for those who don't know Finland (such as a map of Helsinki, or explaining some of the oddities), the lack of umlaut characters for names etc. Those, plus it being of the style of the old Sjöwall&Wahlöö (cold detectives, little action) style, no wonder the Finnish crime didn't sell and no one thought about trying to sell or market it.

Maybe - and I hope this is the case - a big part is also for the translation to have grown and developed since. Now when we see a great book by an author of a different language, the translator makes a difference.

If I see a book that was translated by Don Bartlett, I know that the translated version is good - and I'm also fairly sure that the original was really good too, or otherwise he wouldn't have translated it.
And the same would go for Stephen Sartarelli - though I prefer the originals in case of Camilleri etc.
Maybe that's why a good translator is even advertised on the covers.

A book is usually best in the original language, but a good translation makes the book be 90-99,9 % as good.

When I grew up, I read a bunch of book in Finnish and Italian. I don't remember the translators being such a big deal, and most of the stuff I read was translated from something else. But times change - now I hope the translators get better fame there too. And if I run to a book that just doesn't cut it (story can be one thing, the characters another, and equally important, if it's painful to read because of the way it's written or translated), I give up.

Anna wrote: "Hey, I actually read one of Jim's books in Finnish :) - didn't think it was translated but some things were a bit too American in the ways of expressing them. But it was translated... from English ..."

Lovely thoughtful reply. I wish I was better at languages as the original text is key in anyone's understanding.

Ideally the same translator will undertake the series of books - it must help if the author understands English so they can ensure everything is translated. A book is more than the sum of its words and in crime fiction especially, we need to feel the tension, mood and environment of the story.

Sorry Anna...I'll whip myself right after I get off here!! lol

Richard wrote: "Translated from Swedish by: Laurie Thompson
Translated from the Swedish by: Ebba Segerberg
Translated from the Swedish by: Steven T Murray
Translated from the Icelandic by: Bernard Scudder
T..."

IMO they do not get the credit they deserve and I think they are extremely important. I was very happy recently to pick up new writers but see familiar names of translators, especially Laurie Thompson and Don Barlett. They were known to me and did not disappoint.

I still find some of the British English terms in the translations of Nordic mysteries jarring. I don't know why, I read plenty of British books in English and they don't bother me, but references to knickers cause me to stop in my reading.

I lived in UK and in Ireland for a while, so I guess I'm a bit more immune to the UK terms in books, but I've got to admit, I use the dictionary (dictionary.com app, English explained in English, on iPhone - a free app by the way) way more frequently for the UK translated books than the others. Like in one of the Nesbø ones there was 'boiler suit'. Small terms like that would be way more friendly translated, so while the usual US version does have temperatures translated from C to F, it would be nice if the 'boiler suit' was coveralls, or boot was trunk, or a lorry was a van and so on.

I think I've seen recently some books have already on their covers a mention about who translated the book - at least I remember seeing something where Don Bartless was clearly mentioned already on the cover, I just don't remember what book it was - so that's also a good change, when the translator is really good.

I could not imagine e.g. Nesbø or Mankell suddenly switch the translators in the middle of the series. I tried a few months ago to read a new Wallander in another language, and it just didn't cut it for me - just because I'm used to the ones in English. Of course I imagine Wallander speaking in Swedish (and Hole in Norwegian), but as reading it in Swedish would be impossible for my less than elementary and long forgotten Swedish skills, it just felt more comfortable in English rather than switching the language for one book.

I hadn't thought about that, but maybe that is why I find the British English terms so jarring -- they do change temperatures to F and often change distance units to miles from kilometers but do not update other parts of the language in the American editions. Reading a completely British version doesn't bother me as much.

I love the descriptions of food -- I have looked up recipes to see what some things are really like. The food in books set in Finland and Iceland really fascinate me.