Readers' interest in foreign language books translated into English

[Aomame]

Update:

I spend the day crawling through lists.

- Top Ten Lists created by 125 top American and British Authors (published 2007 and after).
http://www.toptenbooks.net/all-time-top-ten-lists

- A Global Era list somebody put together
http://thegreatbookslist.com/greatbooklist7.html

- An Essay of Hermann Hesse, about what should not be missed in a library (no English translation found)

What most of them have in common, is that they get really thin after WWII and are often only available as a national list - if even that. What we are looking for is not out there (or I need additional training in how to search the web).

So here is the big question (it is actually more than just one):

-If a Project Mankind should be started, how could that look like? 1st half of 20th century sorted by country and 2nd half of the 20th century sorted by country?
-Sorting by country in which the novel plays or by nationality of the author? What if he/she changes nationality?
-What criteria does a book have to fulfill to be considered?
-What languages should be considered? Only translations into English?
-Fiction and Non-Fiction?

[youkrst]

i was looking around earlier and i found this quote from Goethe that reminded me of this thread.

In a famous statement in January 1827, Goethe predicted to Eckermann that in the coming years world literature would supplant the national literatures as the major mode of literary creativity:

I am more and more convinced that poetry is the universal possession of mankind, revealing itself everywhere and at all times in hundreds and hundreds of men. . . . I therefore like to look about me in foreign nations, and advise everyone to do the same. National literature is now a rather unmeaning term; the epoch of world literature is at hand, and everyone must strive to hasten its approach.[2]

oh well, better late than never

-If a Project Mankind should be started, how could that look like? 1st half of 20th century sorted by country and 2nd half of the 20th century sorted by country?

i suppose if listed in chronological order the date of the books would easily allow people to skip through to the era they fancy then they could relist them according to subject or any other criteria useful for searching.

-Sorting by country in which the novel plays or by nationality of the author? What if he/she changes nationality?

maybe language could take precedence.

-What criteria does a book have to fulfill to be considered?

just that it speaks uniquely or strongly in time place culture and language, that it adds a viewpoint or concept perhaps particular to or indicative of a culture.

-What languages should be considered? Only translations into English?

the more languages the better so people who dont have great english can enjoy.

-Fiction and Non-Fiction?

i would think so, it would be a shame to exclude a great book because it failed to fit a category.

______________________

now as soon as i sell this stealth bomber in the back yard i will hire an army of translators and we will take the literature of the world

[Aomame]

Let me get a glass of white wine, and than we can start.

How do you imagine that to look technically? Simply database with core information? Author, Original Title, Original Year Published, Translated Language, Year of Translation, Description?

[youkrst]

How do you imagine that to look technically? Simply database with core information? Author, Original Title, Original Year Published, Translated Language, Year of Translation, Description?

precisely, once texts are tagged they can then be searched according to the needs of the seeker.

also

it occurs to me that as an english speaker i am already spoilt for choice when it comes to translations, i can already get many many great works done quite well into english sometimes even having several translations to read.

so to a certain extent i would feel guilty having even more great books to read.

and to a certain extent google has beaten us to it, perhaps a more modest and doable goal would be to assemble a list of links to existing re-scources so those interested could benefit from already extant translations.

i haven't even had a good look around to see whats out there already but i have noticed (as an english speaking only person) that i can easily get access to just about anything i can figure out i want.

i have noticed that in the age of information the problem is not so much information, as the time needed to weed through all the crap to get to the "good stuff"

for example Geo saved us heaps of time just by mentioning Bloom, i would never have known had he not casually mentioned the name. a small time cost to him and a great time saver for me.

[youkrst]

just re-reading through

it was always my trusted (heavily missed) bookshop owner, that came up with the interesting stuff - with everything in it: Iceland, Cuba, France, Italy, Laos, Japan, Russia.

i raise my iced coffee in his memory!

The big question is: How to help people to discover these pearls? An idea could be to have regions/countries promoted e.g. one per month and ask the BT members to introduce their favorite (translated and maybe even not-translated) books out of that region.

I'd love to get some foreign books on the menu here at BookTalk.org for group discussion.

Wouldn't it be nice to go to that page and look up on Mali (just read the news), a country I know really nothing about?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malian_literature

this was fascinating.... According to the 16th-century Moroccan explorer Leo Africanus, writing in 1510 CE,

In Timbuctoo there are numerous judges, doctors and clerics, all receiving good salaries from the king. He pays great respect to men of learning. There is a big demand for books in manuscript, imported from Barbary (North Africa). More profit is made from the book trade than from any other line of business.[2]

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I really like this list! It represents way more regions than the standard "Best of...." lists. This could be a start for the classics.

damn! that is an uber-list, spine tingling stuff. a simply gorgeous list!

Last but not least I had a look at amazon.fr, amazon.es and amazon.de. I can assure you that the shades of grey are pretty high on all of them.

good old porn! well, old and porn, i dont know so much about good

So I am coming back to the idea of a featured country or region per month.

i see a shape forming in the mist..

[Aomame]

it occurs to me that as an english speaker i am already spoilt for choice when it comes to translations, i can already get many many great works done quite well into english sometimes even having several translations to read.

That was my impression too - especially older stuff.

i have noticed that in the age of information the problem is not so much information, as the time needed to weed through all the crap to get to the "good stuff"

i see a shape forming in the mist..

I SEE IT TOO!

[youkrst]

so after a couple of pm's we are thinking

take it in turns as "leader" (including anyone with a text to bring us) to pick a region/culture/language example, post up the links to any translations found and discuss away from there. Aomame first!

maybe then the threads could be a resource to look back over foreign language texts (and the links pertaining to) that have expanded our horizons, a vista grande if you will.

i was thinking keep it to chapters or excerpts (picked by current leader and at their discretion) rather than whole books, so not so much time is required and people can still read on and discuss further if interest is high in a particular example.

not sure about details such as where to post it etc ... perhaps Chris could suggest format.

still early days so anyone with improvements suggest away.

[Chris OConnor]

We should really find a best selling book from a different country and different language soon. This could be something new for BookTalk.org and any opportunity for us to learn about different cultures is valuable. What country/language?

What we really need is someone to find 5 best selling foreign fiction books that have been translated into English and are readily available on Amazon.com to purchase. If someone can do this I will create a poll so we can all vote. Just make sure you give me a link to where people can read more about the book, such as book descriptions or book reviews, so that I can create the poll properly.

Personally, I'd love to find an Irish or Greek novel but I'm open to whatever you find. Beggars can't be choosers and right now I'm not sure how many foreign language novels have been translated into Engli9sh so we might not have a bunch of choices.

[Aomame]

There is definitely something out there - I had a closer look. If you want, I can post links to 5-6 novels here, each from a different country. Greek, Ireland, Spain, Italy are not to difficult to find. Youkrst was also having a look at Mali and given the trouble in Algeria, this might also be an interesting place. I will post some suggestions within the next couple of days.

If somebody has a suggestion, please post it.

Aomame

P.S.: Happy Monday to everybody!

[youkrst]

Yes I've been reading a book originally in french but now available in English about a pretty cool Sufi in Mali, i can post up some more about it when I get back from work.