CRIME LITERATURE IN TRANSLATION

In Other Words.....Translated from Other Languages
Reviews from our newsletter, by Doris Cassiday

Below are some fine works of foreign crime fiction currently available in English translation:

César Aira, Ghosts, translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews (New Directions)

Siba al-Harez, The Others, translated from the Arabic by Marilyn Booth (Seven Stories)

Selçuk Altun, Songs My Mother Never Taught Me, translated from the Turkish by Ruth Christie and Selçuk Berilgen (Telegram)

Aharon Appelfeld, Laish, translated from the Hebrew by Aloma Halter (Schoken)

Bernardo Axtaga, The Accordianist’s Son, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa. Originally published in Basque (Graywolf)

Abbas Beydoun, Blood Test, translated from the Arabic by Max Weiss (Syracuse Univ)

Andrea Camilleri, August Heat: An Inspector Montalbano Mystery, translated from the Italian by Stephen Sartarelli (Penguin)

Gonzalo Celorio, And Let the Earth Tremble at Its Centers, translated from the Spanish by Dick Gerdes (Univ of Texas)

Hugo Claus (1929-2008), Wonder, translated from the Dutch by Michael Henry Heim (Archipelago)

Francisco Coloane, Tierra Del Fuego, translated from the Spanish by Howard Curtis (Europa)

Tim Davys, Amberville, translated from the Swedish by Paul Norlen (Harper) [all the characters are stuffed animals]

Hans Fallada, Every Man Dies Alone, translated from the German by Michael Hoffman (Melville House) [Primo Levi called this novel, published in 1947, “the greatest book ever written about German resistance to the Nazis.”]

Sebastian Fitzek, Therapy, translated from the German by Sally-Ann Spencer (St. Martin’s) [a bestseller in Germany]

Rubem Fonseca, The Taker & Other Stories, translated from the Portuguese (Univ. of Nebraska/Open Letter)

Inger Frimmansson, Island of the Naked Women, translated from the Swedish by Laura A. Wideburg (Pleasure Boat Studio)

Wang Gang, English, translated from the Chinese by Martin Merz and Jane Weizhen (Viking)

Gérard Gavarry, Hoppla! 1 2 3, translated from the French by Jane Kuntz (Dalkey Archive)

Ricardas Gavelis, Vilnius Poker, translated from the Lithuanian by Elizabeth Novickas (Open Letter)

Friedrich Glauser, The Spoke, translated from the German by Mike Mitchell (Bitter Lemon)

Meisei Goto, Shot by Both Sides, translated from the Japanese by Tom Gill (Counterpoint)

Jan Guillou, The Road to Jerusalem, translated from the Swedish by Steven T. Murray (Harper)

Amir Guttreund, The World a Moment Later, translated from the Hebrew by Jessica Cohen (Toby)

Thomas Glavinic, Night Work, translated from the German by John Brownjohn (Canongate)

Mari Jungstedt, The Inner Circle, translated from the Swedish by Tiina Nunnally (St. Martin’s Minotaur)

Ismail Kadare, The Siege, translated from the French (which was translated from the Albanian) by David Bellow (Canongate)

Jan Kjaerstad, The Conqueror, translated from the Norwegian by Barbara Haveland (Open Letter)

Amara Lakhous, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio, translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein (Europa)

Eric Laurrent, Do Not Touch, translated from the French by Jeanine Herman (Dalkey Archive)

Halldór Laxness, The Great Weaver from Kashmir, translated from the Icelandic by Philip Roughton (Archipelago)

Jonathan Littell, The Kindly Ones, translated from the French by Charlotte Mandell (Harper).[This novel was written in French by an American author.]

Sándor Márai, Esther’s Inheritance, translated from the Hungarian by George Szirtes (Knopf)

Henning Mankell, Italian Shoes, translated from the Swedish by Laurie Thompson (New Press)

Gianiuca Morozzi, Blackout, translated from the Italian by Howard Curtis (Bitter Lemon)

Braulio Muñoz, Alejandro and the Fishermen of Tancay, translated from the Spanish by Nancy K. Muñoz (Univ. Of Arizona)

Jo Nesbø, Nemisis, translated from the Norwegian by Don Bartlett (Harper)

Håkan Nesser, Woman with Birthmark: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery, translated from the Swedish by Laurie Thompson (Pantheon) [Winner of best novel from the Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy – the author’s second win]

Saskia Noort, Back to the Coast, translated from the Dutch by Laura Vroomen (Bitter Lemon)

Olivier Pauvert, Noir, translated from the French by Adriana Hunter (Counterpoint)

Albert Sanchez Piñol, Pandora in the Congo, translated from the Catalan by Mara Faye Lethem (Canongate)

Sergio Ramirez, A Thousand Deaths Plus One, translated from the Spanish by Leland H. Chambers (McPherson & Co.)

Morten Ramsland, Doghead, translated from the Danish by Tiina Nunnally (St. Martin’s/Dunne) [Winner of the Danish Best Novel Award]

Rafael Reig, A Pretty Face, translated from the Spanish by Paul Hammond (Serpent’s Tail)

Juan de Recacoechea, Andean Express, translated from the Spanish by Adrian Althoff (Akashic)

Mercè Rodoreda, Death in Spring, translated from the Catalan by Marcha Tennent (Open Letter)

Santiago Roncagliolo, Red April, translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman (Pantheon)

Guillermo Rosales, The Halfway House, translated from the Spanish by Ann Kushner (New Directions)

Pablo De Santis, The Paris Egnima, translated from the Spanish by Mara Lethem (Harper) [Winner of the first Casa de las Américas Prize for best Latin American novel]

Teresa Solana, A Not So Perfect Crime, translated from the Catalan by Peter Bush (Bitter Lemon)

Ignacio Solares, Yankee Invasion: A Novel of Mexico City, translated from the Spanish by Timothy G. Compton (Scarletta)

Johan Theorin, Echoes from the Dead, translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delarby (Delacorte)

Ilya Troyanov, The Collector of Worlds, translated from the German by Will Hobson (Ecco)

Tanguy Viel, Beyond Suspicion, translated from the French by Linda Coverdale (New Press)

Abdourahman A. Waberi, In the United States of Africa, translated from the French by David and Nicole Bell (Univ. of Nebraska)

Can Xue, Five Spice Street, translated from the Chinese by Karen Gernant and Chen Zeping (Yale Univ.)
 

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