Title: Mouthful of Birds (original title Pajaros en la Boca) Writer: Samantha Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell Publishing House: Riverhead Books Date of Publication: September 7th 2010 Rating: 5 stars ‘’Calderón, on the other hand, stands motionless. He can’t bring himself to lift his foot from the one he has killed. He is, perhaps, afraid of recognizing his girl’s…
Tag: Women In Translation
Μiss Iceland
Title: Miss Iceland (original title: Ungfrú Ísland) Writer: Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir (translated by Brian FitzGibbon) Publishing House: Grove Atlantic Date of Publication: June 16th 2020 (first published November 2018) Rating: 5 stars ”If I die Leave the balcony open!” Farewell, Federico Garcia Lorca Hekla is a child of the 60s. A young woman full of talent, wit and kindness,…
They Say Sarah
Title: They Say Sarah (original title: Ça raconte Sarah) Writer: Pauline Delabroy – Allard (translated by Adriana Hunter) Publishing House: Random House Date of Publication: June 2nd 2020 (first published September 2018) Rating: 2 stars ”On clear night day of dark mists My absent love in my arms here No other part of me persists But what you whispered in…
Ms. Ice Sandwich
Title: Ms. Ice Sandwich (original title: ミス・アイスサンドイッチ) Writer: Mieko Kawakami (translated by Louise Heal Kawai) Publishing House: Pushkin Press Date of Publication: May 7th 2020 (first published November 2013) Rating: 5 stars “If video games make you stupid, then what do mobile phones make you?” A young boy buys egg sandwiches every day. The reason? The mysterious young woman behind…
Misty Circus
Title: Misty Circus Writer: Written and illustrated by Victoria Francés, translated by Olinda Kordukes Publishing House: Dark Horse Books Date of Publication: June 11th 2013 Rating: 5 stars ”The light faded and the forest became darker and darker. The chill wind blew through the branches, which seemed to bend towards the bay like threatening claws. Every sound…
Isolde
Title:Isolde Writer: Irina Odoevtseva (translated by Bryan Karetnyk, Irina Steinberg) Publishing House: Pushkin Press Date of Publication: July 4th 2019 (first published 1929) Rating: 5 stars ”So what? What do we care about the future?” Liza, a girl of fourteen, the ”Isolde” of the title, lives the ”good life” in Biarritz, in the shadow of her mother who…
The Tea Party In The Woods
Title: The Tea Party In the Woods (original title: もりのおくのおちゃかいへ) Writer: Akiko Miyakoshi Publishing House:Kids Can Press Date of Publication:August 1st 2015 Rating:5 stars ‘’The woods were very still. And so quiet. Kikko’s footsteps were the only sound.’’ In a marvelous winter wonderland, Kikko is watching her father leaving for her grandma’s house. But, wait! He…
The Girl In The Tree
Title: The Girl In The Park (original title: Ağaçtaki Kız) Writer: Şebnem İşigüzel (translated by Mark David Wyers) Publishing House:AmazonCrossing Date of Publication: April 16th 2020 (first published January 1st 2000) Rating: 5 stars ”Some of us die before the story ends, some of us die long after the story has ended, and some of us die right at…
Human Acts
Title: Human Acts (original title: 소년이 온다) Writer: Han Kang translated by Deborah Smith Publishing House: Hogarth Press Date of Publication: January 17th 2017 (first published May 19th 2014) Rating:5 stars ”It’s the middle of the day, but the dim interior is more like evening’s dusky half-light. The coffins that have already been through the memorial service have…
The Eighth Day
Title:The Eighth Day (original title: 八日目の蝉) Writer:Mitsuyo Kakuta Publishing House:Kodansha Date of Publication:May 1st 2010 (first published March 2007) Rating: 3 stars ”I left the house and turned to the alley. No shops insight. This was a strange corner of the city, a row of uninhabited houses. Shutters closed, a rusty bike lying next to a…
The Vegetarian
Title: The Vegetarian (original title: 채식주의자) Writer: Han Kang (translated by Deborah Smith) Publishing House: Hogarth Press Date of Publication: February 2nd 2016 (first published October 30th 2007) Rating: 5 stars ”Dark woods. No people. The sharp-pointed leaves in the trees, my torn feet. This place, almost remembered, but I’m lost now. Frightened. Cold. Across the frozen ravine,…
The Memory Police
Title: The Memory Police (original title:密やかな結晶) Writer: Yōko Ogawa (translated by Stephen Snyder) Publishing House: Pantheon Date of Publication: August 13th 2019 (first published 1994) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Long ago, before you were born, there were many more things here; my mother used to tell me when I was still a child. ‘’Transparent things, fragrant things…fluttery ones, bright ones…wonderful things…
Humiliation
Title: Humiliation (original title: Qué vergüenza) Writer: Paulina Flores (translated by Megan McDowell) Publishing House: Oneworld Publications Date of Publication: November 7th 2019 (first published 2015) Rating: 4 stars ‘’I had the hope I would be able to forget. I longed for the freedom of a heroine, a life of my own, a happy one. Back then I ridiculously faced…
Baba Yaga Laid An Egg
Title: Baba Yaga Laid An Egg (original title: Život je bajka) Writer: Dubravka Ugrešić (translated by Ellen Elias-Bursać, Celia Hawkesworth & Mark Thompson (Translator) Publishing House: Canongate Books Date of Publication: July 1st 2009 (first published 2007) Rating: 2 stars ‘’Sweet little old ladies. At first you don’t see them. And then, there they are, on the tram, at the post…
On My Aunt’s Shallow Grave White Roses Have Already Bloomed
Title: On My Aunt’s Shallow Grave White Roses Have Already Bloomed (original title: Από Τη Μέση και Κάτω) Writer: Maria Mitsora (translated by Jacob Moe) Publishing House: Yale University Press Date of Publication: September 18th 2018 Rating: 5 stars ‘’My tutor lived in a beautiful pinkstone house, enveloped in bougainvillea vines. I had heard a few things about his life…
The Collection
Title: The Collection (original title: Mise en pièces) Writer: Nina Leger (translated by Laura Francis) Publishing House: Granta Books Date of Publication: September 3rd 2019 (first published January 12th 2017) Rating: 4 stars ‘’Gare de Lyon – exit left – pale neon lights. Jeanne stares at the tropical garden caged by glass walls. Dark, mordant greens; droplets of water…
A Nail, A Rose and Other Stories
Title: A Nail, A Rose and Other Stories (original title Sept Nouvelles) Writer: Madeleine Bourdouxhe (translated by Faith Evans) Publishing House: Pushkin Press Date of Publication: October 1st 2019 (first published 1985) Rating: 5 stars ‘’All around them, the earth was black and white. A beautiful winter night-smell rose up from the black and white earth. A…
Klotsvog
Title: Klotsvog Writer: Margarita Khemlin (translated by Lisa C. Hayden) Publishing House: Columbia University Press Date of Publication:August 27th 2019 (first published 2009) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Though I had nobody to call, I often picked it up and said whatever came into my head, paying no attention to the piercing dial tone inside the receiver. I could dial…
Waves
Title: Waves (original title: Écumes) Writer: Ingrid Chabbert, illustrated by Carole Maurel, translated by Edward Gauvin. Publishing House: Archaia Publication Date: May 1st 2019 (first published February 15th 2017) Rating: 5 stars ‘’Sometimes we drown drinking in the sea. A sea as red as a heart that’s stopped beating. We look up from an underwater crossroads – return to the…
I Who Have Never Known Men
Title: I Who Have Never Known Men (original title:Moi qui n’ai pas connu les hommes) Writer: Jacqueline Harpman Publishing House: Penguin Random House UK Date of Publication: May 2nd 2019 (first published 1995) Rating: 5 stars ‘’My memory begins with anger.’’ Yes, I found a Dystopian novel I love more than 1984 and The Handmaid’s Tale. Forty women live…
