On my recent travels I took for company Berlin Tales, a collection of stories translated into English by Lyn Marven.
This volume is a great companion for those who do not know the city as much as it is for those who do. It takes us on a journey to Berlin through the ages – from [...]
Filed under: Books on November 10th, 2009 | Comments Off
I spotted this book in my little local library recently and borrowed it. The Himmler Brothers has a subtitle “A German Family History” and I think this is probably what attracted me to the book which has been translated by Michael Mitchell. (In the copy I borrowed this fact is obliterated by a library label…) [...]
Filed under: Books on October 21st, 2009 | Comments Off
The Post Office Girl was first written in the 1930s by Stefan Zweig, an Austrian Jewish writer as Rausch der Verwandlung (which means something like “the intoxication of change”). The novel was not published in the German-speaking world until 1982, long after the author’s suicide in Brazil in 1942. The manuscript was found amongst his [...]
Filed under: Books on October 13th, 2009 | 4 Comments »
“French women don’t get fat – the secret of eating for pleasure” is by Mireille Guiliano. Written in English by a Frenchwoman who happens to be CEO of the champagne company, Clicquot, married to an American and a long-time resident of that country, Guiliano makes many comparisons between the eating habits of the two countries.
I’m [...]
Filed under: Books on August 11th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
“Sommerboken” written in Swedish by the Finnish writer, Tove Jansson and translated into English by Thomas Teal is a delightful depiction of a young girl, Sophia aged 6, and her elderly grandmother, living on a tiny island for a summer.
For months, they live an idyllic life, pottering around their small kingdom, planting seeds, watching the [...]
Filed under: Books on July 29th, 2009 | 2 Comments »
This book is a trilogy consisting of Portuguese Irregular Verbs, The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs and At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances. I know some of my gentle readers have enjoyed the 1st Ladies’ Detective Agency series and so they may also enjoy this series too for it is by none other than the [...]
Filed under: Books on July 13th, 2009 | 4 Comments »
The Translator: a tribesman’s memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari is a fascinating but harrowing read.
Daoud Hari relates the background to the on-going unrest in Darfur and paints a picture of peaceful village life where everyone knows everyone else – not only in their own village but also in villages across the desert. Respect is [...]
Filed under: Books on June 3rd, 2009 | Comments Off
Defying Hitler: a memoir by Sebastian Heffner is translated by the author’s son, Oliver Pretzel. The original German title is a bit bland, really, “Geschichte eines Deutschen” (The history [or story] of a German). Although the English title is an improvement in my view it still does not quite describe what is between the covers [...]
Filed under: Books on May 14th, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I do my best to keep my blog pretty much translation related – but sometimes it’s not possible because there are inevitably overlaps between areas of my life.
This book falls into the “overlap” category. It is not about translation nor has it been translated (or at least, if it is available in other languages, it [...]
Filed under: Books on May 6th, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Before you all leap to your feet, hymn book in hand, and start singing with the sound of the organ reverberating around your head, I should perhaps mention that this is the title of a book by one Charlie Connelly.
In it, the author walks upon England’s mountains green following in the footsteps of historical characters [...]
Filed under: Books on April 6th, 2009 | Comments Off