Lost in Translation? Reading books from other languages.

I recently finished reading Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata (コンビニ人間 - 村田沙耶香). Typifying the Japanese I novel (confessional literature, where what happens in the story relates directly to what has happened in the author's life), this slim novel really packs a punch. I loved the gritty realism, the frank honesty, and the jokes. It's a great piece of modern Japanese literature and I really recommend it.

I was only able to read this novel because it was translated into English. While it might seem like there are a great variety of books in our bookshop which have been written by foreign authors, in reality, only a small number of authors writing in foreign languages will see their books translated into English. Translating a whole novel is a big job, something that publishers don't want to undertake unless they're sure of the book's success.

If you only read books written by authors who speak your language, you're missing out on so many fantastic stories and insights into cultures unknown. A book written in a foreign language is like a locked door to a world you can't visit. When the book is translated, that door opens.

Some of the most translated books in the world include The Bible, The Diary of Anne Frank, Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry, Le Avventure di Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, and the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.

What are your favourite translated books? Do you read a lot of books translated from a certain language? Leave a comment below with which books you'd recommend!

English	Native
Japanese	Proficient
Chinese	Daily conversation
Swedish	Just a few words

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Lost in Translation? Reading books from other languages.

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