Untranslated (English) World Classics

[GOLLUM]

It's been on my mind for some time now to create a thread that highlights some of the apparent outstanding works of fiction (Speculative and otherwise) originating from non English speaking authors that have not yet been translated into English....with the possible exception of an apparently widely lauded upcoming 'new' or 'best yet' translation interested folk should look out for.

In many ways this thread is intended to be more of an Announcements Thread but still a clear variation to the Favourite or Upcoming Authors thread (sp?) that is already in circulation on these forums.

I'm talking about providing news on works that:
1.) Have just been translated (2011).
2.) Are in the process of being translated with a release date posted.
3).Are yet to be translated but should be because either you have read them in their original language or have heard from others that they are outstanding works that should be translated.

What I'm NOT specifically wanting to focus on with this thread are:
1). Works that have already been translated for some years now and generally well known i.e not obscure or even if they are obscure unless e.g a new freshly hailed translation i.e. 'the best yet', is on the radar.

I understand this is a somewhat specialised thread so I'm under no illusion it is likely to be periodically submerged from the front page over a period of time. Therefore I hope to similarly 'revive' it periodically with news of upcoming translations or other works my research has uncovered that are yet to be translated but IMO or that of other members should be.

I'll return soon to kick start this thread but feel free to post here or simply monitor the 'news' as it is posted over the course of this year and beyond.

Cheers.

 

[GOLLUM]

To kick start things here are 3 books of possible interest....

Novel: The Fall of the King.
Author: Johannes Jensen.
Nationality: Denmark.
Publication Date: November 29 2011.

This novel is seen as the best novel of Nobel Prize Winner Johannes Jensen's career and regarded as arguably the best Danish novel of the 20th Century...hence my particular interest.

Blurb: Taking place during the first half of the sixteenth century, The Fall of the King tells the story of dreamy, slacking student Mikkel Thogersen and the entanglements that ultimately bring him into service as a mercenary under King Christian II of Denmark. Moving from the Danish countryside to Stockholm during the execution of Swedish nobility and finally to the imprisonment of Mikkel and Christian, the narrative is a lyrical encapsulation of “the fall”—the fall of country, history, individuals, and nature.

Novel: The Devil To Pay In The Backlands.
Author: Joao Rosa.
Nationality: Brazil.
Publication Date: Original English translation 1963, upcoming translation in potential progress but a publication date unknown?

This novel is one of the cornerstone novels underpinning Brazilian literature and has a legendary reputation within the Latin American canon. Sadly the only translation which is reportedly problematic was done back in 1963. Since then the book, despite its cult following, has never been re-translated until now....A large part of the problem has been in the complexity of language (allegedly approaching Joyce-like proportions) Roao uses and as we all know translations are never 'perfect' by their very nature, even at the best of times. Apparently more than one attempt has been embarked upon in the past only to fail. Now on the grapevine I understand that respected translators Professor Elizabeth Lowe and Dr. Earl Fitz are embarking on a new translation....so hope springs eternal, especially as they just translated for Penguin another recognised classic of Brazilian literature that was released this year.

Summary:Rosa is viewed as the Brazilian James Joyce. The linguistic innovations and the engaging story of a complex man Riobaldo have marked this novel as one of the most important books of the 20th Century. Like Faustus, Riobaldo is a man in doubt about life, love, God and the Devil, death, friendship; always seeking answers in nature as he traverses the Brazilian interior.

Novel: Cuentos.
Author: Horacio Quiroga.
Nationality: Argentina.
Publication Date: Unknown.

Comment: Quiroga is arguably the greatest horror writer to have come out of Latin America and interestingly, Mr. Poe was a definite albeit not exclusive influence upon him. His collection Cuentos, by all reports from my friend in Barcelona, is regarded as one of the greatest collections of Supernatural Weird Fiction in existence. Sadly it's never been translated into English!

If anyone has heard anything regarding an Englsih translation, please post it here!

For anyone wishing to sample Quiroga's talent, I suggest you purchase the excellent collection The Decapitated Chicken and Other Stories. I listed it in my top 20 books I would like to see published in an imaginary Horror Masterworks series.

Nomadman posted a very helpful review on this...

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/1307620-post52.html

 

[Connavar]

Interesting thread Gollum. I bet there are many excellent world classics that is not translated to english.

 

[thatollie]

I haven't the contacts that you have, so I will merely watch and wait. Thanks for posting this thread.

 

[GOLLUM]

Interesting thread Gollum. I bet there are many excellent world classics that is not translated to english.

Er..well I was hoping you might be able to nominate one or two for us in the languages you know....

@Thatollie: Thanks. I wouldn't say I have that many 'contacts' but I appreciate the sentiment and am encouraged to note your interest in this thread.

 

[GOLLUM]

Actually I should probably mention the following book I purchased very recently.

Title: Collected Stories.
Author: Arno Schmidt.
Nationality: Germany.
Publication Date: Originally 1996, this is a reissue.

This is a collection I've been after for a while now that gathers together all of the short fiction of one of Germany's greatest, arguably her greatest in fact, post-war writer and I'm throwing Gunter Grass, Hermann Hesse, Max Frisch and Heinrich Boll into that grouping. Prior to this publication, originally released by Dalkey Archive Press in 1996, there were were very few of Schmidt's stories translated into English and whilst I can read and write German my skills at interpreting his work do not compare to this ready made English translation by John E. Woods, the respected translator. Hence my joy of discovering this at the University bookshop over the weekend....

Blurb: Gathered here are all of the short stories that Arno Schmidt wished to preserve. They are grouped under three headings: the first two, Tales from Island Street and Sturenburg Stories, are a perfect spot to test Schmidtian waters, to hear the voice of a master storyteller. Twenty-five short tales written for a wide audience, they all share an eerie whimsy. It is as if Schmidt's beloved German Romantics were here with new stories for the modern reader. And then there is Country Matters, longer, more experimental stories written for the adventurous reader. Joyce and Freud are constant inspirations, but Schmidt's unique brand of intellectual ribaldry, shot through with the pain of our common humanity, enlivens all ten stories. Of the thirty-five stories in this volume, only two have previously appeared in English translation. Ranging from Schmidt at his most inviting and whimsical to Schmidt at his most cerebral and complex, the stories are a perfect introduction to his work.

 

[Connavar]

Er..well I was hoping you might be able to nominate one or two for us in the languages you know....

@Thatollie: Thanks. I wouldn't say I have that many 'contacts' but I appreciate the sentiment and am encouraged to note your interest in this thread.

Ah yes i known few obscure nordic classics that should really be translated to english.

I will look up those kind of books.