I failed last month to meet my modest target of at least 50% of my reviews being of books by women. Speculating on the possible reasons, I noticed a preponderance of male authors among the novels in translation coming my way. If I were better orientated to time, you’d be forgiven for suspecting my lousy support of female authors was no accident, providing the perfect teaser for today’s post for women in translation month, revisiting the qualifying novels I’ve reviewed since August last year.
My reviewing month got off to a good start with Disoriental, Négar Djavadi’s poignant coming-of-age story coupled with an engaging account of recent Iranian history and culture, translated from the French by Tina Kover. This was followed Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharti, about the tensions between modernity and tradition in an evolving Omani society, translated from the Arabic by Marilyn Booth. Soon after, I reviewed Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, a novella about the pressures to conform to societal norms of female identity, translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori.
Over the last twelve months, I’ve reviewed four other books by female authors translated into English, all of which I enjoyed.
Over the last twelve months, I’ve reviewed four other books by female authors translated into English, all of which I enjoyed.
Translated from German by Jen Calleja, Dance by the Canal by Kerstin Hensel is a cheerful novella about a cheerless subject: a woman who identifies as a writer and poet whose homeless is a challenge to the Communist ideal. With just the right balance of poignancy and humour and, while a novel of character, just enough plot, Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors, in Misha Hoekstra’s translation from Danish, is a lovely story about navigating contemporary life as a single woman.
Through Marlaine Delargy’s translation, Swedish author Ninni Holnqvist asks, in her dystopian novel, The Unit, whether it’s reasonable for some lives can be sacrificed for the greater good. Finally, Icelandic author Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir’s Hotel Silence, a quirky upbeat story of a handyman who takes his toolbox and thoughts of suicide to an erstwhile tourist destination, recently ravaged by civil war, is translated by Brian FitzGibbon.
Credit to me for the range of languages, although only two are from outside Europe, but one every other month is not so impressive. Let’s see if I can do better in the twelve months to come.
Follow this link for my other posts on reading habits and preferences. Tap or click the image above for the twelve reviews I’ve posted this month, featuring Iranians in exile; lonely females on the family farm; men looking back in sadness and anger; from Asia (India and the Philippines) to the USA; women’s work identity; and widowers in death’s waiting room.
For the first time this year I’ve exceeded every one of the reading targets I set myself for 2018, regarding independent publishers (83% – 10 books – against a 50% target), female authors (75% – 9 books – against a 50% target), BME authors (58% – 7 books – compared with a target of 25%), and translations (with 3 books – 25% – against a 20% target). Hurrah! I’ve also picked out one potential favourite of 2018 (Josephine Wilson’s Extinctions).
For the first time this year I’ve exceeded every one of the reading targets I set myself for 2018, regarding independent publishers (83% – 10 books – against a 50% target), female authors (75% – 9 books – against a 50% target), BME authors (58% – 7 books – compared with a target of 25%), and translations (with 3 books – 25% – against a 20% target). Hurrah! I’ve also picked out one potential favourite of 2018 (Josephine Wilson’s Extinctions).
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