Pam's (soon-to-be Polyglot) Translated Language Challenge

[Pam]

Goal: Polyglot >20 Languages! (10 is probably more reasonable but 21 will be a real challenge.)
Current level: Translator

Completion: 8/21 Last Updated: 11/19

1. Spanish: Graphic novel Lighthouse by Paco Roca
2. Norwegian: Hunger by Knut Hamsun
3. Czechoslovakian: War With The Newts by Karel Čapek
4. Japanese: Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
5. Polish: Flights by Olga Tokarczuk plus Gottland: Mostly True Stories from Half of Czechoslovakia by Mariusz Szczygieł
6. Swedish: The Man Who Went Up in Smoke
7. German: The Emigrants
8. French: The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun
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[Pam]

#1 Lighthouse by Paco Roca
Original Title: Le phare
Original Language: Spanish
Translator: not listed
Rating: 4 - Enjoyable (with a sense of adventure) graphic novel set during the Spanish Civil War at a defunct remote lighthouse.

#2 Hunger by Knut Hamsun
Original Title: Sult
Original Language: Norwegian
Translator: Sverre Lyngstad
Rating: 5- From the back cover "probes the depths of consciousness with frightening and gripping power." I found it really intriguing to delve into the protagonist's mind.

[Pam]

#3 War With The Newts by Karel Čapek
Original Title: Válka s Mloky
Original Language: Czechoslovakian
Translator: R. Weatherall
Rating: 4- Very interesting and unique SF tale written in 1935. I thought it dragged a little during the last section, hence the drop from a 5 tar rating.

[Pam]

#4 Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
Original Title: センセイの鞄
Original Language: Japanese
Translator: Allison Markin Powell

Rating: 4.5 (Rounded up to 5)- I loved this book! It touched me in a completely unexpected way. It's short and sweet and a beautiful story about an unlikely relationship. Great for foodies (a tour of Japanese cuisine)! Thank you to Anne Bogel for her recommendation of it on her podcast.

[Pam]

Completed Language Learner level!

#5Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
Original Language: Polish
Translator: Jennifer Croft

Rating: 2.5 (Rounded up to 3)- Despite the book winning the Man Booker International Prize and one other prize plus being nominated for others, it was a miss for me. It is a collection of short stories and reflections (some just a few sentences or paragraphs) relating to travel and time, mostly set in eastern European countries. I did like the references to travel psychology (a term I was not familiar with) and some of the ideas. The storylines and characters didn't appeal to me, especially the ones with the preserved human specimens and body parts.

The writing was good and I would consider reading one of the author's novels but no more short story collections for me.

[Pam]

#6 The Man Who Went Up in Smoke by Maj Sjöwalland Per Wahlöö

Original Language: Swedish
Translator: Joan Tate

Rating: 2.5 (rounded down to 2)
1960s era detective story (series) with a Swedish detective in Budapest investigating a missing Swedish journalist. Not my genre I guess! It did have a good twist at the end, hence the .5 bump.

[Pam]

#7 The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald
Original language: German
Translator: Michael Hulse

Rating: 3
Beautiful descriptive writing, lyrical, haunting, and somber but overall it didn't keep my attention. 4 stories of German Jewish emigrants - the first 3 kept my interest. I lost interest at the 4th. Interesting stories but too sad and somber for me.

[Pam]

#8 The Seven Crystal Balls and Prisoners of the Sun by Herge

Original Language: French

Rating:4
Fun graphic novels set in Peru with an Incan adventure! Prisoners of the Sun is a continuation of The Seven Crystal Balls story. I didn't grow up reading these cartoons so it is fun to read them now! I love the dog Snowy and his antics and his sarcastic comments like telling the llama "Hoity toity! Aren't you grand?" Lots of slapstick and crazy expressions (especially by the Captain).