2023 Translated Classics Challenge

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Welcome to the challenge Laurel!
Thank you for adding your reads to the 800,000 challenge as well.

Happy Reading this year!

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Happy reading, Laurel!

[Luís]

I'll skip this one. The challenge.

[Abyssdancer (Hanging in there!)]

Hello everyone …

Year to date:

1). The Possessed by Fyodor Dostoevsky
2). The Cloven Viscount by Italo Calvino

Happy Reading!

Bonita

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

You've made a good start, Bonita.

[Ila]

I'll add more books as I finish.

1. The Walnut Mansion by Miljenko Jerkovic. Translated from Croatian.
2. Turkey: The Insane and the Melancholy by Ece Temelkuran. Translated from Turkish.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Good to have you with us, Ila.
What did you think of The Walnut Mansion? It wasn't what I expected! I did finish it, but I didn't really enjoy it.

[[deleted user]]

1. Candide by Voltaire. [01/23] I read English and Thai at the same time, both translated from French.
2. The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli. [01/23] My 1st 5-star read of this year! Leo Paul de Alvarez's translation to English is really good, though I haven't had the chance to read the one by Harvey C. Mansfield yet.

I'll add more later but I don't have specific books in mind for this challenge just yet, except The Iliad by Homer which I also want to read for the Giants of Literature challenge. I'm waiting for Emily Wilson's translation, I heard it's coming out this September. Can't wait!

[Cosmic]

Finished Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes by Jacques Ellul French

Review

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Ila]

Rosemarie wrote: "Good to have you with us, Ila.
What did you think of The Walnut Mansion? It wasn't what I expected! I did finish it, but I didn't really enjoy it."

I'm sorry to say that I disliked the book. It started strong but the author's terrible misogyny and flat characters bothered me. I found myself skimming it since it couldn't hold my interest and meandered far too much.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I agree with you there, Ila. In this case I judged a book by its cover and that was a big mistake.

[Lorraine]

Relaxed reader

4/5 - Le joueur d'échecs (Chess story) by Stefan Sweig
translated from German to French

[John]

I've just reached Relaxed Reader level, thanks almost entirely to the German Authors Buddy Read. My books so far are -

The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The Collected Stories of Stefan Zweig by Stefan Zweig
Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism by Vladimir Lenin
Chess by Stefan Zweig
The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Way to go, John!

[John]

Rosemarie wrote: "Way to go, John!"

Thanks Rosemarie. Those of us who are tackling the "German Authors" and "In Search of Lost Time" buddy reads are at an advantage for this challenge!

[Kristin]

I'm new to the group and would love to join this challenge! I'm going to add the books as i complete them.

Relaxed Reader
1. The Stranger by Camus
2. The Three Musketeers by Dumas
3. The Nine Cloud Dream by Kim Man Jung
4. All Quiet on the Western Front Remarque
5. Anna Karenina by Tolstoy
Expanding Horizons
1. Ernesto by Umberto Saba
2.
3.
4.
5.
Advancing the Journey
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Dedicated Explorer
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Welcome, Kristin! Happy reading!

[Lorraine]

I've just reached the Relaxed Reader level with this book

5. Les oiseaux (The Birds) by Tarjei Versaas. Translated from Norwegian to French.

I will now try the next level.

[Lorraine]

Trying for Expending Horizons

6- Le Royaume de ce monde by Alejo Carpentier (from Spanish to French)
7- The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter -Anonymous (from Japanese to English)

[Kristin]

Thanks, Rosemarie!!!

[Yael]

Hey yall! Very excited about this challenge :)

My road so far:

1. The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann (German to English)
2. I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal (Czech to English)

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

You've made a good beginning, Yael! Happy reading!

[Lorraine]

Les affinités électives. Goethe.
From German to French.

8/10

[Kristin]

Rosemarie wrote: "Welcome, Kristin! Happy reading!"

Thank you! I'm enjoying this challenge so far!

[Lorraine]

Sur James Joyce. Italo Svevo
from Italian to French
9/10

[Ila]

3. Crime by Ferdinand von Schirach (translated from German and also read in the original)
4. Human Acts by Han Kang (translated from Korean)
5. The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig (translated from German)

Relaxed reader level achieved, on to expanding horizons!

[Lorraine]

10. Une journée d'Ivan Dennissovitch. Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Expanding Horizons level achieved. On to Advincing in the Journey

[John]

Lorraine wrote: "10. Une journée d'Ivan Dennissovitch. Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Expanding Horizons level achieved. On to Advincing in the Journey"

Congratulations Lorraine - you're setting a blistering pace!

[Lorraine]

Congratulations Lorraine - you're setting a bliste..."

Thanks John! For me, anything that wasn't written in French is translated. As I am trying to read more classics and not only the ones by the English authors, it does help to reach these goals.

[Lorraine]

Did you enjoy We, Lorraine?"

Sorry John. I see I forgot to get back to you. I found WE to be a strange book. I read the book because the main character in the book 'Le mage du Kremlin’ by Giuliano Da Empoli is reading it. It is a book that made me think about 1984. Same kind of story. (view spoiler)[ But I do not like dystopian story so it was not my cup of tea. Also, I found these books have aged. This is the vision of the future by author born in 1880. Not sure what a dystopian world would look like now with all the devices we can use to control the population. But I think it would be quite different…Not that I want to experienced it! (hide spoiler)]
I do recommend reading the book by Empoli, as soon as it is translated, as the author is clearly talking about Poutine (he names him so the reader doesn’t have to guess who he is talking about) and, it is almost scary, this novel mostly predicted what is happening right now with Ukraine.

[Lorraine]

11. Sweedish to French: Au pays. La Saga des émigrants by Vilhelm Moberg
12. Hebrew to French: Au cœur des mers S.J. Agnon

[John]

Lorraine wrote: "Did you enjoy We, Lorraine?"

Sorry John. I see I forgot to get back to you. I found WE to be a strange book. I read the book because the main character in the book 'Le mage du Kremlin..."

No problem, Lorraine. After your mention of it, I tried to find an English translation of "Le mage du Kremlin", but with no luck.

[Lorraine]

13. Italian to French. Si une nuit d'hiver un voyageur. Italo Calvino
14. Japanese to French. Le pauvre coeur des hommes. Natsume Sôseki

[Melanie]

1. Faust: Part One by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe [German]
2. The Life of Monsieur de Molière: A Portrait by Mikhail Bulgakov [Russian]

[Yael]

Quick little update for y'all :)

1. The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann (German to English)
2. I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal (Czech to English)
3. A Dog's Heart by Mikhail Bulgakov (Russian to English)

[Yael]

Melanie wrote: "1. Faust: Part One by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe [German]
2. The Life of Monsieur de Molière: A Portrait by Mikhail Bulgakov [Russian]"

I'm reading Faust right now and LOVING it!! Are you gonna hit #2 as well?

[Lorraine]

15. Translated from German. Peter Camenzind. Hermann Hesse
Advancing the Journey done.

Now to the next level.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Fantastic progress, Lorraine!

[John]

Lorraine wrote: "15. Translated from German. Peter Camenzind. Hermann Hesse
Advancing the Journey done.

Now to the next level."

I think an entire new set of levels will need to be created for you, Lorraine. Very well done!

[Lorraine]

Thank you John and Rosemarie 😁

[Lorraine]

German to French Le château. Franz Kafka

16/20

[Ila]

6. Krambambuli by Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (German)
7. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by José Saramago (Portuguese)
8. The Swedish Cavalier by Leo Perutz (German)

[Lorraine]

17/20

Spanish to French : "L'incroyable et triste histoire de
la candide Erendira et de sa grand-mère diabolique." Gabriel Garcia Marquez

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

You are making terrific progress, Lorraine!

[Melanie]

3. Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar. Read in French and English.

[Melanie]

Yael wrote: "Melanie wrote: "1. Faust: Part One by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe [German]
2. The Life of Monsieur de Molière: A Portrait by Mikhail Bulgakov [Russian]..."

Hi Yael, I was a bit disappointed with Faust Part One. It was different than I thought it would be, and I didn’t enjoy reading the notes. I think I’ll eventually read Part Two, but I need to take a break from it. I want to read Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus sometime too.

[Lorraine]

20/20 Level 4 : Dedicated Explorer

18. German to English Demian. Herman Hesse
19. Norwegian to English The Wreath. Sigrid Undset
20. Japanese to French La mer de la fertilité. Yukio Mishima

Again, Thank You to the moderators for this challenge. That was fun and I read books from many new authors to me. I hope to join next year.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Congratulations, Lorraine! 🍾🎉👏🏆

I'm so glad you enjoyed this challenge.

[Liane]

Lorraine, Wow! Well done.
I've only read two so far.
1. French to English Swann’s Way by Marcel Proust
2. Russian to English Monday Starts on Saturday by Arkady Strugatsky

Continuing Proust, but it's taking much longer than originally intended. Life intervenes.

[Lorraine]

Rosemarie wrote: "Congratulations, Lorraine! 🍾🎉👏🏆

I'm so glad you enjoyed this challenge."

Thank you Rosemarie.