Carol’s 2023 Translated Language Challenge

[Carol]

Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish

[Carol]

1. The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-mo. Translated from Korean. Finished 6 January.

[Laurie]

I just read this, or listened to the audio actually, at the end of December. I liked it but it wasn't quite what I expected.

[Carol]

Laurie wrote: "I just read this, or listened to the audio actually, at the end of December. I liked it but it wasn't quite what I expected."

I was transfixed from the first page, but I should also share that it benefited greatly from being read immediately after the insipid, inauthentic, uninspired Killers of a Certain Age. Plus, a happy ending! In a Korean novel! Whoever heard of such a thing? What were you expecting, or how did it diverge from the read you anticipated ?

[Carol]

2. Tales From The Mountain by Miguel Torga. Translated from Portuguese. Finished January 12.

[Carol]

3. A Death in Tokyo by Keigo Higashino. Translated from Japanese. Finished January 23.

[Carol]

4. The Pachinko Parlor by Elisa Shua Dusapin. Translated from French. Finished February 11.

[JenniferAustin]

Carol wrote: "Laurie wrote: "I just read this, or listened to the audio actually, at the end of December. I liked it but it wasn't quite what I expected."

I was transfixed from the first page, but I should also share that it benefited greatly from being read immediately after the insipid, inauthentic, uninspired Killers of a Certain Age. Plus, a happy ending! In a Korean novel! Whoever heard of such a thing?..."

I just read The Old Woman with the Knife. I loved it! I looked it up after seeing these comments. What an excellent read!

[Carol]

JenniferAustin wrote: "Carol wrote: "Laurie wrote: "I just read this, or listened to the audio actually, at the end of December. I liked it but it wasn't quite what I expected."

I was transfixed from the first page, but..."

I’m glad you loved it, too, Jennifer. I can’t really explain to anyone what is so special except that the protagonist is flesh and blood real and I was wowed by the ending, too.

[Carol]

5. Nada by Carmen Laforet. Finished February 18. Translated from Spanish by Edith Grossman.

[Carol]

6. The Missing File by D.A. Mishani. Translated from Hebrew by Stephen Cohen.

[Carol]

7. Patriotism by Yukio Mishima. Translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Sargent.

[Carol]

8. Empty Wardrobes by Maria Judite de Carvalho. Translated from Portuguese. Finished April 1.

[Carol]

9. An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter by César Aira, translated from Spanish by Chris Andrews

[Carol]

10. You Will Never Be Found by Tove Alsterdal. Translated from Swedish. Finished April 13.

[Carol]

11. The Moose Paradox by Antti Tuomainen. Translated from Finnish. Finished April 17.

[Carol]

12. She and Her Cat: Stories by Makoto Shinkai. Translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori. Finished May 5.

[Carol]

13. Death on Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo. Translated from Japanese by Louise Heal Kawai. Finished May 15.

[Carol]

14. The Rope Artist by Fuminori Nakamura. Translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett. Finished June 3.

[Carol]

15. The Schoolmistress by Anton Chekhov. Translated from Russian. Read June 4.

[George P.]

Looks like you've read books translated from nine different languages so far this year. Nice going!
I'm currently working on my ninth language (Portuguese, with Gabriela- Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado). My goal is 11 but I think I can exceed that.

[Carol]

George P. wrote: "Looks like you've read books translated from nine different languages so far this year. Nice going!
I'm currently working on my ninth language (Portuguese, with Gabriela- Clove and Cinnamon by Jor..."

Best of luck, George! I may read a novel translated from Icelandic, but otherwise as I review these - they are the nine languages I most often encounter, so I may have hit my high mark early.

[Carol]

16. Maigret and the Madwoman by Georges Simenon. Translated from French. Finished August 23.

[Carol]

17. The Final Curtain by Keigo Higashino. Translated from Japanese by Giles Murray. Finished September 5.

[Carol]

18. The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann. Translated from German by Amy Bojang. Finished September 19.

[Carol]

Finishing 2023 with ten languages. Success!