Sometimes language can be a barrier to reaching the good stuff out there. Nevertheless, some polyglots have taken the pain to ensure these books get to as many people as possible, by translating them into other languages. EEliveng has compiled five novels available in translated copies that you should definitely take time to devour. Here they are:
- Death is Hard Work – by Khaled Khalifa
Translated from Arabic by Leri Price, Khalifa despite the horror in present day Syria, lives and writes from Damascus. His books has always being a form of criticism of the government, this one is no less, just more. It describes the ravages of war, the emptiness that comes with people fleeing the troubled country, and could see the longing, his longing for all the things that used to be. This book won the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature.
- God Will Come From The Sea – by Christos Ikonomou
Translated from Greek by Karen Emmerich, this collection of short stories mirrors the life of Greeks following the economic depression. It describes vividly how poverty crept into their lives, shocking them to their marrows.
- An Untouched House – Willem Frederik Hermans
Willem revisits the horror of world war two, as a soldier returns from that horrible war and seeks for ways to rehabilitate himself, to enter back into society, he finds a house unoccupied. The story takes a different turn when the original occupants return. War from whatever angle you look at it, is a terrible phenomenon.
- Flights – by Olga Tokarczuk
Translated from Polish into English by Jennifer Croft, ‘Flights,’ won the 2018 Man Booker International Prize. This fragmented story structured into vignettes of fictional and nonfictional accounts of a female traveler.
- Transparent City – by Ondjaki
Translated from the Portuguese by Stephen Henighan, Transparent City tells the story of a man, Ondoto, who finds himself fading out of existence. Ondjaki takes a swipe at the political hemisphere in Angola and the failed ideology with a touch of magical realism. This novel won the 2013 José Saramango Prize.