I'm on a new reading kick. Using Three Percent's longlist of best translated fiction 2010 (for adults), I started with Jenny Erpenbeck's Visitation, translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky. Megan O'Grady at Vogue writes, "Infused with an arrestingly immediate understanding of Berlin’s past, it’s the tale of a grand summer house on a lake just outside the city whose inhabitants have much to reveal about the ravages and battling ideologies of the twentieth century." An excellent book. I highly recommend it.
Three Percent is an online resource for literature in translation and international literature. It's part of the University of Rochester's translation program. Words Without Borders: The Online Magazine for International Literature is another good site.
Meanwhile, Zoe at Playing by the Book reminded me of the UK's Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation. Achockablog highlights the shortlist and winner, announced recently.
THIS SOUNDS AWESOME.
I sometimes think I need to take a vacation just so I can read new things!!!
Posted by: tanita | February 11, 2011 at 02:14 PM
Tanita, oh, do take a vacation and get Visitation. Only 150 pages but packed with 20th-century German history, but on a personal level. I cried at one point.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | February 11, 2011 at 03:41 PM
Great read gives a real insight into Berlin and what happened in the past.
Posted by: Joanne | May 09, 2011 at 04:58 PM