1. Vagabonds - Hao Jingfang 2. There's No Such Things As An Easy Job- Kikuko Tsumura 3. Theatre of War - Andrea Jeftanovic 4. Flights- Olga Tokarczuk 5. Here be Icebergs - Katya Adaui 6. The Wind That Lays Waste - Selva Almada 7. Solo Dance - Li Kotomi 8. Magma - Thora Hjorleifsdottir 9. The Faculty of Dreams - Sara Stridsberg 10. Cursed Bunny 11. The Collection - Nina Legar 12. The Sea Clock and Other Stories - Nayrouz Qarmout 13. The Wandering - Intan Paramaditha
brazilian literature is so rich, especially when we talk about contemporary women authors. english-only readers are missing out honestly (especially because our books don't get translated oftenly).
Yes! I’ve recommended before but here it goes again: check out the new translation of ‘The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas’ by Machado De Assis, translated by Flora Thomson-Deveaux. I gifted it to my French boss (not this one but a French translation of it) and he loved it! Flora is a great translator and knows a lot of Brazilian culture. Im Brazilian and even I want to read her work to see how it came out! I also recommend Eça de Queiroz (Portugal but Portuguese language literature). He was a contemporary of Emile Zola who admired him a lot (but Machado didn’t lol). Those are classics, but Clarice Lispector would be a good pick for you too!
Thank you for making this!! Willow, you’re the reason I now love translated literature! I LOVED a previous recommendation of yours, My Pen is the Wing of a Bird. That’s probably my favorite at the moment. I’m really interested in the Sea Cloak and The Wind That Lays Waste
Love your recs.I've read stories "Apple and Knife" by Intan Paramadita apart from "The Wandering". More horrifying in a good way with all Indonesian myths and tales in it. Loveeee it!
I'm still starting out my reading journey, but my favorite Women in Translation book I've read has got to be Shoko's Smile by Choi Eunyoung, translated by Sung Ryu. It's a short story collection, but all the stories explored a similar theme and it was the first (and only) time I cried while reading a book. P.S. I added a few of your recommendations to my TBR. So excited to read them.
Thank you for the wonderful recommendations! This year I’m definitely picking up The Sea Cloak and Other Stories, as it’s been in my TBR for some time now. If you were moved by it and want to read more Palestinian lit, you definitely need to check out Susan Abulhawa. She writes in English, but you’ll never be the same after.
I've just finished reading Empuzjon (“a naturopathic horror story”) by Olga Tokarczuk. I highly recommend you look into it if/when the translation comes out. The language is so beautiful and the topic (on purpose of course) so reminiscent of Mann's The Magic Mountain. With oneiric, magical realismlike vibe.
@@WillowTalksBooks Ngl every time you say smth that is about your time working in education I'm like 'oof i felt that' especially as I also work in the English department (I'm a TA). I have changed jobs recently though and my new workplace is MUCH BETTER at looking after its staff though
Loved your introduction to all the women in translation books. You thoughts on family and how they influence children based on their past experiences rang a bell. When at teachers' college I was selected to be the children's presenter on t.v. (my father said t.v. will not last!!)
I read The Wandering today based on this video and HOLY HELL I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed it! I really enjoyed that the book seemed to be designed to be gone through multiple times so there would be moments of deja vu of seeing things crop up in places you don't expect, but the moment that had me by the throat was when I read the Yvette ending after having already got the Fernando ending and making that connection. I love that no 2 people will experience it the same because everyone will play the story in a different order. I literally spent 6 hours today going through trying to get all the endings and still didn't get them all (I accidentally saw one about the Netherlands and one on a subway when my ereader decided to not do what it was told, let me know if those are particularly good ones and I might try again to get them)
Hey my friend do you remember me? I know you have others who comment on your videos but I was that guy who used to always (or at least try) to comment on your videos! By the way you have a lot more books than I do, and I've been reading a ton lately.
I noticed Andrea Jeftanović on your list. While she is a Chilean author, her family is from Bosnia and Herzegovina (my home country). I did some googling and her family's history is tied with the country's history. In the 19th century her great-grandfather opened the famous hotel Europe in Sarajevo. So that's a cool fun fact! Anyway, that was so off topic 😅. I love your video as always. Much love xx
Great selection Willow, I have bought a couple and enjoyed the video, thank you. Would add in as a rec Adania Shibli’s great little novella Minor Detail, published by Fitzcarraldo in the UK, a fantastic work of Palestinian lit.
Having discovered your channel recently, I have binge-watched both your older and latest videos. My general rule is to avoid reading books that are currently popular since some of them tend to be overrated. Therefore, I appreciate you reading and recommending such a diverse selection of books, as well as introducing me to great international writers I would otherwise miss! Thanks for sharing this great content with us, and I hope your channel continues to grow and receive the recognition it deserves :)
As a Belgian I'll recommend a Belgian book by a woman available in translation: The Melting by Lize Spit. All about a young woman who has a high school reunion coming up and is traveling there with a block of ice in her trunk. The novel follows her as she's making her way to that reunion and meanwhile were reminiscing about her youth.
I am surprised and glad you chose three Latin-American authors! I’ve never read a Spanish book in English and after your review I’ll give it a try. Thanks!
I haven't read El viento que arrasa but I adored Almada's No es un río so I'm trusting your judgement and taking a couple of recommendations from here! All these books sound super interesting, I'm excited to check them out.
I’m still pretty new to reading, but I’ve read this book called when I sing, mountains dance by Irene solà, it’s a beautiful book. It’s the book that has moved me so much, and I was so deep into the narrative that I just didn’t know when it ended. It’s the best piece of fiction I’ve EVER read, would recommend that as well!
Loving this list! I always find great international titles in your videos! Some of my favorites that I don't see mentioned online a lot are: "It Would be Night in Caracas" by Karina Sainz Borgo (Venezuela), "The Disaster Tourist" by Ko-Eun Yun (South Korea), "1000 Coils of Fear" by Olivia Wenzel (Germany), "The Creator" by Guðrun Eva Mínervudóttir (Iceland), "Fauna"' by Christiane Vadnais (French-Canadian), "Winter in Sokcho" by Elisa Shua Dusapin (France) and "Jawbone" by Mónica Ojeda (Ecuador). And maybe an honorary non-fiction mention with "The Day Nina Simone Stopped Singing" by Darina Al-Joundi (Lebanon).
I would really want you guys to read Tomb of Sand. It's by an Indian writer Gitanjali Shree. And it's translated by Daisy Rockwell. It's originally written in Hindi and the writer got International Booker for the book recently. It deals with the psychological scars left behind by the partition of India. I think this book is really worthy of being read on the WIT Month
Wow Vagabonds sounds like my kind of book!! I've hold of Olga Tokarczuk's other work, but I'd never heard of Flights. Ooh The Wind That Lays Waste sounds excellent! Solo Dance sounds like something I absolutely must read. That Faculty of Dreams book sounds good too! Oh and I've been meaning to read Cursed Bunny for a while now! I love French literature, the Collection sounds weird and wonderful!! Wow there were so many great recommendations in this video, thank you!!
What makes me really sad us that teachers work seems to be respected less and less everywhere. It's not only UK. Being Polish and living in France boh countries have the same problem. Maybe, as we comment quite often in context of our populist extreme right government in Poland It's easier to controle uneducated, thoughtless mass.
@@happyreally90 yeah I had the unfortunet feeling it's general. It's such a important job though. Same for the medical staff both underpaid, overworked and underapreciated.
Always excited to see more people talk about Vagabonds, so underrated!! And really interested in some of the other books you mentioned, thanks for the recommendations!
I have the Tsumura book and really want to read it (though the length keeps putting me off, eh) I need to get The Collection, Cursed Bunny and Solo Dance someday. Especially the first one tbh, I wish there were more non-erotica/romance books that talk about kink.
I read Cursed Bunny for WIT month last year and loved it. I've been thinking about it quite a bit recently so feels like the prefect time for a re-read
I love the recommendations here. I love Cursed Bunny so much and will pick up anything Anton Hur translates. The way you've described There's no such Thing as an Easy Job speaks to me so much and it's probably high time that I take it off mu shelves to read. Thanks for the other recs, gonna have to share this video! X
Great list! I've read three of the books, one being There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job, and loved it! Looking forward to reading more of your recommendations.
Thank you what a great list. I’ve got a pile to read for WIT and will be adding to it. I always appreciate your knowledge of translated literature. 2 I recently enjoyed Were, The Liquid Land by Raphaela Edelbauer translated by Jen Calleja ( I think you recommended it). The Great Passage by Shion Miura translated by. Juliet Winters Carpenter. Two of my all time favorites are The Discomfort of Evening Marieke Lucas Rijneveld translated by Michele Hutchison. Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of The Dead by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones.
I love reading translated books by women. At the moment I am reading There's No Such Thing As An Easy job and enjoying it. And I found the audiobook for Magma in the Libby app so I will be checking that out. Some of my most favorite translated books are Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, Girls Against God by Jenny Hval, An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good by Helene Tursten and The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg. Oh and I forgot to bring this up when I mentioned it in another comment, but In Defense of Witches is translated from French. Also been reading to read another nonfiction book titled But You Don't Look Autistic At All by Bianca Toeps. You're one of my favorite sources for translated books. Thanks very much for promoting good books. 💚
Thank you for all these recommendations. You are a treasure for translated work. I have incidently finish one just few days ago. Maybe not for everyone, but if anyone loves words and language, please have a look at "The Great Passage" by Shion Miura. It is about a team in a publishing house trying to put a dictionary together. It is funny, lighthearted, very informative, and the prose is just georgous. A truly MASSIVE shout out to the translator Juliet Winters Carpenter because this novel needed extra work imo.
Another observation is that being from Brazil and having lived in Europe and the US, it’s very interesting to see translated literature being celebrated overseas since most of the books people have are “local” or written in English while here we actually have to do the opposite which is celebrate our own literature since most of the best seller are actually translated 🤔 English and Russian classics are huge and contemporary American fantasy, YA. I know classics will always have a hard time with young readers because of it’s mandatory reading in school but even within adults we tend to celebrate international literature more often.
I have a love and hate relationship with Asian lit. I know it’s your thing and I take notes of all your recs but there’s something about the simplicity of most of the few I read that I still don’t know yet whether I like it or not.
Every time I see someone praise Cursed Bunny it makes my day!!🙌🏾🐇 And woooow loved these recommendations, will be adding many to my TBR! I was wondering if you've come across any good sub-Saharan African translated fiction?? As this is something I'm struggling to find!!😊