Jonathan Lethem: “The Gray Goose”

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Click here to read the abstract of the story on The New Yorker webpage (this week’s story is available only for subscribers). Jonathan Lethem’s “The Gray Goose” was originally published in the May 6, 2013 issue of The New Yorker. Betsy “The Gray Goose,” by Jonathan Lethem, is an excerpt from his forthcoming novel, Dissident Gardens.  … Read more

Maria Semple: Where’d You Go, Bernadette

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I’ve been intrigued by Where’d You Go, Bernadette for some time. I kept seeing it on shelves and in book reviews and most people talked about it with gusto. But something about what I felt of its tone — its cover, perhaps? — put me off. Then Where’d You Go, Bernadette (2012) was recently named a finalist for the Women’s … Read more

Vanessa Barbara: “Lettuce Nights”

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Vanessa Barbara’s “Lettuce Nights” (tr. from the Portuguese by Katrina Dodson) is the sixth story in Granta 121: The Best of Young Brazilian Novelists. For an overview of the issue and links to my reviews of its other stories, please click here. Besides being a novelist, Vanessa Barbara is also a journalist and translator, recently publishing a … Read more

Bernard Turle: Diplomat, Actor, Translator, Spy

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Bernard Turle is the official French translator of T.C. Boyle, Peter Ackroyd, Rupert Thomson, and André Brink. He is also currently working on translations of V.S. Naipaul and Alan Hollinghurst. In Diplomat, Actor, Translator, Spy (Le Traducteur-orchestre; tr. from the French by Dan Gunn, 2013), we get Turle’s experienced technical and personal views on translation. This being part of the magnificent Cahiers Series, … Read more

Carola Saavedra: “Every Tuesday”

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Carola Saavedra’s “Every Tuesday” (tr. from the Portuguese by Alison Entrekin) is the fifth story in Granta 121: The Best of Young Brazilian Novelists. For an overview of the issue and links to my reviews of its other stories, please click here. This piece is an excerpt from Saavedra’s novel Toda Terça. It’s understandable why a list of … Read more

Bonus Episode: Best Translated Book Award

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For this bonus episode of The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast, Trevor is joined by Tara of booksexyreview.com to discuss the Best Translated Book Award, in particular this year’s shortlist.

Show Notes:

  • Literature in Translation: Our Stories
  • A Brief History of the Best Translated Book Award (00:06:35)
  • Past Winners, Finalists, and Random Tangents (00:09:10)
  • The 2013 Shortlist (00:34:38)
  • Books That Didn’t Make It But Should Have (00:36:14)
  • The Planets (00:47:28)
  • Prehistoric Times (00:51:52)
  • The Colonel (00:56:50)
  • Satantango (01:01:40)
  • Autoportrait (01:07:42)
  • A Breath of Life (01:10:33)
  • The Hunger Angel (01:13:07)
  • Maidenhair (01:16:57)
  • Transit (01:19:07)
  • My Father’s Book (01:21:03)

We talk about — often quickly — a lot of books by a lot of authors, since we decided to go back in time to give a bit of history of the award. We did not intend to bring up so many books, but I guess this is what happens when two people get together to discuss books they love. We understand that many listeners may feel unmoored as we speed around, talking about books by authors from all over the world.

In an effort to help interested listeners find a foothold and follow-up on any of the books that sounded interesting, below is a list of each book or author we talk about other than those shortlisted for this year’s Best Translated Book award, in the general order in which they are brought up. We hope this helps!

[This list is still in the works. It will include more information as well as links to further information. As it stands, here is a simple list, which I will be updating as I collect information.]

  • Censoring an Iranian Love Story, by Shahriar Mandanipour, tr. from the Persian by Sara Khalill
  • Imre Kertész
  • Ghosts, by César Aira, tr. from the Spanish by Chris Andrews
  • Roberto Bolaño
  • Happy Moscow, by Andrey Platonov, tr. from the Russian by Robert Chandler
  • Basti, by Intizar Husain, tr. by Frances W. Pritchett
  • The True Deceiver, by Tove Jannson, tr. by Thomas Teal
  • Guantanamo, by Dorothea Dieckmann, tr. by Tim Morh
  • The Savage Detectives, by Roberto Bolaño, tr. by Natash Wimmer
  • Ravel, by Jean Echenoz, tr. by Linda Coverdale
  • Montano’s Malady, by Enrique Vila-Matas, tr. by Jonathan Dunne
  • The Assistant, by Robert Walser, tr. by Susan Bernofsky
  • Sunflower, by Gyula Krudy, tr. by John Batki
  • Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson, tr. by Anne Born
  • Missing Soluch, by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, tr. by Kamran Rasteger
  • Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert, tr. by Lydia Davis
  • Tranquility, by Attila Bartis, tr. by Imre Goldstein
  • 2666, by Roberto Bolaño, tr. by Natasha Wimmer
  • Nazi Literature in the Americas, by Roberto Bolaño, tr. by Chris Andrews
  • By Night in Chile, by Roberto Bolaño, tr. by Chris Andrews
  • “Mexican Manifesto” (not mentioned by name), by Roberto Bolaño, tr. by Laura Healey
  • Jack Kerouac
  • Victor Serge
  • Stefan Zweig
  • The Confessions of Noa Weber, by Gail Hareven, tr. by Dalya Bilu
  • Memories of the Future, by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, tr. by Joanne Turnbull
  • The Tanners, by Robert Walser, tr. by Susan Bernofksy
  • The Twin, by Gerbrand Bakker, tr. by David Colmer
  • Wonder, by Hugo Claus, tr. by Michael Heim
  • The Literary Conference, by César Aira, tr. by Katherine Silver
  • An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter, by César Aira, tr. by Chris Andrews
  • Varamo, by César Aira, tr. by Chris Andrews
  • The Seamstress in the Wind, by César Aira, tr. by Rosalie Knecht
  • How I Became a Nun, by César Aira, tr. by Chris Andrews
  • The Miracle Cures of Dr. Aira, by César Aira, tr. by Katherine Silver
  • Agaat, by Mariene Van Niekerk, tr. by Michiel Heyns
  • Visitation, by Jenny Erpenbeck, tr. by Susan Bernofsky
  • A Life on Paper: Stories, by Georges-Olivier Chateaureynaud, tr. by Edward Gauvin
  • The Jokers, by Albert Cossery, tr. by Anna Moschovakis
  • Hocus Bogus, by Romain Gary (as Emile Ajar), tr. by David Bellos
  • Stone Upon Stone, by Wieslaw Mysliwski, tr. by Bill Johnston
  • Lightning, by Jean Echenoz, tr. by Linda Coverdale
  • Scars, by Juan José Saer, tr. by Steve Dolph
  • I Am a Japanese Writer, by Danny LaFerriere, tr. by David Homel
  • In Red, by Magdalena Tulli, tr. by Bill Johnston
  • Kafka’s Leopards, by Moacyr Scliar, tr. by Thomas O. Beebee
  • The Polish Boxer, by Eduardo Halfon, tr. by Daniel Hahn
  • Drowned, by Therese Bohman, tr. by Marlaine Delargy
  • Amsterdam Stories, by Nescio, tr. by Damion Searls
  • The Hare, by César Aira, tr. by Nick Caistor
  • Shantytown, by César Aira, tr. by Chris Andrews
  • Dublinesque, by Enrique Vila-Matas, tr. by Anne McLean and Rosalind Harvey
  • My Struggle: Book One, by Karl Ove Knausgaard, tr. by Don Bartlett
  • The Traveler of the Century, by Andrés Neuman, tr. by Nick Caistor and Lorenza Garcia
  • The Map and the Territory, by Michel Houellebecq, tr. by Gavin Bowd
  • My Two Worlds, by Sergio Chejfec, tr. by Margaret Carson
  • The Dark, by Sergio Chejfec (not yet translated)
  • Demolishing Nisard, by Eric Chevillard, tr. by Jordan Stump
  • War & War, by László Krasznahorkai, tr. by George Szirtes
  • The Melancholy of Resistance, by László Krasznahorkai, tr. by George Szirtes
  • Animalinside, by László Krasznahorkai, tr. by Ottilie Mulzet
  • Suicide, by Edouard Levé, tr. by Jan Steyn
  • Near to the Wild Heart, by Clarice Lispector, tr. by Alison Entrekin
  • The Hour of the Star, by Clarice Lispector, tr. by Benjamin Moser
  • The Dream of the Celt, by Mario Vargas Llosa, tr. by Edith Grossman
  • The Silent House, by Orhan Pamuk, tr. by Robert Finn
  • December, by Alexander Kluge, tr. by Martin Chalmers

George Saunders: “Fox 8”

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Though I haven’t been enjoying Saunders’ recent work, I have enjoyed him so much in the past that I’m always hopeful when I get my hands on something “new” (really, this story was originally published in January 2010 in McSweeney’s 33 (the issue that was a Sunday-edition sized newspaper), though it has been revised for this publication). When I … Read more

The Women’s Prize for Fiction Shortlist

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Today, they announced the shortlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. The winner will be announced on June 5. Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson May We Be Forgiven, by A.M. Homes Flight Behavior, by Barbara Kingsolver Bring Up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel Where’d You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple NW, by Zadie Smith … Read more