Last week I discussed at some length Hugh Schofield's BBC News piece wondering Why don't French books sell abroad ?
Now Laurence Marie, head of the book department at the US French Embassy, responds by turning the question, wondering Why Do French Books Sell Abroad ? She notes, as I did, that title-wise, translations from the French do very well in English -- relatively speaking (i.e. a lot more books are translated from French into English than from any other language -- even thought that's still a very small number of books ...). And she also provides some actual (or at least rough) numbers which are certainly of interest.
First off, she mentions that US rights to Joël Dicker's The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair went: "for about half a million dollars".
She then offers some sales numbers (they seem to be US numbers, but it's not entirely clear and may in some cases include UK totals) -- including:
Some of her arguments are kind of beside the point -- "French writers are frequently invited not only by American universities, but also by popular festivals" -- and I think she's a bit too bullish on French 'noir' conquering the English-speaking world. (Never mind that those two Didier Daeninckx novels from Melville House were reprints from yesteryear (Serpent's Tail brought them out in the early 1990s) -- but also: if you're going down that road, how can you forget the Jean-Patrick Manchette novels ? New York Review Books is bringing out another one next year ..... Meanwhile, something like Philippe Georget's Summertime, all the Cats are Bored is hardly very noir -- but if you're going to mention mysteries like that, why not the most successful of the French mystery authors, Fred Vargas ?)
Still, it makes for a decent overview of much of what's coming into English from French nowadays.
Now Laurence Marie, head of the book department at the US French Embassy, responds by turning the question, wondering Why Do French Books Sell Abroad ? She notes, as I did, that title-wise, translations from the French do very well in English -- relatively speaking (i.e. a lot more books are translated from French into English than from any other language -- even thought that's still a very small number of books ...). And she also provides some actual (or at least rough) numbers which are certainly of interest.
First off, she mentions that US rights to Joël Dicker's The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair went: "for about half a million dollars".
She then offers some sales numbers (they seem to be US numbers, but it's not entirely clear and may in some cases include UK totals) -- including:
- Suite française by Irène Némirovsky; "nearly 2 million copies"
- Fire in the Blood by Irène Némirovsky; "more than 130,000"
- The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery; "more than 900,000 copies sold"
- Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery; "surpassed 50,000 copies"
- The Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq; "about 60,000 copies"
- Total Chaos by Jean-Claude Izzo; "13,000 to 16,000"
- Enough about Love by Hervé le Tellier; "surpassed 7,000 copies"
- The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi; "surpassed 7,000 copies"
- Tokyo Fiancée by Amélie Nothomb; "between 3,000 and 5,000 copies"
- Zone by Mathias Enard; "between 3,000 and 5,000 copies"
Some of her arguments are kind of beside the point -- "French writers are frequently invited not only by American universities, but also by popular festivals" -- and I think she's a bit too bullish on French 'noir' conquering the English-speaking world. (Never mind that those two Didier Daeninckx novels from Melville House were reprints from yesteryear (Serpent's Tail brought them out in the early 1990s) -- but also: if you're going down that road, how can you forget the Jean-Patrick Manchette novels ? New York Review Books is bringing out another one next year ..... Meanwhile, something like Philippe Georget's Summertime, all the Cats are Bored is hardly very noir -- but if you're going to mention mysteries like that, why not the most successful of the French mystery authors, Fred Vargas ?)
Still, it makes for a decent overview of much of what's coming into English from French nowadays.