The most recent addition to the complete review is my review of a collection of three stories by Uday Prakash, The Walls of Delhi.
Just as last year his The Girl with the Golden Parasol appears to have been the only translation-of-a-work-of-fiction-from-the-Hindi published in the US, so this year this work appears to be ... the only translation-of-a-work-of-fiction-from-the-Hindi published in the US. (That is sad, folks. Sad.)
It's not even a US-commissioned translation: this first came out in 2012 in an edition from University of Western Australia Publishing, before Seven Stories picked up the US rights. (Seriously -- UWA Publishing !)
But apparently translations-from-Indian-languages really are beyond US publisher/critics/audiences -- this one doesn't even seem to have been picked up by the trades (no Publishers Weekly or Kirkus Reviews reviews, as far as I can tell). What gives ? What's the problem ?
Possibly interesting aside: I hadn't noticed this when I covered The Girl with the Golden Parasol, but the Library of Congrtess has him down as ''Uday Prakash' (well, it's the Library of Congress, so: 'Udaya Prakāśa') -- i.e. they (and your local library) file him under 'U' (just as they file Mo Yan under 'M', Halldór Laxness under 'H', etc.). Seven Stories didn't get the memo -- or doesn't want to confuse booksellers, who will continue to file him under 'P' -- the spine of this book says: 'Prakash The Walls of Delhi', but apparently it should be Uday all the way .....
Just as last year his The Girl with the Golden Parasol appears to have been the only translation-of-a-work-of-fiction-from-the-Hindi published in the US, so this year this work appears to be ... the only translation-of-a-work-of-fiction-from-the-Hindi published in the US. (That is sad, folks. Sad.)
It's not even a US-commissioned translation: this first came out in 2012 in an edition from University of Western Australia Publishing, before Seven Stories picked up the US rights. (Seriously -- UWA Publishing !)
But apparently translations-from-Indian-languages really are beyond US publisher/critics/audiences -- this one doesn't even seem to have been picked up by the trades (no Publishers Weekly or Kirkus Reviews reviews, as far as I can tell). What gives ? What's the problem ?
Possibly interesting aside: I hadn't noticed this when I covered The Girl with the Golden Parasol, but the Library of Congrtess has him down as ''Uday Prakash' (well, it's the Library of Congress, so: 'Udaya Prakāśa') -- i.e. they (and your local library) file him under 'U' (just as they file Mo Yan under 'M', Halldór Laxness under 'H', etc.). Seven Stories didn't get the memo -- or doesn't want to confuse booksellers, who will continue to file him under 'P' -- the spine of this book says: 'Prakash The Walls of Delhi', but apparently it should be Uday all the way .....