Less than a week after The New York Times Book Review announced its 100 Notable Books of 2015 they narrowed down the list to their 10 Best Books of 2015.
Two of the ten titles are under review at the complete review: The Door, by Szabó Magda and One of Us, by Åsne Seierstad.
It's noteworthy that three of the top ten are works in translation -- I remind you that as recently as 2013 there were only three translated titles among the notable hundred. Also interesting: two of the books -- the two translated fiction titles, in fact -- were paperback originals.
The Door in particular is a fascinating case-study of fiction in translation and the hurdles it faces in reaching American audiences. Szabó's book in fact first appeared in the US in Stefan Draughon's 1995 translation -- from East European Monographs (see their publicity page) -- a publication that went pretty much entirely unnoticed. Len Rix's translation then came out in the UK in 2005 -- but, despite getting great reviews and much praise, it took another ten years before a US edition appeared; since it was published by NYRB Classics -- great taste, but not exactly cash-rich -- it seems safe to say there was no bidding war for it. But The New York Times Book Review thinks it's one of the ten best books of the year.
A success story for publishing-in-translation in the US ?
I guess, in a way. But quite a delayed one -- and, as such, not exactly a confidence(-in-the-publishing-industry-)inspiring one; it's shocking that it took this long for the book to (re)appear and catch on.
Two of the ten titles are under review at the complete review: The Door, by Szabó Magda and One of Us, by Åsne Seierstad.
It's noteworthy that three of the top ten are works in translation -- I remind you that as recently as 2013 there were only three translated titles among the notable hundred. Also interesting: two of the books -- the two translated fiction titles, in fact -- were paperback originals.
The Door in particular is a fascinating case-study of fiction in translation and the hurdles it faces in reaching American audiences. Szabó's book in fact first appeared in the US in Stefan Draughon's 1995 translation -- from East European Monographs (see their publicity page) -- a publication that went pretty much entirely unnoticed. Len Rix's translation then came out in the UK in 2005 -- but, despite getting great reviews and much praise, it took another ten years before a US edition appeared; since it was published by NYRB Classics -- great taste, but not exactly cash-rich -- it seems safe to say there was no bidding war for it. But The New York Times Book Review thinks it's one of the ten best books of the year.
A success story for publishing-in-translation in the US ?
I guess, in a way. But quite a delayed one -- and, as such, not exactly a confidence(-in-the-publishing-industry-)inspiring one; it's shocking that it took this long for the book to (re)appear and catch on.