Best Translated Book 2008 Shortlist

The BTB 2008 shortlist is available now at Three Percent.

I don’t want to comment too much on the titles that made the shortlist, although I will say that out of the 25 under consideration, I think these 10 fairly well represent the highest quality. This shortlist does include the three books that I thought were far and away the best of the bunch, and there’s nothing here that I find off-base or otherwise indefensible.

I would like to highlight a few of the books that didn’t make the shortlist but that very well might have, had a vote or two changed hands:

• The Great Weaver from Kashmir by Halldor Laxness: As I mention in my review, this was Laxness’s first major novel, and it is a very interesting read. It is kind of a cross between an epic and a novel of ideas, although, despite both of those labels, I also thought this novel has generally realistic characters and a believable plotline. Definitely a must-read for Laxness fans, and anyone else should strongly consider it.

• The Enormity of the Tragedy by Quim Monzo: Open Letter will be publishing another of Monzo’s books later in 2009, and I will definitely want to read that based on the strength of this one. This book has a very strange set-up–a priaptic protagonist–but it is neither cartoonish nor vulgar. Quite the opposite, it is a very somber tale of people who lead depressing, isolated lives despite the potential of their surroundings. I look at this book as something like a version of Almodovar translated to literature.

• Camera by Jean-Phillipe Toussaint: I’ve expressed my admiration for Toussaint elsewhere on this blog, so I’ll just pint you to TQC’s review of Monsieur and our interview with the author himself.

• I’d Like by Amanda Michalopoulou: This is an interlinked collection of stories that I’d venture to call both metafictional and realist at once. Though each is self-contained, the stories can be linked together in many different ways, making them something like a cross between a printed book and a hypertext book. Taken together they seem to form a portrait of the author, or someone very much like her.

Also, I’m pleased to say that The Quarterly Conversation has strong coverage of the shortlisted titles. That’s a good indication that we’re fulfilling one of our goals, to provide English-language readers with strong coverage of the translation scene.

Here are links to what we have covered so far, and you can look for future coverage on some of the shortlist titles over the next month and in Issue 16.

Nazi Literature in the Americas by Roberto Bolano

• review
• interview with the translator, Chris Andrews

2666 by Roberto Bolano

• review
• interview with the translator, Natasha Wimmer

Tranquility by Attila Bartis

• review

Senselessness by Horacio Castellanos Moya

• review
• interview with the author

The Post-Office Girl by Stefan Zweig

• review