I enjoy challenging myself sometimes to try and read or follow other media in other languages besides English, and although I could skim over bestselling or top/best of lists in other languages, if those are anything like their English contemporaries, I imagine odds are they don’t catch some of the lesser known yet still enjoyable works.
So, what are some works in your native language that haven’t been translated to English that you’d recommend? Also if it’s not clear by the title, could you mention the language it’s in?
I don’t know if it has been translated but I would recommend “Die Känguru Chroniken”.
It’s a humourous book about a communist kangaroo moving in with a comedian. Many great jokes have established themselves in left leaning german meme culture as a result.
The book mostly has standalone chapters, but the sequels have more of a narrative throuline.
Anything by Gabriel García Márquez. Creepy haunting tales, dramatic epics, magical settings. Also, read Jorge Luis Borges, some of the most creative and mind twisting short tales and narratives. “Casas muertas” by Miguel Otero Silva beautifully narrates the curse of oil in Venezuelan society and the mar left by imperialism in Latin American societies. Isabel Allende takes your breath away. And of course any short tale by Julio Cortázar.
So I’m English, but I know German. The book “Der Buchspazierer” is really good book that I’ve discovered recently. It literally means “the book-walker,” but the official English translation is “The door to door bookstore.”
They’re also making it into a movie in Germany, so you could wait til the movie comes out if you want.
Bookwalker is a wicked literal translation, but the perhaps more correct form also sounds pretty interesting, so thanks!
A great series is the german “Tatortreiniger” which translates to something like “crime scene cleaner”. I’d describe it as a small scale theatre like series, each episode playing inside a house or a few rooms, with a few characters. The main character usually has to clean up a crime scene and is confronted with the other residents of the building. It has a special kind of humor, mostly transported by really strange everyday situations.
I am American, but my favorite author is Argentinian: Samanta Schweblin. Four out of five of her works have been translated to English but you can easily find the original Spanish texts. Distancia de rescate (Fever Dream), Kentukis (Little Eyes), Siete casas vacías (Seven Empty Houses), and Pájaros en la boca y otros cuentos (Mouthful of Birds) are the ones I’ve read (in English) and can strongly recommend. Her books are often disturbing in some way, with stream of consciousness/hallucinatory narration. She dives into little moments in people’s lives and explores their humanity.
