You read a lot of high fantasy, but I know you do enjoy certain urban fantasy books. I was wondering how you feel about magic realism? It’s a very Latin American genre, and I think it deserves a lot more widespread recognition. If you’re looking for more translated works, I definitely would recommend trying it out. Probably don’t start with “Like Water for Chocolate.” I read that in Spanish class as my introduction to magic realism, and aside from the fact that I was pretty bad at Spanish at the time, it was a super super bizarre book. That’s not a good place to start, imho, although many people recommend it first.
As a non- native speaker of English, people who say that they don’t read translated books on principle always confuse me. Yes, there are bad translations, but the majority of translators does a great job.
I usually prefer the english copy, (if we are talking about an english author ofc) of a book since that is the original view of the author. I'm not saying the translation is worse, I just like reading what the author wanted me to read.
I love reading so much but honestly reading in english sometimes just... feels like work. I don't have this feeling when I watch a TV show or youtube anymore and I also startet listingen to audiobooks in english but for the most part I read the (german) transation if I get the chance to because it's just more fun to me.
It is true Brasil imports literature. Probably more than 50% of it. If you take a look at what YA companies sell as "best sellers", you'll be right, they are best sellers elsewhere (normally USA). However, if you look at those books that aren't advertised, smaller editors, you will find mainly Brazilian titles. Titles such as Turma da Mônica (Monica's Gang, if I'm not mistaken), have been Brazilian best sellers for half a century, but this is not our usual selling strategy. 1/5 of any bookstore must be filled with Turma da Monica's titles. So it's definetely not like that.
@@jfortunato8118 I know, but the most part of the books are " classics", we don't have many fantasies or sci-fi, or ' modern' books, I'm not saying this is a bad thing, it's just that we don't have problems with translated books And my comment was just a meme
Merphy: it's Inkheart Me: aaaay, Tintenherz! I wasn't expecting that, but it's a great book and I loved reading it when I was younger. I definitely need to revisit it some time.
To be fair, I have talked about all these books along with any other book in many videos, I’ve just had several people request I highlight them in a video of their own
Yes, I agree that for example putting "translated works" as a prompt in a readathon or a tbr game is something only native english speakers do, because it is simply not that widespread to sell and read translated books in US, UK and Canada. All other countries have TONS of translated books in their bookstores, usually much more than they have originally written in their own languages. Personally when "translated" comes up in a reading challenge I usually take it as "something not written in my mother tongue AND also not written in English" 😀
In Poland we always distinguish our literature from others. I think it's so important for us because we want to underline that we are proud of OUR works and they are equally good. You know, just old insecurities
Merphy: I didn't relate to the parts about philosophy and objects having sentience and taking care of your items Merphy's copy of Cursed Child: Tell me about it
The Count of Monte Cristo is also my favorite book. Big warning for people looking into this book though, a lot of these versions are abridged. So make sure you are buying the right book.
@@cecilie... It seems to be unabridged. So it should be good. It seems to be the generally recommended online. I went for the audiobook version myself.
The Inkheart trilogy was one of my favorite memories of childhood. I listened to the audiobooks 2 years ago and, while having noticed some issues with plot, was very happy that I could revisit such a magical world I wish existed because it would mean all my other favorite worlds could exist too 🗺 📚
I personally am not the biggest fan of Inkheart, but Cornelia Funke also wrote the ghost hunter series, which I absolutely loved as a kid. I am German, so I didn´t read them translated (I´m guessing from your name that you did), so I´m not sure if they are called ghost-hunter in English, or even if there are English translations, but if there are, check them out, if you like.
@@eliasbischoff176 Thsnks, Elias, for letting me know about Ghost-Hunter. I’m German by blood but don’t speak it. I’ll definitely try to find and read this series 📚 ✌️
I'm German and for me reading translated books is so normal that I even started to look out for German authors because I wanted to support them, too. Seeing you mentioning a German book, really made me glad. I have to admit that I started Inkheart but never finished it. (I heard the audiobook and saw the movie though) I might try to read it again 😊
Same! I recently bought two books in German because I wanted to see how they have been translated after reading them in English. Sometimes I feel bad for reading a German book because I pressure myself to read English xD It's stupid.
Hey Merphy, translator here. Thank you for saying you appreciate the work translators do. Just a friendly note: it might be a good idea to mention the translator by name because many books (classics especially) have more than one translation so it might be helpful for your viewers to know which translation you read and enjoy, but mainly because the translated book is in many ways the translator's work of art as well as the original author's.
I am Lebanese but I read mostly in French because it’s easier than arabic 😂 so at first most of the books I read were translated to French from English (Harry Potter, The Hobbit,....) but know I am more at ease with reading bigger books in English, like a Game of Thrones or Mistborn,.... So I really am grateful for the fact that I had acces to translated books at first for me to dive in amazing universes even with the language barrier...
Since you read in 2 languages, as I do, would you say that you could switch from one language to another in a series? I found that I started Harry Potter in English, and just couldn't read it in French; it had another "feel" to the story.
As someone studying English with the intent of becoming a translator, this video really made me feel appreciated, even if I haven't officially translated anything yet
Since I'm from Germany and love Fantasy I mostly read books that are from the Us or UK. Sometimes I read them in English, but often I choose the translated version because that's a faster read. But something interesting I noticed is, that books that have been translated to German have so many more pages than the originals! It must take longer to say the same thing in German 😂
I'm from Spain. Here is the same. Sometimes I read in english for learning and don't forget it, but mostly when I read fantasy and sci fi books is in spanish bescause is easier ... and I would say the translations are very good. Never find problems at least. And I have to agree about the german words, i study german a few years 🤣
Yeah, I noticed this too! The German translation of "The Priory of the Orange Tree" was split up into two books and I think they did the same with all the translations of the ASOIAF series.
That's actually why I am hesitant to start Stormlight... I am a slow reader and the books look so big... And there are already six of them if I want to read them in German
@@andreabran9216 German doesn't actually take longer to read though. The German versions use slightly more letters, but also bigger font sizes. Splitting books is mostly a cash grab - and that's the actual problem here for me. The books became basically twice as expensive in their German version, which is just fucking rude. However: books by Brandon Sanderson aren't super complicated to read for a non native speaker. I used Stormlight 2 to get into English books, and after about 1/3 of the book, I didn't need to look up words any more.
If you like books about books, I would recommend "The City of Dreaming Books" by Walter Moers (German author). I love nearly every book from him. He is most famous for his creation of "Captain Bluebear" (a german kids show) and wrote even a book about this character "The 13.5 Lives Of Captain Bluebear"
OMG. Ich Love the City of dreaming books too. I got it for Christmas two years ago and even though every around me said that it is a children's book I really enjoyed it. Also because it was so dreamy and passionate about books. And really unique.
My absolute favourite translated book is "The Master and Margarita" written by Mikhail Bulgakov. As to the genre I'd say it is a mix of fantasy and farce, also I'm pretty sure it's considered a classic. I highly recommend it if you haven't read it already!
I really love reading books around the world. It makes me feel like I am travelling while also discovering the culture of a certain country. My favorite translated books are those from Paulo Coelho. I'm making my way through all Backman books 📚❤️
As a swede I’m going to start listening to a man called Ove audiobook in Swedish and I can’t wait 😊 it makes me so happy to see non-Swedes who loves Backmans books!
"There are two things in this world that I can't stand. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures....and THE DUTCH" - Quote from one of the Austin Powers movies
I don't know if you already know his work but here is a recommendation for another German author: Walter Moers - The city of dreaming books. Or to be fair the entire zamonien saga ("the alchemasters apprentice" is also a favorite of mine) For the book: The protagonist is also the author of this book, so it is a 'fictional autobiography'. After Hildegunst's lector died, he finds a letter in his heritage of an author who might be the best of who ever lived. So he travels to the city of dreaming books to try and find him. The city is a city of the written word: everythinh is about writing books, making books, selling books and so on. This book is basically basically a loveletter to literature. It is also funny, tragic, thrilling and bizarre. I highly highly recommend it to you and am 99% sure you will love it!
My Favorite translated books into Spanish * The Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson (Swedish) * The Count of Montecristo by Alexander Dumas (French) * Man's search from Meaning by Victor Frankl (German) * Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (Italian)
May I recommend a German author? Walter Moers, he has a fictional continent, Zamonien, on which my favorite books of him take place. Most of his books have some sort of a dry note to them, but there's also a lot of magical stuff(figuratively). I hope there are English translations for these books.
I think you'd love José Saramago (portuguese author who won the nobel prize). Would love to hear your thoughts on books like Blindness or Death with Interruptions!
If you feel like reading some norwegian fantasy I really enjoyed the raven rings trilogy by Siri Pettersen! The first book, Odin's Child, was recently translated to english.
i will never understand why native english speakers read such a little amount of translated books. is it really interesting to read the same experience all over again, when there is so much more to choose from? it's so strange. if you watch any non english speaking booktubers, it's always around 75% translated work, and not only translated from english.
Ahh I love this video! I'm a translator myself (from EN to FR), almost done with my bachelor's degree. My favourite course ever was one on literary translation. I was so fascinated by the complexity and beauty of the art of translation when it comes to figures of speech. Le petit prince is, in my opinion, worth rereading many times in one's lifetime. I'm planning on reading almost every books you mentioned and I can't wait. 🥰 My favourite French authors are Victor Hugo (The Huntchback of Notre-Dame was both dark and funny and the ending made me ugly cry, which never happened to me - highly recommend!) and Emile Zola (he's a contemporary of Hugo and beloved in France for his Rougon-Macquart series. It can be read out of order, but I'd recommend reading the first one for context). Both The Fortune of the Rougons and The Conquest of Plassans are my favourite of his for now. If you want to have an idea of his genius, Thérèse Raquin is a short and haunting standalone. You're talking about Backman understanding the depth of human psychology, well I can assure you Zola is the French master for sure. But these books aren't translated for me, so I'll try making a short list of my favourites outside of English or French literature. Fiction: Perfume by Süskind (Germany), Foreign Words by Vassilis Alexakis (Greece), The Murderess by Alexandros Papadiamantis (Greece), The Name of The Rose by Umberto Eco (Italy), the Twins trilogy by Ágota Kristóf (Switzerland, but she's Hungarian). Non-fiction: The Pianist by Wladislaw Spzilman (Poland). And an honorable mention from the US, because this autobiography changed my life: Story of My Life by Helen Keller. 💕
Just out of curiosity, when you say: "The translators have done such a phenomenal job. They've been able to capture the authors' writing, their prose, their core messages and their humor in a lot of cases." How do you know, unless you've read both versions? How do we, as readers, know how much of the style of what we are reading is the translator, and how much is the author? This is something I struggle with a lot because I'm Dutch, but I exclusively follow English-speaking booktubers. So the vast majority of books on my TBR are (originally) English. I prefer, however to read in Dutch. It's just faster and a little more relaxing for me, even though I speak English fluently. I'm always wondering if the style of a book (particularly when I don't like it) is true to the original.
I'd like to add that I don't mean this as critique of your video, or translators, or anything at all! This is genuinely a question that's been on my mind since I've been reading more.
My native language is German and I grew up reading books that were translated into German, but I've been reading all my books in English for about a decade, unless the original language happens to be German of course. From what I can tell, it's very hit-or-miss. I think classics tend to be better translated than contemporary books though.
I see what you mean, I suppose the wording could have been better. I just meant the fact that I can read the book seamlessly, feel like I’m having a convo with the author about the themes they’re exploring, and can laugh along with the jokes, the translator must have done an incredible job. But it’s true I’ll never know if everything was conveyed perfectly, just that I appreciate the work they’ve done because I’m able to pull so much from the story even though I’m not reading it in it’s original language
This. I’m reading most of my books in English because I’ve read bad translations way too many times. In Finnish HP Snape calls Harry ’Harry’. Not ’Potter’. Did the translator not read the book? Did they not understand the relationship between Snape and Harry? I almost tore that book to shreads.
been following you and Daniel Greene for about a month now. You just got on my really good side. I'm Brazilian and a huge fan of Posthumous Memories really appreciate having this book on this list. So happy right now :)
I think you'll like Magda Szabó's books, her way of digging into humanity reminds me a little of Backman's works. She was a hungarian author who wrote literary fiction. She took ordinary lives and wrote about them is such an extraordinary way, exploring humanity through simple things. Her books always make me cry, which is quite rare for me
I always feel a little bit proud to be Swedish every time you mention your love for Backman haha. He is absolutely one of my favorite authors as well, adore him and his writing so very much and feel lucky to get to read his stuff in its original language.
Translated books are special place in my heart. My whole family (Mom,Dad and Grandma) loves to read so from young age I always saw everyone reading in their free time and naturally I was drawn to it. Best part was my Grandma was Librarian at local library and since live relitively small community where english is 3rd language most of the books were either in our regional language or translated works. Grandma would bring 3-4 new books every month for everyone to read and some children books for me. But I quickly grew out of the children books coz no verity so I used to seakily read books ment for adults as I thought my parents would get mad if they saw me reading these books(I was like 12 at that point). (the "adult books" were mostly john grisham,agatha christie etc). Read most of these author's works translated and when I grew up little bit and re-read it in english again I enjoyed it even more somehow. This was definitly a factor that started my love for reading and now that I have grownup helped me to keep in touch with my native language. (Sorry for the rant)
OMG!!! Im brazilian! Im sooo happy you liked the posthumous memoirs of brás cubas! I never really see booktubers talking about braziliam books! You should read some more brazilian classics, they are great (try out some more Machado de Assis, he is huge here!)
Dude! I just read Le petit prince last month and it blew my mind. Loved the book and was hoping it would make your list but didn’t expect it to. Just ordered it in English and French. Such a great reminder on the important things in life in my opinion.
i love manga and i love what you have started read manga. my favorite manga is one piece but there are hundreds of manga that are less well known, shorter and just as good. - hunter x hunter - monster - goodnight punpun - children of the sea - Blood on the Tracks - Uzumaki
Well, I'm Brazilian, and I always get so proud when people from other countries talk about our literature, before my comments about it, thanks for reading. Machado de Assis is one of our most famous and most acclaimed authors, his books are really awesome and you got my favorite, my second favorite is Dom Casmurro, but I never read one of his book that I didn't like. Talking about other authors and books, I need to mention two that are classics and I love, but many of my favorites don't have an English edition (If they have I didn't find), The Slum (O Cortiço) - Aluísio de Azevedo, Captains of the sands (Capitães de Areia) - Jorge Amado. I could talk about it forever, but I think is enough for today. If you read, I hope you enjoy.
I live in Portugal, and it's a small country, so we don't have that much literature... but there are some good ones. . OS MAIAS (the Maias) by Eça de Queiroz (incredibly slow-paced, extremely descriptive!) is a classic; . OS LUSÍADAS (the lusiads) by Luíz Vaz de Camões is an epic poem. I absolutely love it! It's genius, amazingly written, and it's one of the best things I've ever read - but it's very intricate and hard to get through at times and, for me, epic poetry is always better in its original language; . O CRIME DO PADRE AMARO (crime of father Amaro) by Eça de Queiroz is about the romance that unravels between a priest and a young woman; . A DANÇA DA PEDRA DO CAMALEÃO (the stone dance of the chameleon) by Ricardo Pinto is an epic fantasy trilogy - I've never read it, but it's been praised, and I know Tolkien was a big source of inspiration; . O SEGREDO DO RIO (the secret of the river) by Miguel Sousa Tavares is one of the first books I ever read, and I loved it! It's about the friendship between a little boy and a fish, and it's really cute and easy to read; . Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen is one of the greatest Portuguese poets, and she wrote quite a few children's books that students read in middle grade or earlier, so the ones I'll list here are very accessible: A FADA ORIANA (the fairy Oriana), O CAVALEIRO DE DINAMARCA (the knight of Denmark) e A MENINA DO MAR (the girl from the sea). . At last O MEMORIAL DO CONVENTO (the memorial of the convent) de José Saramago, who was one of the few Portuguese writers to receive a Nobel Prize of literature; . I would say that any kind of poetry is better appreciated in its original language, but I haven't checked out the English version of these. If you are interested in learning Portuguese or simply love poetry and want to check it out in your language, you should try anything by Sophia Mello Breyner, Luíz Vaz de Camões or Fernando Pessoa; These are just examples of books that I really liked or really want to read. I didn't make this list for your taste specifically, Merphy (even though I know you have a very broad taste), but you might like them. Most of these are classics and books that everybody here reads at school at a certain point.
I want to be a literary translator so it’s very cool to see someone not only give a spotlight to translated books but to explicitly express appreciation for the translators
I beg you to read The Alchemist. Also a translated book for you, but it’s in my native language and is my absolute favorite! It’s written by Paulo Coelho and I’m sure you’re gonna love it
@@Dhor16 sorry to know you didn’t liked it, but it make me really happy to know it’s also popular in other countries other than mine, I didn’t thought it was
Original fairytales are really great! When I was a little girl we had these books that had cushioned covers. They were fairytales in original form. I remember reading Rapunzel in original and I loved it!
My favorite translated book is a nonfiction book called One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, I read it once or twice every year! I use the Everyman's Library translation
I'm sorry, but One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is not a nonfiction. It may show the depiction of reality to some degree, but it is a fictional story.
I discovered Fredrik Backman thanks to you and he is now one of my favorite authors of all time ;)!! Thank you!!! And you totally convinced me to read posthumous memoirs of bras cubas ;)
I love the last two video ideas, but I'm craving a deeper dive. Fully exploring the bibliography of an author for common themes or evolution over time. Or not just a list of good translations but an exploration of what the translation changes about the text and/or an exploration of the body of a translator's work. Obviously these are more video essay-y and not the vibe you've built for your channel, but the last two videos made me think of it
Hi, as a Brazilian is so good to hear you talking about Bras Cubas, was a nice surprise. Machado de Assis is a classic author and I love his books. Hope you have the chance to know more Brazilian authors. Love your videos :)
Merphy: "This is one of my all time favorite books" And proceeds to say that about so many books in so many videos. I think she has more favorite books than I have read in my life. LOL
i meant to comment this on your review of Brás Cubas, but it's so interesting to hear the perspective of someone who hasn't learned about it since preschool, seeing non-brazilians's opinions on our classics is very... refreshing :)
As a One Piece stan.. Waiting for your next One Piece update.. I am so happy to see it here!! Not only that but I found you through your Avatar watchthrough and totally fell in love with your content and passion! Thank you :)
I only knew the original fairytales because my grandmother always told them to me and my brother when we were young and till this day I cringe at the Disney movies because they are so different to the original tales. Like, Tangled? What has that to do with the fairytale?
Is anyone else listening with airpods and keeps thinking they're airpods are dying whenever that sound effect came up? Got some real whiplash watching this haha
If I may recommend a translated book. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, translated from French. It's a genrebending literary fiction that's part philosophical musing meets stream of consciousness part slice of life. It broke my heart. Enjoy.
@@juliette9679 I'm currently self teaching French bc I'm broke and well, quarantine, and I'd hoped that one day I would read the French edition. However I have a love hate relationship with that book
I'm so happy you've just read Machado de Assis. We usually read him during high school here in Brazil and "Brás Cubas" is my favorite because of the humor. If you ever get the chance, try his novella "The Alienist". Short and just as sweetly Machadian.
I recently reread Inkheart and found that I’m still in love with it, even all these years later. Such incredible character development and world building! Definitely recommend you revisit it if you’re interested!
Two of my favorite finnish authors are Mika Waltari, who wrote a lot of historical fiction like ’The Egyptian’ and Tove Jansson, who wrote the Moomin books. A swedish favorite is Astrid Lindgren, who wrote a lot of great children’s books, my favorite’s there are The Brothers Lionheart and Ronia, the Robbers Daughter.
Omg I've been watching you for almost 2 years now and I didn't know you've read Inkheart! It's one of my favourite books of all time (I like the sequels as well but I don't feel as much of a connection to them somehow). This makes me so happy because I don't think it's that known internationally
Since I'm Welsh, I also have to talk about the Mabinogion! If you love Tolkien stories like Beren and Luthien, the Mabinogion was a huge inspiration for his work and it's the shining beacon of Welsh literature. It's translated into english from welsh by Sioned Davies in the more recent copies which I would highly recommend.
I'm russian and I stopped reading english books in translation after I became comfortable with my level of the language :) it's just so much better to understand the language it's originally told through! but man translators are such an important people!!! I wouldn't be able to read so many books in my childhood if not for them. as for my recommendations, the most fun russian classic I ever read is The Master and Margarita, it's so good! I reread it like 3 times and I'm sure I'll do it again more than once. It's a weird book with magic and witches and a talking cat but it's fantastic! we have other classics that you may like, like Anna Karenina, Yevgeny Onegin or Crime and Punishment, I don't remember you talking about them but I could be wrong. I have mixed feelings about our classics because we read them in high school and it's just TOO FREAKING EARLY TO UNDERSTAND THEM. I need to reread all of the most known ones at some point. and I'm kinda ashamed to admit but I have no idea which modern russian books are out there...I'm such a fan of romance and all the good ones are in english :D I probably should follow my native speaking booktubers but I'm yet to find any that I relate to. after some research I remembered that we actually have some more modern popular stuff like The Gray House by Mariam Petrosyan, I'm yet to read it but my friend swears by it!! it's a magical realism story about children, I think you could like it.
The Count of Monte Cristo is the best soap opera ever written and I loved every chapter. Truly one of the best stories ever written. Easily a top 5 book for me.
Omg thank you so much for acknowledging the work that translators do! 🖤 I studied translation in college and it is pretty much an art in itself. Especially for fiction you have to be a really great writer yourself. And it's criminally underpaid too haha
Oh my, that's high praise for Backman. Personally I haven't read Backman yet, despite me being Swedish and consequently having access to the original versions. I have now ordered some of his books. And subscribed to your channel. Keep up the good work.
Translated literature is kind of a trend on booktube right now, but so few booktubers actually read out the names of the translators of the translated work they're highlighting. Could we maybe try and change that?
@@nerdanalog1707 no it'n not a genre, it just means that something that was originally written in a different language than you're reading it in. Like a French book that has been translated to English and published again. Or an English book that has been translated to Japanese so non-english speaking Japanese can read it too.
I loved the Neapolitan Novels. Elena Ferrante's writing style, the social commentaries, the relationship between Lila and Lenu... It's an incredible work. Hope you read them someday. Also, even though english is not my mother tongue, if I do a list like this, I won't include them because books written in english are as common as those written in portuguese. Would recommend Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie too.
Nearly ten years ago, not too long after we moved to London, my parents actually got me The Little Prince when we were at a bookshop. However, mere months before, I was watching a CGI-animated show based on it on T.V. and one bit in particular really scared me. I was eight, so maybe a bit too old to be so affected by something like that, but it was enough to make me not want to read it. I was obvious enough on being determined not to when we were talking about World Book Day one year and my mum brought The Little Prince to me as a suggestion of what character to dress up as for school but I immediately took it back to where it had been, with the excuse of not wanting to leave the book lying around, I think that was what happened. But I've never told my parents the real reason and somehow, I *still* haven't read it. We've moved again twice since then and even now, though we can't bring *all* our possessions with us everywhere we go, I can look up from where I currently am, sat at my desk, and see it, placed at the top of a small pile of books on a shelf, one written by my grandma right below it. I'm weird.
It'd love you to read some Dutch literature, especially Humankind by Rutger Bregman. It's amazing to read if you are feeling not the best way about humanity. It's nonfiction but definitely worth the read!
I’d like to recommend some books which were originally published in German. „Demian“: a literary fiction, coming of age novel by Herman Hesse. „Krabat“: a dark, historical fantasy book, inspired by Slavic (Sorbian) folklore by Otfried Preußler. I’m not very familiar with the translated versions, but both authors have a very intriguing writing styles that add a lot to the story. Both novels are a little autobiographical and deal with some interesting themes.
I love when books really make you feel like the character does like, in being really confident and all of a sudden boom (stormlight archive spoilers) the humans are the voidbringers and we are all shocked to the core with everyone in the book
I'm from Finland so most books I read are either in English or translated to Finnish from other languages. I'm currently reading The Count of Monte-Cristo because you recommended it. :D But what I would recommend to you... I think you might like Sofi Oksanen. I really love her books. Puhdistus (Purge in English) was great, but I really loved Stalinin lehmät (Stalin's cows) and Baby Jane as well. You might like other Finnish authors too. Sinuhe by Mika Waltari is one of my all time favorites (although it took me a while to get over Nefernefernefer). Rosa Liksom is wonderful as well. I really loved Compartment number 6. And if you want to read some historical romance based in Finland, I'd recommend Kaari Utrio (if you can find any of her books in English). Oh, oh, and I highly recommend Mia Kankimäki and Things that Make One's Heart Beat Faster. It really does make your heart beat faster. I always enjoy your videos so much. So thank you for them. And by the way, I bought The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse because you recommended it and absolutely adored it. Then I recommended it to my friend (their kid is our goddaughter) and her husband completely fell in love with it while reading it to their daughter. He said it changed him in ways no book has ever been able to and he reads a lot. :) So yeah, you're affecting families in Finland too. :)
If you haven't read "The Neverending Story" by Michael Ende (German) yet, it is SOOOO worth it. Quite different from the movie. I read the book so many times as a child. it's amazing! Michael Ende also wrote "Momo" which is also amazingly good. Astrid Lindgren (Swedish) wrote gorgeous childrens stories, that are great for grownups too. I recommend "Ronia the Robber's Daughter" and "The Brothers Lionheart", but there are many good ones.
Just want to let you know that I started Lies of Loch Lamora and loving it! Laughing out loud from the first chapter. I didn’t know character driven fantasy was a thing but oh how I love it! So thanks lol
Ooh yes, I started reading character-driven fantasy towards the end of 2019 and it is my new favorite (sub)genre. The Lies of Locke Lamora was my favorite book of 2020. Currently reading The Stormlight Archive (I'm partway through book 4) and I would highly recommend.
@@booklanerecommendations I own the first two and plan to get to them sooner rather than later but I don’t read much adult, let alone adult fantasy so high fantasy still kind a scares me 😅 I also own the Mistborn series so I want to start there with Sanderson!
@@jaziybabe Good idea! Mistborn is a great place to start. I haven't read Warbreaker yet, but I've heard that is great as well and has some really funny parts.
Inkheart (Tintenherz) and all of Cornelia Funkes other books were my middle school equals to Harry Potter. Some of them like Reckless have also beautiful artwork and I still remember them very fondly.
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CORRECTION! The Little Mermaid is Danish. I'm so sorry!
You should check "the coincidence makers" by yoav blum, it is absolutely awesome.
Yes, the Little Mermaid was a Danish Girl. Haven’t you seen the movie?! Eddie Redmayne was a great mermaid!
My Danish hart still aches. But for you - I forgive you.
You read a lot of high fantasy, but I know you do enjoy certain urban fantasy books. I was wondering how you feel about magic realism? It’s a very Latin American genre, and I think it deserves a lot more widespread recognition. If you’re looking for more translated works, I definitely would recommend trying it out.
Probably don’t start with “Like Water for Chocolate.” I read that in Spanish class as my introduction to magic realism, and aside from the fact that I was pretty bad at Spanish at the time, it was a super super bizarre book. That’s not a good place to start, imho, although many people recommend it first.
As soon as you said it I was like "I am sure she will have a pinned comment and... here it is".
translators don't get enough love for all the work they do
As a non- native speaker of English, people who say that they don’t read translated books on principle always confuse me. Yes, there are bad translations, but the majority of translators does a great job.
Same I’ve read so many books that were translated from English to Dutch
Tbh everything that gets translated to Spanish gets gutted more often than not, and it usually has to do with very questionable choices.
I usually prefer the english copy, (if we are talking about an english author ofc) of a book since that is the original view of the author. I'm not saying the translation is worse, I just like reading what the author wanted me to read.
I love reading so much but honestly reading in english sometimes just... feels like work. I don't have this feeling when I watch a TV show or youtube anymore and I also startet listingen to audiobooks in english but for the most part I read the (german) transation if I get the chance to because it's just more fun to me.
@@simonholmqvist8017 Yeah I do that too especially if it’s a classic
Merphy:" translated books I've love "
Me who 90% of the books read are translated: 👁👄👁
which country?
@@abhinav5847 Brazil
It is true Brasil imports literature. Probably more than 50% of it. If you take a look at what YA companies sell as "best sellers", you'll be right, they are best sellers elsewhere (normally USA). However, if you look at those books that aren't advertised, smaller editors, you will find mainly Brazilian titles. Titles such as Turma da Mônica (Monica's Gang, if I'm not mistaken), have been Brazilian best sellers for half a century, but this is not our usual selling strategy. 1/5 of any bookstore must be filled with Turma da Monica's titles. So it's definetely not like that.
Isn't like that in every country or at least in non english speaking country. You can't just publish and sell books from your country.
@@jfortunato8118 I know, but the most part of the books are " classics", we don't have many fantasies or sci-fi, or ' modern' books, I'm not saying this is a bad thing, it's just that we don't have problems with translated books
And my comment was just a meme
Merphy: it's Inkheart
Me: aaaay, Tintenherz!
I wasn't expecting that, but it's a great book and I loved reading it when I was younger. I definitely need to revisit it some time.
i feel like talking about translated books seperate from other books is something only native english speakers do 😅
To be fair, I have talked about all these books along with any other book in many videos, I’ve just had several people request I highlight them in a video of their own
@@merphynapier42 nothing wrong with that it was just an observation, promoting more diversity on booktube is obviously always a good thing 👍
Yes, I agree that for example putting "translated works" as a prompt in a readathon or a tbr game is something only native english speakers do, because it is simply not that widespread to sell and read translated books in US, UK and Canada. All other countries have TONS of translated books in their bookstores, usually much more than they have originally written in their own languages. Personally when "translated" comes up in a reading challenge I usually take it as "something not written in my mother tongue AND also not written in English" 😀
In Poland we always distinguish our literature from others. I think it's so important for us because we want to underline that we are proud of OUR works and they are equally good. You know, just old insecurities
Merphy: I didn't relate to the parts about philosophy and objects having sentience and taking care of your items
Merphy's copy of Cursed Child: Tell me about it
Merphy: *makes a reference to Brazil in a youtube video*
Brazilians: who summoned us?
"The Count of Monte Cristo" is my favorite book ever. It deserves all the love. :]
The Count of Monte Cristo is also my favorite book. Big warning for people looking into this book though, a lot of these versions are abridged. So make sure you are buying the right book.
Would you recommend the new penguin classics edition? My friend and me want to start reading it together next week :)
@@cecilie... It seems to be unabridged. So it should be good. It seems to be the generally recommended online. I went for the audiobook version myself.
@@Elmon11 Thank you so much!
@@cecilie... I'm more thankful to you. Nothing better then hearing someone is reading a favorite book of yours.
The Inkheart trilogy was one of my favorite memories of childhood. I listened to the audiobooks 2 years ago and, while having noticed some issues with plot, was very happy that I could revisit such a magical world I wish existed because it would mean all my other favorite worlds could exist too 🗺 📚
I personally am not the biggest fan of Inkheart, but Cornelia Funke also wrote the ghost hunter series, which I absolutely loved as a kid. I am German, so I didn´t read them translated (I´m guessing from your name that you did), so I´m not sure if they are called ghost-hunter in English, or even if there are English translations, but if there are, check them out, if you like.
@@eliasbischoff176 Thsnks, Elias, for letting me know about Ghost-Hunter. I’m German by blood but don’t speak it. I’ll definitely try to find and read this series 📚 ✌️
I'm German and for me reading translated books is so normal that I even started to look out for German authors because I wanted to support them, too. Seeing you mentioning a German book, really made me glad.
I have to admit that I started Inkheart but never finished it. (I heard the audiobook and saw the movie though) I might try to read it again 😊
Same. I read more translated books than written in my mother tongue
Same! I recently bought two books in German because I wanted to see how they have been translated after reading them in English. Sometimes I feel bad for reading a German book because I pressure myself to read English xD It's stupid.
Once you start one piece, it never ends until the end and we will all be sad
It is almost upon us Paul :(
Hey Merphy, translator here. Thank you for saying you appreciate the work translators do. Just a friendly note: it might be a good idea to mention the translator by name because many books (classics especially) have more than one translation so it might be helpful for your viewers to know which translation you read and enjoy, but mainly because the translated book is in many ways the translator's work of art as well as the original author's.
Agreed!!
Yes!
I am Lebanese but I read mostly in French because it’s easier than arabic 😂 so at first most of the books I read were translated to French from English (Harry Potter, The Hobbit,....) but know I am more at ease with reading bigger books in English, like a Game of Thrones or Mistborn,.... So I really am grateful for the fact that I had acces to translated books at first for me to dive in amazing universes even with the language barrier...
Same I also find French easier than Arabic 😅and most of my favorite books are translated to French
Since you read in 2 languages, as I do, would you say that you could switch from one language to another in a series? I found that I started Harry Potter in English, and just couldn't read it in French; it had another "feel" to the story.
As someone studying English with the intent of becoming a translator, this video really made me feel appreciated, even if I haven't officially translated anything yet
How long have u been studying?
@@brunomikael1312 Less than a year so far, so I still have a long way to go
@@brunomikael1312 To clarify, that's less than a year of university level English, before that I've had six years of high school English haha
@@lianneeden4873 do u have goals when it comes to learning words like a specific amount of words you want to learn ?
,@@lianneeden4873 I get it, I am asking cause I don't know how long a translator needs to study to get the degree.
omg MACHADO DE ASSIS!! im from brazil and it's one of my favorite books. You should read Dom Casmurro next
Since I'm from Germany and love Fantasy I mostly read books that are from the Us or UK. Sometimes I read them in English, but often I choose the translated version because that's a faster read. But something interesting I noticed is, that books that have been translated to German have so many more pages than the originals! It must take longer to say the same thing in German 😂
😂Same, but I never noticed that the books are bigger in German (which is probably my fault since I've never paid attention to it)
I'm from Spain. Here is the same. Sometimes I read in english for learning and don't forget it, but mostly when I read fantasy and sci fi books is in spanish bescause is easier ... and I would say the translations are very good. Never find problems at least. And I have to agree about the german words, i study german a few years 🤣
Yeah, I noticed this too! The German translation of "The Priory of the Orange Tree" was split up into two books and I think they did the same with all the translations of the ASOIAF series.
That's actually why I am hesitant to start Stormlight... I am a slow reader and the books look so big... And there are already six of them if I want to read them in German
@@andreabran9216 German doesn't actually take longer to read though. The German versions use slightly more letters, but also bigger font sizes. Splitting books is mostly a cash grab - and that's the actual problem here for me. The books became basically twice as expensive in their German version, which is just fucking rude.
However: books by Brandon Sanderson aren't super complicated to read for a non native speaker. I used Stormlight 2 to get into English books, and after about 1/3 of the book, I didn't need to look up words any more.
If you like books about books, I would recommend "The City of Dreaming Books" by Walter Moers (German author). I love nearly every book from him. He is most famous for his creation of "Captain Bluebear" (a german kids show) and wrote even a book about this character "The 13.5 Lives Of Captain Bluebear"
OMG. Ich Love the City of dreaming books too. I got it for Christmas two years ago and even though every around me said that it is a children's book I really enjoyed it. Also because it was so dreamy and passionate about books. And really unique.
Yes, yes, YES!!! Walter Moers is my favourite Author and his books are so incredibly good!!
Yes, absolutely yes!!
I love “The Alchemaster’s Apprentice” and would love to read more by Walter Moers. Thanks for bringing him up!
@@nohelanikh6788 You could try reading "Rumo" by Moers
My absolute favourite translated book is "The Master and Margarita" written by Mikhail Bulgakov. As to the genre I'd say it is a mix of fantasy and farce, also I'm pretty sure it's considered a classic. I highly recommend it if you haven't read it already!
It's best of Russian classic. Unfortunately lots off things is lost in translation especially humor and name play.
I really love reading books around the world. It makes me feel like I am travelling while also discovering the culture of a certain country.
My favorite translated books are those from Paulo Coelho. I'm making my way through all Backman books 📚❤️
As a swede I’m going to start listening to a man called Ove audiobook in Swedish and I can’t wait 😊 it makes me so happy to see non-Swedes who loves Backmans books!
Inkheart was one of my childhood favourites too! I actually reread the trilogy a couple of months ago, and 10 years down the line, they still hold up!
The Little Mermaid? Dutch? I'm sure you meant Danish 😂
I love this! Finnish translations of Backman's books are first class too.
so sorry about that! I've pinned a comment as a correction
@@merphynapier42 no biggie, these things happen!
"There are two things in this world that I can't stand. People who are intolerant of other people's cultures....and THE DUTCH"
- Quote from one of the Austin Powers movies
The diversity of reading is one major strenght that should be more praised.
ah the little prince is such a beautiful book!!
Thank you for giving love to translators. So often they are overlooked for their amazing work and only highlighted for their mistakes.
Omgg I noticed a lack of a spanish translations 😭 I'm gonna try to recompile a good list for you Merph in case you're interested in exploring it
"Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon!
@@christinaglahn8036 Pretty sure she already tried that one and didn't love it unfortunately :(
I loved Carlos Ruiz Zafon's books, they are very well translated.
I was waiting for someone to write that! I love Zafón's books too and Lucia Graves is such a good translator.
I don't know if you already know his work but here is a recommendation for another German author:
Walter Moers - The city of dreaming books.
Or to be fair the entire zamonien saga ("the alchemasters apprentice" is also a favorite of mine)
For the book:
The protagonist is also the author of this book, so it is a 'fictional autobiography'. After Hildegunst's lector died, he finds a letter in his heritage of an author who might be the best of who ever lived. So he travels to the city of dreaming books to try and find him. The city is a city of the written word: everythinh is about writing books, making books, selling books and so on.
This book is basically basically a loveletter to literature. It is also funny, tragic, thrilling and bizarre.
I highly highly recommend it to you and am 99% sure you will love it!
My Favorite translated books into Spanish
* The Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson (Swedish)
* The Count of Montecristo by Alexander Dumas (French)
* Man's search from Meaning by Victor Frankl (German)
* Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi (Italian)
May I recommend a German author? Walter Moers, he has a fictional continent, Zamonien, on which my favorite books of him take place. Most of his books have some sort of a dry note to them, but there's also a lot of magical stuff(figuratively). I hope there are English translations for these books.
Nice! As a brazilian I'm so happy when people can enjoy some of our great books
I think you'd love José Saramago (portuguese author who won the nobel prize). Would love to hear your thoughts on books like Blindness or Death with Interruptions!
Super cool of you to give props to translators! It's a really tough and demanding job!
War and peace, les miserables , joe nesbo books and one piece are my favorite translated books
Yes for Tolstoy and Hugo. Also Alexandre Dumas.
Can't wait for the day that I see a Portuguese title in one of your titles :) I love your videos, keep up with the amazing work
Brazilian here, but José Saramago is one of my favorite authors and I’m glad I get to read it as he wrote it.
If you feel like reading some norwegian fantasy I really enjoyed the raven rings trilogy by Siri Pettersen! The first book, Odin's Child, was recently translated to english.
i will never understand why native english speakers read such a little amount of translated books. is it really interesting to read the same experience all over again, when there is so much more to choose from? it's so strange. if you watch any non english speaking booktubers, it's always around 75% translated work, and not only translated from english.
18:24 the small pause after the "please leave" just killed me 😂
I was so happy to see Inkheart!! I loved it growing up and it was what got me back into reading at 15. I‘m planning to reread it soon.
Ahh I love this video! I'm a translator myself (from EN to FR), almost done with my bachelor's degree. My favourite course ever was one on literary translation. I was so fascinated by the complexity and beauty of the art of translation when it comes to figures of speech.
Le petit prince is, in my opinion, worth rereading many times in one's lifetime. I'm planning on reading almost every books you mentioned and I can't wait. 🥰
My favourite French authors are Victor Hugo (The Huntchback of Notre-Dame was both dark and funny and the ending made me ugly cry, which never happened to me - highly recommend!) and Emile Zola (he's a contemporary of Hugo and beloved in France for his Rougon-Macquart series. It can be read out of order, but I'd recommend reading the first one for context). Both The Fortune of the Rougons and The Conquest of Plassans are my favourite of his for now. If you want to have an idea of his genius, Thérèse Raquin is a short and haunting standalone. You're talking about Backman understanding the depth of human psychology, well I can assure you Zola is the French master for sure. But these books aren't translated for me, so I'll try making a short list of my favourites outside of English or French literature.
Fiction: Perfume by Süskind (Germany), Foreign Words by Vassilis Alexakis (Greece), The Murderess by Alexandros Papadiamantis (Greece), The Name of The Rose by Umberto Eco (Italy), the Twins trilogy by Ágota Kristóf (Switzerland, but she's Hungarian).
Non-fiction: The Pianist by Wladislaw Spzilman (Poland). And an honorable mention from the US, because this autobiography changed my life: Story of My Life by Helen Keller. 💕
Can I recommend checking out Heidi? It was originally published in german and it is a really beautiful story about the journey of an orphan girl.
Yes, Merphy would definitely appreciate the themes of adoption in Heidi!
As a Swiss, I can only agree, Heidi is a beautiful story
Just out of curiosity, when you say:
"The translators have done such a phenomenal job. They've been able to capture the authors' writing, their prose, their core messages and their humor in a lot of cases."
How do you know, unless you've read both versions? How do we, as readers, know how much of the style of what we are reading is the translator, and how much is the author?
This is something I struggle with a lot because I'm Dutch, but I exclusively follow English-speaking booktubers. So the vast majority of books on my TBR are (originally) English. I prefer, however to read in Dutch. It's just faster and a little more relaxing for me, even though I speak English fluently. I'm always wondering if the style of a book (particularly when I don't like it) is true to the original.
I'd like to add that I don't mean this as critique of your video, or translators, or anything at all! This is genuinely a question that's been on my mind since I've been reading more.
I ask myself the very same question as a French reader
My native language is German and I grew up reading books that were translated into German, but I've been reading all my books in English for about a decade, unless the original language happens to be German of course. From what I can tell, it's very hit-or-miss. I think classics tend to be better translated than contemporary books though.
I see what you mean, I suppose the wording could have been better. I just meant the fact that I can read the book seamlessly, feel like I’m having a convo with the author about the themes they’re exploring, and can laugh along with the jokes, the translator must have done an incredible job. But it’s true I’ll never know if everything was conveyed perfectly, just that I appreciate the work they’ve done because I’m able to pull so much from the story even though I’m not reading it in it’s original language
This. I’m reading most of my books in English because I’ve read bad translations way too many times. In Finnish HP Snape calls Harry ’Harry’. Not ’Potter’. Did the translator not read the book? Did they not understand the relationship between Snape and Harry? I almost tore that book to shreads.
been following you and Daniel Greene for about a month now. You just got on my really good side.
I'm Brazilian and a huge fan of Posthumous Memories really appreciate having this book on this list.
So happy right now :)
I think you'll like Magda Szabó's books, her way of digging into humanity reminds me a little of Backman's works. She was a hungarian author who wrote literary fiction. She took ordinary lives and wrote about them is such an extraordinary way, exploring humanity through simple things. Her books always make me cry, which is quite rare for me
I stand behind this 100%! 🙌
I always feel a little bit proud to be Swedish every time you mention your love for Backman haha. He is absolutely one of my favorite authors as well, adore him and his writing so very much and feel lucky to get to read his stuff in its original language.
I didn’t know that most of these books were translated!! Hats off to the translators for doing such seamless work!!!
Translated books are special place in my heart. My whole family (Mom,Dad and Grandma) loves to read so from young age I always saw everyone reading in their free time and naturally I was drawn to it.
Best part was my Grandma was Librarian at local library and since live relitively small community where english is 3rd language most of the books were either in our regional language or translated works.
Grandma would bring 3-4 new books every month for everyone to read and some children books for me. But I quickly grew out of the children books coz no verity so I used to seakily read books ment for adults as I thought my parents would get mad if they saw me reading these books(I was like 12 at that point). (the "adult books" were mostly john grisham,agatha christie etc). Read most of these author's works translated and when I grew up little bit and re-read it in english again I enjoyed it even more somehow. This was definitly a factor that started my love for reading and now that I have grownup helped me to keep in touch with my native language. (Sorry for the rant)
Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s City of Forgotten Books should be on everyones list (unless you’re spanish) Lucia Graves did an amazing job as translator.
OMG!!! Im brazilian! Im sooo happy you liked the posthumous memoirs of brás cubas! I never really see booktubers talking about braziliam books! You should read some more brazilian classics, they are great (try out some more Machado de Assis, he is huge here!)
The phantom of the opera is great. The count of Montecristo and les miserables are my favs!!❤
Dude! I just read Le petit prince last month and it blew my mind. Loved the book and was hoping it would make your list but didn’t expect it to. Just ordered it in English and French. Such a great reminder on the important things in life in my opinion.
i love manga and i love what you have started read manga. my favorite manga is one piece but there are hundreds of manga that are less well known, shorter and just as good.
- hunter x hunter
- monster
- goodnight punpun
- children of the sea
- Blood on the Tracks
- Uzumaki
Well, I'm Brazilian, and I always get so proud when people from other countries talk about our literature, before my comments about it, thanks for reading. Machado de Assis is one of our most famous and most acclaimed authors, his books are really awesome and you got my favorite, my second favorite is Dom Casmurro, but I never read one of his book that I didn't like. Talking about other authors and books, I need to mention two that are classics and I love, but many of my favorites don't have an English edition (If they have I didn't find), The Slum (O Cortiço) - Aluísio de Azevedo, Captains of the sands (Capitães de Areia) - Jorge Amado. I could talk about it forever, but I think is enough for today. If you read, I hope you enjoy.
I live in Portugal, and it's a small country, so we don't have that much literature... but there are some good ones.
. OS MAIAS (the Maias) by Eça de Queiroz (incredibly slow-paced, extremely descriptive!) is a classic;
. OS LUSÍADAS (the lusiads) by Luíz Vaz de Camões is an epic poem. I absolutely love it! It's genius, amazingly written, and it's one of the best things I've ever read - but it's very intricate and hard to get through at times and, for me, epic poetry is always better in its original language;
. O CRIME DO PADRE AMARO (crime of father Amaro) by Eça de Queiroz is about the romance that unravels between a priest and a young woman;
. A DANÇA DA PEDRA DO CAMALEÃO (the stone dance of the chameleon) by Ricardo Pinto is an epic fantasy trilogy - I've never read it, but it's been praised, and I know Tolkien was a big source of inspiration;
. O SEGREDO DO RIO (the secret of the river) by Miguel Sousa Tavares is one of the first books I ever read, and I loved it! It's about the friendship between a little boy and a fish, and it's really cute and easy to read;
. Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen is one of the greatest Portuguese poets, and she wrote quite a few children's books that students read in middle grade or earlier, so the ones I'll list here are very accessible: A FADA ORIANA (the fairy Oriana), O CAVALEIRO DE DINAMARCA (the knight of Denmark) e A MENINA DO MAR (the girl from the sea).
. At last O MEMORIAL DO CONVENTO (the memorial of the convent) de José Saramago, who was one of the few Portuguese writers to receive a Nobel Prize of literature;
. I would say that any kind of poetry is better appreciated in its original language, but I haven't checked out the English version of these. If you are interested in learning Portuguese or simply love poetry and want to check it out in your language, you should try anything by Sophia Mello Breyner, Luíz Vaz de Camões or Fernando Pessoa;
These are just examples of books that I really liked or really want to read. I didn't make this list for your taste specifically, Merphy (even though I know you have a very broad taste), but you might like them. Most of these are classics and books that everybody here reads at school at a certain point.
I want to be a literary translator so it’s very cool to see someone not only give a spotlight to translated books but to explicitly express appreciation for the translators
I beg you to read The Alchemist. Also a translated book for you, but it’s in my native language and is my absolute favorite! It’s written by Paulo Coelho and I’m sure you’re gonna love it
Oh, that's a fabulous book.
Personally I didn't like it, but it is very popular
@@Dhor16 sorry to know you didn’t liked it, but it make me really happy to know it’s also popular in other countries other than mine, I didn’t thought it was
i've read it recently and was very pleasently surprised by it!
Was it originally written in portuguese?
You made me read The Count of Monte Cristo and now I am reading The posthumous memoirs of Bras Cubas after your review
Original fairytales are really great! When I was a little girl we had these books that had cushioned covers. They were fairytales in original form. I remember reading Rapunzel in original and I loved it!
My favorite translated book is a nonfiction book called One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, I read it once or twice every year! I use the Everyman's Library translation
The Gulag Archipelago by the same author is difficult to read, but worth it
I'm sorry, but One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is not a nonfiction. It may show the depiction of reality to some degree, but it is a fictional story.
I discovered Fredrik Backman thanks to you and he is now one of my favorite authors of all time ;)!! Thank you!!! And you totally convinced me to read posthumous memoirs of bras cubas ;)
I love the last two video ideas, but I'm craving a deeper dive. Fully exploring the bibliography of an author for common themes or evolution over time. Or not just a list of good translations but an exploration of what the translation changes about the text and/or an exploration of the body of a translator's work. Obviously these are more video essay-y and not the vibe you've built for your channel, but the last two videos made me think of it
Man Called Ove is next on my tbr list thanks to this channel, wish me luck ;)
Hi, as a Brazilian is so good to hear you talking about Bras Cubas, was a nice surprise. Machado de Assis is a classic author and I love his books. Hope you have the chance to know more Brazilian authors. Love your videos :)
Merphy: "This is one of my all time favorite books"
And proceeds to say that about so many books in so many videos. I think she has more favorite books than I have read in my life. LOL
i meant to comment this on your review of Brás Cubas, but it's so interesting to hear the perspective of someone who hasn't learned about it since preschool, seeing non-brazilians's opinions on our classics is very... refreshing :)
and i'm waiting for the brazilians to fin this video now, you have summoned us hahha
As a One Piece stan.. Waiting for your next One Piece update.. I am so happy to see it here!!
Not only that but I found you through your Avatar watchthrough and totally fell in love with your content and passion!
Thank you :)
I only knew the original fairytales because my grandmother always told them to me and my brother when we were young and till this day I cringe at the Disney movies because they are so different to the original tales. Like, Tangled? What has that to do with the fairytale?
Is anyone else listening with airpods and keeps thinking they're airpods are dying whenever that sound effect came up? Got some real whiplash watching this haha
Omg inkheart!! That’s one of my favorite books, I adore it so much.
If I may recommend a translated book. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, translated from French. It's a genrebending literary fiction that's part philosophical musing meets stream of consciousness part slice of life. It broke my heart. Enjoy.
Funny, I remember translating a small excerpt from French to English for my English class :) (I’m French btw)
@@juliette9679 I'm currently self teaching French bc I'm broke and well, quarantine, and I'd hoped that one day I would read the French edition. However I have a love hate relationship with that book
I love this book and felt I was loving it alone for so long! I always pick it up for a reread every once in a while 😊
You said “Brás Cubas” very well, Merphy. So glad you enjoyed the book and hope you get to read more of Machado de Assis’ works.
Every jules verne book ever is my favourite translated book. Also, the divine comedy
I'm so happy you've just read Machado de Assis. We usually read him during high school here in Brazil and "Brás Cubas" is my favorite because of the humor. If you ever get the chance, try his novella "The Alienist". Short and just as sweetly Machadian.
Oh and by the way, there have been quite a few translations of Korean author published here. I'm planning to read Pachinko soon. Have you read any?
OMG i used to love inkheart and never met someone else who read it. That makes me happy 🤗
I recently reread Inkheart and found that I’m still in love with it, even all these years later. Such incredible character development and world building! Definitely recommend you revisit it if you’re interested!
Two of my favorite finnish authors are Mika Waltari, who wrote a lot of historical fiction like ’The Egyptian’ and Tove Jansson, who wrote the Moomin books. A swedish favorite is Astrid Lindgren, who wrote a lot of great children’s books, my favorite’s there are The Brothers Lionheart and Ronia, the Robbers Daughter.
You should read “The Three Musketeers”! It will have you rolling with laughter.
Omg I've been watching you for almost 2 years now and I didn't know you've read Inkheart! It's one of my favourite books of all time (I like the sequels as well but I don't feel as much of a connection to them somehow). This makes me so happy because I don't think it's that known internationally
Love The Little Prince! Since we’re including manga, Full Metal Alchemist is my all time favorite, followed by Erased which was fantastic!
Since I'm Welsh, I also have to talk about the Mabinogion! If you love Tolkien stories like Beren and Luthien, the Mabinogion was a huge inspiration for his work and it's the shining beacon of Welsh literature. It's translated into english from welsh by Sioned Davies in the more recent copies which I would highly recommend.
I'm russian and I stopped reading english books in translation after I became comfortable with my level of the language :) it's just so much better to understand the language it's originally told through! but man translators are such an important people!!! I wouldn't be able to read so many books in my childhood if not for them.
as for my recommendations, the most fun russian classic I ever read is The Master and Margarita, it's so good! I reread it like 3 times and I'm sure I'll do it again more than once. It's a weird book with magic and witches and a talking cat but it's fantastic!
we have other classics that you may like, like Anna Karenina, Yevgeny Onegin or Crime and Punishment, I don't remember you talking about them but I could be wrong.
I have mixed feelings about our classics because we read them in high school and it's just TOO FREAKING EARLY TO UNDERSTAND THEM. I need to reread all of the most known ones at some point.
and I'm kinda ashamed to admit but I have no idea which modern russian books are out there...I'm such a fan of romance and all the good ones are in english :D I probably should follow my native speaking booktubers but I'm yet to find any that I relate to.
after some research I remembered that we actually have some more modern popular stuff like The Gray House by Mariam Petrosyan, I'm yet to read it but my friend swears by it!! it's a magical realism story about children, I think you could like it.
The Count of Monte Cristo is the best soap opera ever written and I loved every chapter. Truly one of the best stories ever written. Easily a top 5 book for me.
Omg thank you so much for acknowledging the work that translators do! 🖤 I studied translation in college and it is pretty much an art in itself. Especially for fiction you have to be a really great writer yourself. And it's criminally underpaid too haha
Oh my, that's high praise for Backman. Personally I haven't read Backman yet, despite me being Swedish and consequently having access to the original versions. I have now ordered some of his books. And subscribed to your channel. Keep up the good work.
I’m from Brazil, and The Little Prince is a book that people are SO OBSESSED with that I honestly could never stand it hahahah
"One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It's been many years since I read it but it was amazing.
Translated literature is kind of a trend on booktube right now, but so few booktubers actually read out the names of the translators of the translated work they're highlighting. Could we maybe try and change that?
Yeah I thought the same thing
I'm sorry, but what is "translated literature"? Is this a new genre that I don't know of?
@@nerdanalog1707 no it'n not a genre, it just means that something that was originally written in a different language than you're reading it in. Like a French book that has been translated to English and published again. Or an English book that has been translated to Japanese so non-english speaking Japanese can read it too.
@@Dhor16 Seems strange to talk about "translated literature", instead of simply saying literature.
@@nerdanalog1707 Why is it strange when I'm talking about translated books and the video is talking about translated books specifically?
I loved the Neapolitan Novels. Elena Ferrante's writing style, the social commentaries, the relationship between Lila and Lenu... It's an incredible work. Hope you read them someday.
Also, even though english is not my mother tongue, if I do a list like this, I won't include them because books written in english are as common as those written in portuguese.
Would recommend Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie too.
Nearly ten years ago, not too long after we moved to London, my parents actually got me The Little Prince when we were at a bookshop. However, mere months before, I was watching a CGI-animated show based on it on T.V. and one bit in particular really scared me. I was eight, so maybe a bit too old to be so affected by something like that, but it was enough to make me not want to read it. I was obvious enough on being determined not to when we were talking about World Book Day one year and my mum brought The Little Prince to me as a suggestion of what character to dress up as for school but I immediately took it back to where it had been, with the excuse of not wanting to leave the book lying around, I think that was what happened. But I've never told my parents the real reason and somehow, I *still* haven't read it. We've moved again twice since then and even now, though we can't bring *all* our possessions with us everywhere we go, I can look up from where I currently am, sat at my desk, and see it, placed at the top of a small pile of books on a shelf, one written by my grandma right below it.
I'm weird.
One of my favorite translated works is the Mirror Visitor Quartet (French orig)! I did not realize Inkheart was a translated work
It'd love you to read some Dutch literature, especially Humankind by Rutger Bregman. It's amazing to read if you are feeling not the best way about humanity. It's nonfiction but definitely worth the read!
I’d like to recommend some books which were originally published in German.
„Demian“: a literary fiction, coming of age novel by Herman Hesse.
„Krabat“: a dark, historical fantasy book, inspired by Slavic (Sorbian) folklore by Otfried Preußler.
I’m not very familiar with the translated versions, but both authors have a very intriguing writing styles that add a lot to the story.
Both novels are a little autobiographical and deal with some interesting themes.
I love when books really make you feel like the character does like, in being really confident and all of a sudden boom
(stormlight archive spoilers)
the humans are the voidbringers and we are all shocked to the core with everyone in the book
The posthumous thing! You did it again! 🧡👀 That was my favourite part not gonna lie 🙈
I'm from Finland so most books I read are either in English or translated to Finnish from other languages. I'm currently reading The Count of Monte-Cristo because you recommended it. :D But what I would recommend to you... I think you might like Sofi Oksanen. I really love her books. Puhdistus (Purge in English) was great, but I really loved Stalinin lehmät (Stalin's cows) and Baby Jane as well. You might like other Finnish authors too. Sinuhe by Mika Waltari is one of my all time favorites (although it took me a while to get over Nefernefernefer). Rosa Liksom is wonderful as well. I really loved Compartment number 6. And if you want to read some historical romance based in Finland, I'd recommend Kaari Utrio (if you can find any of her books in English). Oh, oh, and I highly recommend Mia Kankimäki and Things that Make One's Heart Beat Faster. It really does make your heart beat faster.
I always enjoy your videos so much. So thank you for them. And by the way, I bought The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse because you recommended it and absolutely adored it. Then I recommended it to my friend (their kid is our goddaughter) and her husband completely fell in love with it while reading it to their daughter. He said it changed him in ways no book has ever been able to and he reads a lot. :) So yeah, you're affecting families in Finland too. :)
If you haven't read "The Neverending Story" by Michael Ende (German) yet, it is SOOOO worth it. Quite different from the movie. I read the book so many times as a child. it's amazing! Michael Ende also wrote "Momo" which is also amazingly good.
Astrid Lindgren (Swedish) wrote gorgeous childrens stories, that are great for grownups too. I recommend "Ronia the Robber's Daughter" and "The Brothers Lionheart", but there are many good ones.
Just want to let you know that I started Lies of Loch Lamora and loving it! Laughing out loud from the first chapter. I didn’t know character driven fantasy was a thing but oh how I love it! So thanks lol
Ooh yes, I started reading character-driven fantasy towards the end of 2019 and it is my new favorite (sub)genre. The Lies of Locke Lamora was my favorite book of 2020. Currently reading The Stormlight Archive (I'm partway through book 4) and I would highly recommend.
@@booklanerecommendations I own the first two and plan to get to them sooner rather than later but I don’t read much adult, let alone adult fantasy so high fantasy still kind a scares me 😅 I also own the Mistborn series so I want to start there with Sanderson!
@@jaziybabe Good idea! Mistborn is a great place to start. I haven't read Warbreaker yet, but I've heard that is great as well and has some really funny parts.
Hey Merphy, as a French subscriber this video made me happy 😁
Inkheart (Tintenherz) and all of Cornelia Funkes other books were my middle school equals to Harry Potter. Some of them like Reckless have also beautiful artwork and I still remember them very fondly.