Jenny’s translated literature recommendations
August was Women in Translation Month, and I personally was able to spend time exploring literature originally written in languages other than English in a way that I never had before. Here are some of the new discoveries I made this month, as well as some of my long-time translated literature favourites.
Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert
Most famous in the English-speaking world for Madame Bovary, Sentimental Education is one of those novels that is a classic for a reason. Flaubert is one of France’s most well-known writers, and he is famous for his lyrical and descriptive prose style. Sentimental Education does not disappoint on this front. The story follows a young Frédéric Moreau as he navigates his way through life in Paris at the time of the 1848 Revolutions, and he is an endearing character, despite the flaws which Flaubert highlights. This book is incredibly detailed – Flaubert famously took years to write his novels, and the thought he has put into every line is evident. It is a book which will stay with you for months or years after you have read it, and it was my favourite book I read in 2019.
Artemisia by Anna Banti
Coming in a close second in 2019 was Artemisia by Anna Banti. Written in Italian in 1947, this book is part autobiography, part historical fiction. It is based on the real life of Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi (of whose work an exhibition had been planned at the National Gallery for April 2020), and follows her process of creating some of her most famous works of art, building up a story of female empowerment and finding purpose through artistic creation. Intertwined with Artemisia’s story is that of the author herself, who lives in Florence 400 years later, and who uses her fictionalised version of Artemisia to find her own strength through adversity. This novel is a modern Italian classic and though the writing style can be difficult to follow at first, once you get into it, the story of these two women living centuries apart becomes one you will not forget.
Childhood and Youth by Tove Ditlevsen
Although both written in 1967, these two books (as well as the third in the trilogy, Dependency, which I’ve yet to read!) have been plunged into the spotlight recently thanks to a new translation published in 2019. Originally written in Danish, they make up two thirds of the Copenhagen Trilogy which chronicles the author’s life growing up in a working-class area of Copenhagen. Ditlevsen was a poet, and you can tell in her writing style – she combines her worldview as a child with the insights that have come with adulthood, meaning that the reader is given a unique perspective on Ditlevsen’s life. These novels are lyrical and thought-provoking – I enjoyed Youth even more than Childhood, and so I’m looking forward to reading Dependency and completing the trilogy soon!
Crimson by Niviaq Korneliussen
This is another novel I discovered during Women in Translation Month and is the only one I’ve ever read – or even come across – that was translated from Greenlandic! This book was incredibly fast paced, following the lives of five young Greenlanders coming of age in the capital city, Nuuk. Each character has a chapter devoted to them, and all their lives eventually intertwine. I read this in one sitting and found it contemporary, striking and unputdownable.