Seven Transportive Books in Translation to Read in 2022
Find literary inspiration, or simply take off on an armchair adventure, with our pick of the most engrossing books in translation set to hit bookshelves this year.
19 April, 2022
Looking
for a little inspiration to kick-start your 2022
travels? There’s no better way to plan an odyssey than by picking
up a lyrical novel and diving into its pages to explore literary
landscapes ripe for discovery, both in fiction and IRL (although
we’d recommend flicking through your latest issue of SUITCASE Magazine, too, of course).
A good book can transport you across countries and continents,
with one in translation offering a glimpse into the soul of distant
destinations. With that in mind, we’ve perused the shelves of our
favourite independent bookshops to bring you a list of
the translated tales you’re going to want to read this year.
Whether you have your sights set on visiting Cuba’s sun-soaked
shores or Catalan’s highest peaks, you’ll find a book to suit on
our list.
Books to get lost in: seven titles in translation to read this
year
The Tribe
By Carlos Manuel Álvarez
A collection of essays from one of the few Cuban journalists
permitted to freely travel to and from Cuba, The Tribe utilises a unique Latin American
writing form – the crónica – to offer a dynamic blend of reportage,
narrative non-fiction and novel in one. This is one of those books
you’ll read in a single sitting. Conveying readers to the turbulent
landscapes of Cuba’s recent political past, it offers a refreshing
assessment of the country outside of typical historic tropes,
giving voice to ordinary Cubans, from artists and nurses to
underground musicians and dissident poets. A must-read if you’re
heading out to Havana this year.
Scattered All Over the Earth
By Yoko Tawada
Set in the near future, when Japan has vanished below rising sea levels, the rest
of the world ravaged by climate change, Scattered All Over the
Earth follows a survivor, Hiruko, stranded in Denmark. Spending her
days developing a new hybrid language, Hiruko begins to seek out
other Japanese immigrants displaced from their homeland, embarking
on surreal European adventures with them. Translated from Japanese
by Margaret Mitsutani, this is a tale wrapped around thoughts on
travel and language. We loved how Tawada asks us to consider what
“home” means – and how the words we speak relate to who we are.
When I Sing, Mountains Dance
By Irene Solà
Translated from the original Catalan by Mara Faye Lethem, this
lyrical fable (Solà’s second novel) follows the life of a young
girl in the Pyrenees after her father is killed by lightning, and
her sibling, Hilari, perishes. With a narrative shared by animals,
ghosts, humans, mountains and sometimes even clouds, it’s a playful
tale sown with a heartfelt love for Catalonia’s mountainous
terrain. At times funny, sad and touching, the novel transports you
into the topography and soul of the Catalan landscape.
The Blind Owl
By Sadegh Hedayat
In the mood for a magnum opus? Get your hands on this new
translation by Sassan Tabatabi. Originally published in Persian,
The Blind Owl tells the story of an unnamed, offbeat painter
struggling with feverish nightmares and macabre thoughts. The
unanchored narrator offers a string of dreamlike, alcohol-fuelled
recollections before, in part two, we’re offered a glimpse of the
logic behind his ramblings. Written during Iran’s oppressive rule
of Reza Shah, the dark recesses of the novel were a challenge to
the narrative of progress in the country at the time.
The Anomaly
By Hervé Le Tellier
A fan of thrillers? The Anomaly should go straight to the top of
your summer reading list. Brace yourself before you dive in: the
French bestseller is a hell-raising ride. Hervé Le Tellier’s
mind-bending, whip-smart prose (translated by Adriana Hunter)
blends crime, fantasy and sci-fi as it unravels a mystery
surrounding the logic-defying flight path of a Paris-New York plane
and its passengers, who, upon landing, discover they have
doppelgangers. Expect the unexpected when you read this book –
there are song lyrics, interview transcripts and strange formatting
quirks aplenty, which all add to the frantic appeal of this
fast-paced, madcap romp.
The Last One
By Fatima Daas
First published in France in 2020, this poetic novel explores
the conflicting identities at play in the narrator’s life as a gay
Muslim woman from an immigrant background. Lyrically translated by
Lara Vergnaud, the autobiographical debut by Daas (a pseudonym)
traces the writer’s steps as she tries to forge a place in her
world – the Parisian suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois.
