The Seasonal Reading Challenge discussion

I am having trouble finding books that were once in a different language than my own. How do I know if they were or not? Can someone please help!

Sarah, I'm sorry I can't help you, but I'm also looking for a spot of help with this one!

I have one book that is translated from French The Elegance of the Hedgehog that I want to read, and also one translated from Swedish The Girl Who Played with Fire .... how do I find or could anyone recommend others translated from these two languages?

Usually on the copyright page it will say "translated from the origianal [language:] by...."

Once you pay attention to that, it's amazing to realize how many books were not originally written in English.

Suzie, I read Mind's Eyenot too long ago and really enjoyed it. It's a good murder mystery and originally was published in Swedish.

Google - books originally in

I did French and found this wiki site:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Categor...

Among that list was:
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Around the World in Eighty Days
The Count of Monte Cristo
Les Misérables
The Three Musketeers
The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Oh fab Tanja! Thanks for that! And thanks Natalie too, I'll have a look at that one :)

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Suite Française
I believe were both originally written in French.

Thanks Krista. I think you're right, they were both in French originally. I've read them both though, and prefer not to re-read unless it's a really great book! Thanks for the suggestions though!

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink was originally written in German, by a Swiss author.

Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda is a lovely story originally written in French.

Chez Moi by Agnes Desarthe was also, naturally, written in French originally.

The only other book I can think of is an obscure children's book Anna at Bloom Farm which was translated from Swedish in the 1970s. I think there must be all of 3 copies in the world as no one has ever heard of it.

Currently looking for another German book to read alongside The Reader. Unfortunately, the only German books I own right now are actually in German, and I don't know if that would count. It would integrate more Uni books into my challenge though :)

SuzieR wrote: "Sarah, I'm sorry I can't help you, but I'm also looking for a spot of help with this one!

I have one book that is translated from French The Elegance of the Hedgehog that I want to ..."

For Swedish, I suggest Hanna's Daughters by Marianne Fredriksson.

if you're reading the girl with the dragon tattoo, you can also read the girl who played with fire. or if you're like me, and already read tattoo, you can read the girl who played with fire, and the third book, the girl who kicked the hornets' nest, comes out in october.

Thanks so much everyone!

Natalie, I am so upset. I just went through a pile of 9 books that I've been wanting to read and not a one of them say it was published in a different language.

I typed in books originally in Spanish and found nothing. I feel like screaming!

SARAH -> The Shadow of the Wind was originally written in Spanish. And The Angel's Game is Shadow's prequel.

Not much under - http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Categor...

Sarah, Paulo Coelho's books are translated from Spanish, as is Jose Saramago.

Jennifer - thank you :) I've fitted The Girl Who Played with Fire in for another task, and will go with French for this task! Thanks for all the suggestions!

I think Paulo Coelho and Jose Saramago both write in Portuguese actually. Some authors who do write in Spanish are:

Laura Esquivel-Like Water for Chocolate
Gabriel Garcia Marquez-Love in the Time of Cholera
Julia Alavarez-In the Time of the Butterflies
Isabel Allende-The House of the Spirits

Oh yes! Sorry, it is Portuguese! Whoops!

You could also check out some Russian authors.

Leo Tolstoy
Vladimir Nabokov
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Boris Pasternak

Authors who wrote their books in German:
Franz Kafka
Michael Ende

Authors who wrote their books in Italian:
Umberto Eco
Italo Calvino

Authors who wrote their books in Japanese:
Natsume Soseki
Yukio Mishima
Haruki Murakami

Authors who wrote their books in Polish:
Andrzej Sapkowski
Stanisław Lem

Author who wrote their books in Arabic:
Naguib Mahfouz

Rachel wrote: "The Reader by Bernhard Schlink was originally written in German, by a Swiss author.

Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda is a lovely story originally written in Fren..."

I would add Hermann Hesse to Grayweather's German list. I've read his Steppenwolf, The Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi) A Novel, and The Journey to the East, which were all wonderful. I plan on reading three more of his for this challenge (two for the study abroad task, and one for the Oktoberfest task)!

You could also try FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, who probably wrote in German.

I'm going to read Inkheart and Inkspell by Cornelia Funke, which were both originally written in German.

Stumbled upon this useful wiki page:

Lists_of_writers_by_language

The Neverending Story I believe was first written in german but I'm not positive. Koji Suzuki's books have been translated from Japanese to English.

Liz wrote: "Stumbled upon this useful wiki page:

Lists_of_writers_by_language
"

Hey Liz -- cool too. Thanks for sharing!!

SuzieR wrote: "Sarah, I'm sorry I can't help you, but I'm also looking for a spot of help with this one!

I have one book that is translated from French The Elegance of the Hedgehog that I want to ..."

Suzie, are you still looking for Swedish authors? I stumbled across one today.

Henning Mankell has written the Kurt Wallander series. I haven't read any of his books, but I was looking at Firewall at the library bookstore today and it looked pretty good for a mystery series.

Thanks Krista! I've fitted the Swedish book in for another task now, but I will check that one out anyway!

Khalil Gibran also wrote his books originally in Arabic.

Rachel wrote: "The Reader by Bernhard Schlink was originally written in German, by a Swiss author.

Currently looking for another German book to read alongside The Reader."

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. I think anything by Remarque was written in German, including A Time to Live and a Time to Die which the movie version changed to 'A Time to Love and a Time to Die'

Sarah wrote: "I typed in books originally in Spanish and found nothing. I feel like screaming!"

It's a big one but wasn't Don Quixote originally written in espanol?

Angie wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I typed in books originally in Spanish and found nothing. I feel like screaming!"

It's a big one but wasn't Don Quixote originally written in espanol?"

Yep. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quixote

Anyone know any books that were originally written in Italian, other than the ones listed already? Thanks.

Sarah wrote: "Anyone know any books that were originally written in Italian, other than the ones listed already? Thanks."

Here are some other authors to check out (besides the aforementioned Umberto Eco and Italo Calvino).
Giovanni Boccaccio
Dante Alighieri
Italo Svevo
Guiseppe di Lampedusa
Natalia Ginzburg

Books originally written in Italian:

A Ghost at Noon
As a Man Grows Older
Bebo's Girl
Christ Stopped at Eboli
Declares Pereira
Disobedience
Foucault's Pendulum
If Not Now, When?
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
If this is a Man
In Sicily
Invisible Cities
One, None and a Hundred Thousand
Silk
The Betrothed
The Castle of Crossed Destinies
The Drowned and the Saved
The Garden Of The Finzi-Continis
The Harvesters
The House by the Medlar Tree
The Leopard
The Life of Christ
The Moon and the Bonfire
The Name of the Rose
The Path to the Nest of Spiders
The Ragazzi
The Tartar Steppe
The Tiger of Momopracem
The Time of Indifference
The Viceroys
To Each His Own
Troubling Love
Zeno's Conscience
The Child of Pleasure

any mysteries or YA wrote in another language and translated to English

Teresa, Mimus is a ya, and I'm pretty sure it's translated from German. I loved it, though it's a bit dark.

Also there are tons of wonderful Russian classics like Crime and Punishment and Anna Karenina.

Teresa wrote: "any mysteries or YA wrote in another language and translated to English "

For YA, you could check out The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. Or his lesser known title, Momo, which I loved.

Joanie wrote: "I think Paulo Coelho and Jose Saramago both write in Portuguese actually. Some authors who do write in Spanish are:

Laura Esquivel-Like Water for Chocolate
Gabriel Garcia Marquez-[boo..."

Julia Alvarez doesn't write in Spanish. Her books are all written in English and the Spanish versions are translations. :(

Teresa wrote: "any mysteries or YA wrote in another language and translated to English "

Inkheart, Inkspell, Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke

Sarah wrote: "Anyone know any books that were originally written in Italian, other than the ones listed already? Thanks."

Both of these are by Niccolo Ammaniti, originally written in Italian:
I'm Not Scared -This is a new addition on the 1001 book list and I liked it a lot.
I'll Steal You Away - I own this as well, but haven't had a chance to read it yet.

I also loved If On a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino.

Also, I thought I'd mention John Ajvide Lindqvist, whose books have been translated from Swedish.

I loved Let the Right One In and have added Handling the Undead to my TBR.

I second Cait - I LOVED Let the Right One In and would definitely recommend it!

If anyone is still looking for books originally written in Spanish here's another author for you:
Arturo Pérez-Reverte

Some of his books are:
The Flanders Panel
The Club Dumas
The Fencing Master

I have The Flanders Panel on my bookshelf and have been meaning to read it. So I guess it's Spanish for this task for me. :-)

My face to face book club selected The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for this month and after reading the description I wasn't entirely sure it would be my thing but DANG!!!

I started it on Monday evening and I never want to put it down. When real life gets in the way and I must, it makes me annnnngry and I can't stop thinking about it. I'd been planning on reading something else originally written in Swedish but I just added my name to the library waiting list for The Girl Who Played with Fire to round out this task. I hope the queue moves quickly.

This book has definitely exceeded my expectations and since a lot of others seem to be using that book for this task as well I'll be curious to see what everyone else's response is after reading it.

ooh, Perez-Reverte writes the Captain Altatriste books - think the 3 Musketeers, but a little darker and dirtier, great fun.

Those of you looking for French authors should try Have Mercy on Us All A Novel by Fred Vargas. My daughter the French minor read several of her novels in a modern French literature class. They are great detective mysteries. The plots tend to be involved, and the translations aren't always helpful, but the characters are fascinating.

Teresa wrote: "any mysteries or YA wrote in another language and translated to English "

Pippi Longstocking - YA translated from Swedish.

Another good French book is The Lover or L'amant by Marguerite Duras.

Beth(MN) wrote: "My face to face book club selected The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for this month and after reading the description I wasn't entirely sure it would be my thing but DANG!!!

I started it on Monday evening and I never want to put it down. When real life gets in the way and I must, it makes me annnnngry and I can't stop thinking about it. I'd been planning on reading something else originally written in Swedish but I just added my name to the library waiting list for The Girl Who Played with Fire to round out this task. I hope the queue moves quickly.
..."

Can we use to books by the same author for this task?

Didn't see any notations that we couldn't use the same author. I had planned to.

Tanja wrote: "Didn't see any notations that we couldn't use the same author. I had planned to."

Yeah, that's the assumption I'm operating under as well. Plus, if you take a look at the "fall challenge 2009 plans" thread, Cynthia posted her own list in message 6 and she's also slotted both Stieg Larsson books for that challenge.

So if she's planning on using them both herself, I'd say it's definitely ok. :)