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What are some of the best translated fiction books you've read?
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this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2023
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Fiction Books
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The Lunar Trilogy by Jerzy Zulawski. And it's a terrible translation (as far as I can tell without being able to read the original Polish). It's very rough, sloppy english, and filled with trivial errors. However, the original story still shines through, and it seems like the translator mostly stuck with the original phrasing, resulting in awkward english, but an interesting view of the original. So... fine. (It's the basis for my favorite movie, and it was a long wait to get any translation at all.)
I've read the Vietnamese classic Tale of Kieu in two translations, one trying to stick to the original language closer than the other, and it's an interesting comparison.
Other favorites:
The Obscene Bird of Night, The Baron in The Trees, Collected stories of Bruno Schulz, Collected stories of Daniil Kharms
The Baron in the Trees is so good! (I disagree with the title translation to English, because the Italian title is less precise and can be interpreted as “the out of control baron” too)