... and, alas, another checklist of untranslated (into English) crime fiction
Krimi-Couch offers a list of crime fiction to be released in German this month. Among the new releases is Mensch ohne Hund, a translation of Håkan Nesser's Människa utan hund. That will bring to something over fifteen the number of this Swedish crime writer's books available in German. This compares with the two available in English.==============================
Another question for readers: What crime authors would you like to see more of in English? Why?
© Peter Rozovsky 2007
Technorati tags:
international crime fiction
Hakan Nesser
Labels: crime fiction in translation, Hakan Nesser, International crime fiction
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 12:16 AM
6 Comments:
Considering the huge market for crime fiction in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia I think that all the major authors in Europe should be translated into English.
I have not read Hakan Nesser yet but the 15 to 2 ratio does seem a little unfair to English speakers.
The ratio is certainly high. Nesser himself has acknowledged the importance of German translation as a gateway to the larger European crime-fiction market, so that might account for the greater number of translations into German than into English of his work. But good God, more of his work is available in Italian than in English, too.
The situation is not unique to Swedish writers or to Nesser, of course. I posted a while back about a new series of Latin American crime-fiction translations -- into French. The novels have yet to be translated into English. One hears complaints from time to time about the scarcity of translated crime fiction in English, but examples such as these still surprise me.
Did I get it right that Arne Dahl has not been translated into English ? Seems a pity. Scandinavian Crime Literature is not my primary interest, but Dahl is really good.
The only Arbe Dahl available in English is one of his short stories, according to this site: http://arnedahl.net/english/index.php?visa=13&meny=13
I did a quick search and found translations into German, Danish and Italian, but none into English. That's another writer to add to my list.
I've enjoyed all the Kenzo Kitakata books that have slowly dribbled across the Pacific. More would be nice.
Also, I'd like to read more Seicho Matsumoto novels. I think Vertical's got one on their upcoming schedule.
-Eric
Thanks for the note, Eric. I had not heard of Kenzo Kitakata or Vertical. I will investigate both.
I'm pleased about the prospect of more Seicho Matsumoto in English. I very much enjoyed Inspector Imanishi Investigates and Points and Lines.
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