Q. Can you recommend some fiction books that were originally written in a language other than English?
In the early 2000s, translated A. books like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Elegance of the Hedgehog topped the United States bestseller charts. However, many translated books go unnoticed and never find their American audience. According to Rochester University, “Only about 3% of all books published in the United States are works in translation... An even greater shame is that only a fraction of the titles that do make their way into English are covered by the mainstream media.” This is unfortunate because books interpreted from foreign languages can provide us with voices and stories of people that can change the way we look at the world.
If you’re new to reading translated fiction, try out Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. It is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither with her family nor in school, but when she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, she begins to understand the rules of social interaction and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a “normal” person. Keiko is very happy. But the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action.
