Hello! I love reading translated fiction but I feel like there is not as much translated non-fiction covered in mainstream literary press. Are there any translated non-fiction books you like? Open to any topic.
The Hidden Life of Trees, by Peter Wohlleben. Though the English translation has some annoying overly precise imperial measurements.
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– Waiting to be Arrested at Night by Tahir Hamut Izgil (memoir)
– This Mouth is Mine by Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil (about indigenous languages in Mexico)
– Aramaic: A History of the First World Language by Holger Gzella
It’s been a while since I read these:
– For Bread Alone by Mohamed Choukri
– The Country Under My Skin by Gioconda Belli
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Books by Svetlana Alexievich.
Idk if you can find them, but Five Continents by Nikolai Vavilov is amazing. He traveled the world between 1916 and 1940 to collect diverse agricultural plants and their wild counterparts for genetical studies and for creating better, more productive and less disease and climate susceptible varieties. Imagine Middle Asia, in political turmoil and border skirmishes, and this guy with a guide turns up and goes, I’m going into the territory of rebellious tribes to gather wheat and lentil, please and thank you. The insane part is that everyone cooperated and gave him passage and help. He was a giant of a scientist, with vision, energy and charisma to make it happen.
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Mariana Enriquez just had her book translated, Somebody Is Walking On Your Grave.
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How Forests Think (spanish>english) by Eduardo Kohn, it’s a bit intellectual and can be abstract but it genuinely changed my life to read.
Similarly, The Sun My Heart (vietnamese>english) by Thích Nhát Hanh and many of his other works have profoundly touched and transformed me. I also find the Vietnamese>Spanish translations I’ve explored of his works quite enjoyable.
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Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty. The translation from the French is very good and when it was published in 2017 reviewers called it “the most important economics book of the year―and maybe of the decade.”
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Extraordinary Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson
Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi
The Years by Annie Ernaux
The Hidden Life of Trees, by Peter Wohlleben. Though the English translation has some annoying overly precise imperial measurements.
– Waiting to be Arrested at Night by Tahir Hamut Izgil (memoir)
– This Mouth is Mine by Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil (about indigenous languages in Mexico)
– Aramaic: A History of the First World Language by Holger Gzella
It’s been a while since I read these:
– For Bread Alone by Mohamed Choukri
– The Country Under My Skin by Gioconda Belli
Books by Svetlana Alexievich.
Idk if you can find them, but Five Continents by Nikolai Vavilov is amazing. He traveled the world between 1916 and 1940 to collect diverse agricultural plants and their wild counterparts for genetical studies and for creating better, more productive and less disease and climate susceptible varieties. Imagine Middle Asia, in political turmoil and border skirmishes, and this guy with a guide turns up and goes, I’m going into the territory of rebellious tribes to gather wheat and lentil, please and thank you. The insane part is that everyone cooperated and gave him passage and help. He was a giant of a scientist, with vision, energy and charisma to make it happen.
Mariana Enriquez just had her book translated, Somebody Is Walking On Your Grave.
How Forests Think (spanish>english) by Eduardo Kohn, it’s a bit intellectual and can be abstract but it genuinely changed my life to read.
Similarly, The Sun My Heart (vietnamese>english) by Thích Nhát Hanh and many of his other works have profoundly touched and transformed me. I also find the Vietnamese>Spanish translations I’ve explored of his works quite enjoyable.
Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty. The translation from the French is very good and when it was published in 2017 reviewers called it “the most important economics book of the year―and maybe of the decade.”