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Best Fiction of 2012: Translations

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Cover art for CHILDREN IN REINDEER WOODS
FICTION
Released: April 17, 2012
Kirkus Star CHILDREN IN REINDEER WOODS
by Kristín Ómarsdóttir, translated by Lytton Smith
"This is the first of Icelandic author Ómarsdóttir's novels to appear in English, and it shouldn't be the last. Somewhere in the reader's mind, Catch-22 echoes faintly."
A literary allegory filled with truths and absurdities about the human condition. Read full book review >
Cover art for MY FIRST SUICIDE
FICTION
Released: May 15, 2012
Kirkus Star MY FIRST SUICIDE
by Jerzy Pilch, translated by David Frick
"It's hard to do justice to the outré and eccentric but gorgeous quality of Pilch's prose. Here he manages to pull off some neat literary tricks, frequently and self-consciously undermining the seriousness of his subjects with pricks of irony. "
A set of loosely concatenated stories that don't quite add up to a novel but are nonetheless rich in character and in the exploration of contemporary urban life in Poland. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE DREAM OF THE CELT
FICTION
Released: June 12, 2012
Kirkus Star THE DREAM OF THE CELT
translated by Edith Grossman, by Mario Vargas Llosa
"A dazzling novel of great intensity and power. "
The Celt in question is Sir Roger Casement, who advocated on behalf of oppressed natives of the Congo and of Amazonia, but when he turns his attention to the Irish Troubles in 1916, the British feel he's gone too far, so he's caught, tried and executed. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE INVESTIGATION
FICTION
Released: July 10, 2012
Kirkus Star THE INVESTIGATION
by Philippe Claudel, translated by John Cullen
"A technocratic Kafka nightmare--heavy on surreal diagnosis of the world's ills, light on the traditional rewards of storytelling--crossed with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and a hint of Buster Keaton."
A spare, dystopian fable that examines how closely contemporary life has caught up to Kafka since the publication of The Castle. Read full book review >
Cover art for THREE STRONG WOMEN
FICTION
Released: Aug. 7, 2012
Kirkus Star THREE STRONG WOMEN
by Mary NDiaye, translated by John Fletcher
"Unrelenting in its anger, pain and sorrow, but hard to put down."
The three women personifying the complicated relationship between France and Senegal in French-born NDiaye's tripartite novel, winner of France's Prix Concourt in 2009, need all the strength they can muster as they struggle to survive. Read full book review >
Cover art for WE'RE FLYING
FICTION
Released: Aug. 14, 2012
Kirkus Star WE'RE FLYING
by Peter Stamm, translated by Michael Hofmann
"For those who have an affinity for metaphysical fiction written with a surgeon's precision, this collection will spur readers to seek out everything else by its author."
Beneath the surface placidity of Swiss life, undercurrents of spiritual turmoil and existential despair charge this powerful collection of provocative stories. Read full book review >