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Welcome to our 2024 Classics in Translation Challenge!
The rules are simple:
1. The book needs to be a classic, which means that the book needs to have been published for the first time before 1974.
Specific genres have different time frames, which can be found in our Fundamentals thread.
Please state the original language the book was written in when adding it to your challenge.
Some books have been translated and then retranslated, so please state the original language.
There are four levels:

Relaxed Reader:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Expanding Horizons:
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Advancing in the Journey:
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Dedicated Explorer:
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

Happy reading!

Classics in Translation Challenge 2024

Relaxed Reader:
1. Night Flight by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (French)
2. The Tunnel by Ernesto Sabato (Spanish)
3. Letters of Two Brides by Honoré de Balzac (French)
3a. Study of a Woman by Honoré de Balzac (French) SHORT STORY
4. Heartbreak Tango by Manuel Puig (Spanish)
5. The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov (Russian)
5a. Gooseberries- Anton Chekhov (Russian) SHORT STORY
5b. The Lady with the Little Dog - Anton Chekhov (Russian) SHORT STORY

Expanding Horizons:
6. The Shot - Alexander Pushkin (Russian) SHORT STORY
7. Gigi and Julie de Carneilhan - Colette (French)
8. The Scent of India - Pier Paolo Pasolini (Italian)
9. The Coffee House of Surat - Leo Tolstoy (Russian) SHORT STORY
10. The Half-Finished Heaven - Tomas Tranströmer (Swedish) POETRY

Advancing in the Journey:
11. The Ambitious Ones - Elsa Morante (Italian) SHORT STORY
from The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories
12. No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Spanish)
13. The Late Monsieur Gallet - Georges Simenon (French)
14. The Words: The Autobiography of Jean-Paul Sartre - Jean-Paul Sartre (French)
15. Pippi Longstocking - Astrid Lindgren (Swedish)

Dedicated Explorer:
16. Oedipus at Colonus - Sophocles (Greek)
17. "Looking for Some Dignity" by Clarice Lispector (Portuguese) SHORT STORY
17a. Near to the Wild Heart - Clarice Lispector (Portuguese)
18. "The Tree" by María Luisa Bombal (Spanish) SHORT STORY
19. Around the World in Eighty Days - Jules Verne (French)
20. The Travels of Babar - Jean de Brunhoff (French) CHILDRENS

More books and/or short stories
21. Our Lady of the Pillar - Eça de Queirós (Portuguese)
22. The Sky Above the Roof: Fifty-Six Poems by Paul Verlaine (French)
23. The Laughing Policeman - Maj Sjöwall (Swedish)
24. Lies and Sorcery - Elsa Morante (Italian)
25. The Dry Heart - Natalia Ginzburg (Italian)
26. After the Divorce - Grazia Deledda (Italian)

I’m in for another year!
Finished: 5/5

Relaxed Reader:
1. The Tunnel by Ernesto Sabato (Spanish)
2. Heartbreak Tango A Serial by Manuel Puig (Spanish)
3. Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge Amado (Portuguese)
4. Termush by Sven Holm (Danish)
5. An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie (French) This book was published in 1981 but is non-fiction set in the mid 1960s.

I'm in! This challenge is fun.

Expanding Horizons:
1. Swann's Way (French)
2. The Post-Office Girl (German)
3. The Crime of Father Amaro (Portuguese)
4. Pot Luck (French)
5. The Vagabond (French)
6. All Our Yesterdays (Italian)
7. Effi Briest (German)
8. Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Mandarin Chinese)
9. Memed, My Hawk (Turkish)
10. Portraits of a Marriage (Hungarian)
11. Fräulein Else (German)
12. Death and the Dervish (Serbian)
13. Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair (Spanish)
14. The Mirror of Beauty (Urdu)
15. Narcissus and Goldmund (German)

I am in too! Starting off with the Relaxed Reader.

Relaxed Reader:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

I guess I'm in!

Relaxed Reader:
1. Swann's Way (French)
2.
3.
4.
5.

I target to read 10 translated classics.

2/10

1.Prometheus Bound (Greek) 5 stars
2.Forbidden Notebook (Italian) 5 stars
3.An Accidental Family(Russian)
4.The Makioka Sisters (Japanese)
5.The Song of the Cid (Penguin Classics) A Dual-Language Edition with Parallel Text(Spanish)
6. Paradiso (Italian)
7.
8.
9.
10.

I’d like to try this.

Relaxed Reader:
1. Queen Margot, Alexandre Dumas, French
2. Flight To Arras, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French
3.
4.
5.

I'm in again this year!

Relaxed Reader:
1. Night of the Milky Way Railway by Kenji Miyazawa, translator Shelley Marshall, Japanese to English
2. Childhood by Tove Ditlevsen, translator Tiina Nunnally, Danish to English
3.
4.
5.

I plan to finish a Danish trilogy this coming year. Is that "cheating" on this challenge to count each book separately? Or should that just be one #?

Relaxed Reader

1. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (French)
2. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (German)
3. Sodom and Gomorrah by Marcel Proust (French)
4. The Captive by Marcel Proust (French)
5. The World of Yesterday: Memoirs of a European by Stefan Zweig (German)

I'm also in again this year.

Michelle wrote: "I'm in again this year!

Relaxed Reader:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

I plan to finish a Danish trilogy this coming year. Is that "cheating" on this challenge to count each book separately? Or should that just ..."

Is it Ditlevsen's Copenhagen Trilogy? That's on my TBR list.
If they are also available as separate books, why not?

Is it Ditlevsen's Copenhagen Trilogy? That's on my TBR list.
If they are also available as separate books, why not?

Yes, it is! I have it as 3 separate books.

I've had it on my list for a while. I read a collection of her short stories this year and the writing, while very tragic, was so engaging.

Michelle wrote: "Is it Ditlevsen's Copenhagen Trilogy? That's on my TBR list.
If they are also available as separate books, why not?

Yes, it is! I have it as 3 separate books.

I've had it on my list for a while...."

I've heard the trilogy is good. But yea, I'll need to be in the right mood to bear the dark themes. I'll look forward to your thoughts on it and I'm glad to hear your testimonial on some of her other work as well.

I’m in, though I won’t quantify.

I’ll have to be a ‘Dedicated Explorer�� this year.
I belong to a children’s literature book group and many of the books chosen are translated classics so I will make up the rest with some heftier classics, otherwise it will feel like cheating!

I love children's classics!

I'll start with Relaxed Reader:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Classics in Translation 2024

Relaxed Reader
1. The Thaw by Ilya Ehrenburg Russian
2. The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis Greek
3. The Zelmenyaners: A Family Saga by Moyshe Kulbak Yiddish
4. Life for Sale by Yukio Mishima Japanese
5. The Double Death of Quincas Water-Bray by Jorge Amado Portuguese

Expanding Horizons
6. On the Nature of the Universe by Lucretius Latin
7. Peig: The Autobiography of Peig Sayers of the Great Blasket Island Irish
8. The March of Man and Letters of Maxim Gorky by Maxim Gorky Russian
9. Phaedrus by Plato Greek
10. The Pot of Gold and Other Plays by Plautus Latin

Advancing in the Journey
11. Bosnian Chronicle by Ivo Andrić Serbo-Croat
12. Plutarch’s Lives by Plutarch Greek
13. The Girl From The Marsh Croft by Selma Lagerlöf Swedish
14. The City of God by Augustine of Hippo Latin

I’ll see how far I get

Relaxed Reader:
1. His Excellency Eugène Rougon - French 2/24
2. Fathers and Sons - Russian 2/24
3. The Underdogs - Spanish 2/24
4. The Black Tulip - French 3/24
5. The Honjin Murders - Japanese 3/24

Expanding Horizons:
6. Pedro Páramo - Spanish 3/24
7. The Lost Steps - Spanish 4/24
8. Maigret and the Old People - French 4/24
9. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis - Italian 4/24
10. The Hour of the Star - Portuguese 7/24

Advancing in the Journey:
11. The Death of Artemio Cruz - Spanish 7/24
12. The Double Death of Quincas Water-Bray - Portuguese 7/24
13. Season of Migration to the North - Arabic 8/24
14. Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon - Portuguese 9/24
15. Enemies: A Love Story - Yiddish 10/24

Dedicated Explorer:
16. Lies and Sorcery - Italian 10/24
17. The Dry Heart - Italian 11/24
18. Hedda Gabler - Danish 11/24
19. The Death of Ivan Ilych - Russian 11/24
20. Family Lexicon - Italian 12/24

I'll try for Relaxed Reader.

1. The Writings-Kethubim: A New Translation of the Holy Scriptures According to the Traditional Hebrew Text translated from Hebrew
2. Silence by Shūsaku Endō translated from Japanese
3. NIV, New Testament translated from Koine Greek
4. Around the World in Eighty Days translated from French
5. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea translated from French

(I suppose, in my case, books written in English could be on the list, if I have read them in Spanish, but I will only add classics in languages ​​other than English or Spanish, unless there is an English version of the Spanish classic.)

***Edit after Rosemarie's explantation***

Rosemarie wrote: "Any book that's been translated from one language to another counts, Montse.
Examples-Spanish to English, English to Spanish, Russian to German, etc."

Relaxed Reader:

1. Odisea , Odyssey, by Homer - Translated from English by Miguel García Temprano from the English version by Samuel Butler - (Ancient) Greek

2. Por qué me comí a padre, The Evolution Man, by Roy Lewis. Translated to Spanish by Raquel Marques - English

3. Canta la hierba, The Grass is singing, by Doris Lessing. Translated to Spanish by Pilar Giralt Gorina - English

4. 84, Charing Cross Road, by Helene Henff. Translated to Spanish by Javier Calzada - English

5. Crimen y castigo Crime and Punisment by Fyodor Dostoevsky Translated to Spanish by Rafael Cansinos Assens - Russian

Expanding Horizons:

6. Ancho mar de los Sargazos Wide Sea of Sargassos, by Jean Rhys Translated to Spanish by Andrés Bosch - English

7.

8.

9.

10.

Any book that's been translated from one language to another counts, Montse.
Examples-Spanish to English, English to Spanish, Russian to German, etc.

great, Rosemarie. Thank you very much

I’m making my way through this challenge and it’s making me think about something that I don’t normally think about when I pick up something to read. When I look at the list of translated classics I’ve read, I see very clearly (as the language the book has been translated from is included in every entry I make) that it is not a very diverse list. I now find myself wanting to intentionally diversify this list. I don’t see that as anything but a good idea. Luckily there are plenty of threads in the group to help me alleviate this problem.

Relaxed reader
1 Arabic to French Le Palais du Désir. Naguib Mahfouz (1957)
2 Spanish to French Le Tunnel. Ernesto Sabato (1948)
3 Spanish to French Le plus beau Tango du Monde. Manuel Puig (1969)
4 Spanish to French La Marelle. Julio Cortazar (1963)
5 German to French Les Histoires de Jacob. Thomas Mann (1933)

Still working on the second level.

Great progress so far, everyone!

I’m almost halfway through my year goal so I feel good about it. I’m going to get there!

I read a lot of Japanese literature, so for the purposes of expanding my horizons, I won't include them in my tally. But I will list them below in case anyone is looking for ideas.

Relaxed Reader
1. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (Russia)
2. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Russia)
3. A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary by Anonymous (Germany)
4. Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter Simone de Beauvoir (France)
5. I Explain a Few Things: Selected Poems by Pablo Neruda (Chile)

Expanding Horizons
6. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (?Ukraine - Russian, ex-USSR)
7. Bonjour tristesse by Françoise Sagan (France)


Japanese Books:
1. Territory of Light by Yūko Tsushima
2. The Book of Tea by Kakuzō Okakura
3. Ugetsu Monogatari: Tales of Moonlight and Rain by Ueda Akinari
4. Clouds above the Hill: A Historical N[author:Kenji Miyazawaovel of the Russo-Japanese War, Volume 1|15858454] by Ryōtarō Shiba (series of 4)
5. In Praise of Shadows by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki
6. Night on the Galactic Railroad (pocket Japan Museum of Literature) (1995) ISBN: 4062617021 Japanese Import by Kenji Miyazawa
7. The Old Capital by Yasunari Kawabata
8. The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
9. The Setting Sun by Osamu Dazai
10. The Spring of My Life and Selected Haiku by Kobayashi Issa
11. When I Whistle: A Novel by Shūsaku Endō

Thanks, Laurel.

Thanks very much, Laurel.

Expanding Horizons:
6 German to French. Le Jeune Joseph. Thomas Mann (1933)
7 Arabic to French. Le Jardin du passé. Naguib Mahfouz (1957)
8 Portuguese to English. Near the Wild heart. Clarice Lispector (1943)
9 Italian to French. Mensonge et Sortilège Elsa Morante (1948)
10 Greek to French. L'Odyssée. Homère (701)

Now working on Level 3.

Just realized I got my first 5 (translated to English):

1. Claudine at School by Colette Gauthier-Villars (French)
2. The Letters of Vincent van Gogh (primarily Dutch)
3. A Crown of Feathers by Isaac Bashevis Singer (Yiddish)
4. Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata (Japanese)
5. Lies and Sorcery by Elsa Morante (Italian)

Laurel wrote: "I read a lot of Japanese literature, so for the purposes of expanding my horizons, I won't include them in my tally. But I will list them below in case anyone is looking for ideas.

Relaxed Reader..."

Hi Lorraine,

Very recently I began to look for Japanese authors, without a clue as to where to begin. Translations of famous books weren't easily accessible, but I did find a great deal of Yukio Mishima, and a few others of the post-war generation. Then I got hold Japanese crime writing, which is more readily available with very modern translations.

Your list is of immense help to a newbie who is absolutely ignorant of all things Japanese. Why this urge? No idea! Thanks for a great list that will help me get started!

Relaxed Reader:
1. Night of the Milky Way Railway by Kenji Miyazawa, translator Shelley Marshall; Japanese to English
2. Childhood by Tove Ditlevsen, translator Tiina Nunnally; Danish to English
3. Norse Fairy and Folk Tales compiled by James Shepherd from the works of G. W. Dasent, John Tibbits and Katharine Pyle; Various Norse/North Germanic languages to English
4. Poems & Fragments: New Expanded Edition by Sappho, translated by Josephine Balmer; Greek to English
5.

Almost to 5!

You can do it, Michelle!

Update:

Finished
Relaxed Reader:
1. Night of the Milky Way Railway by Kenji Miyazawa, translator Shelley Marshall; Japanese to English
2. Childhood by Tove Ditlevsen, translator Tiina Nunnally; Danish to English
3. Norse Fairy and Folk Tales compiled by James Shepherd from the works of G. W. Dasent, John Tibbits and Katharine Pyle; Various Norse/North Germanic languages to English
4. Poems & Fragments: New Expanded Edition by Sappho, translated by Josephine Balmer; Greek to English
5. Youth by Tove Ditlevsen, translator Tiina Nunnally; Danish to English

I finished Relaxed Reader. Updated in message 10.

Michelle wrote: "Update:

Finished
Relaxed Reader:
1. Night of the Milky Way Railway by Kenji Miyazawa, translator Shelley Marshall; Japanese to English
2. Childhood by Tove Ditlevsen, translator Tiina Nunnally; Da..."

These are all appealing. Did you like them all?

Relaxed Reader:
E. Zola (French) - Une page d'amour
Gaston Leroux (French) Le Fauteuil hanté
E. Zola  (French) Lourdes
E. Zola (French) Paris
Gaston Leroux (French) The Phantom of the Opera

Expanding Horizons:
J. Kessel (French) L'Armée des ombres
J. Kessel (French) La Steppe rouge
N. Ginzburg (Italian) Valentino
Grazia Deledda (Italian) Elias Portolu
Plato (dialogue) (Greek) Crito

Advancing in the Journey:
Aeschylus (Greek) Prometheus Bound and Other Plays
T. Mann  (German) The Magic Mountain
A. Solzhenitsyn  (Russian) Cancer Ward

Great progress, everyone!

Jen wrote: "Michelle wrote: "Update:

...

These are all appealing. Did you like them all?

Tove Dilevesen's Copenhagen Trilogy books are definitely some of the best books I have read this year. There's probably only one book better than them that I've read in 2024.

They are bleak, but it's engaging and unique and compelling (etc) to hear such a truthful story told by a woman in the time periods the books cover. I'm 2 chapters away from being done with Dependency, the 3rd book.

The poems of Sappho were a great, quick read. Sadly most of them are incomplete.

I have read better Norse folktale/fairytale collections than the one listed here^

Night of the Milky Way Railway is also incomplete, the original Japanese text is missing in 2 sections. It was an interesting children's story. I think my edition suffered from some poor translation, (too-literal translation). There are so many other editions available, though, that might correct that.

Thank you, Michelle for your reply :) ! Yea I’ve heard great things about the Copenhagen trilogy. I really should inch it up my TBR. Maybe in the coming year... What you’ve said of the Sappho sounds good too- great to hear.

Leveled up! First 5 are in message 33.

6. Claudine in Paris by Colette Gauthier-Villars (French)
7. Short Stories by Rabindranath Tagore (Bengali)
8. The Seagull by Anton Chekhov (Russian)
9. The Dry Heart by Natalia Ginzburg (Italian)
10. The Houseguest and Other Stories by Amparo Dávila (Spanish)

Way to go, Jen!

I made my 5 for relaxed reader. There's another, but I am not going to add it.

Way to go, Karin!

I just realized that I also completed the Relaxed Reader (see message 3). I finished it up with An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie (French) This book was published in 1981 but is non-fiction set in the mid 1960s.

Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior and President - 712 pages
Jude the Obscure - 310 pages

Great, Pam!