Crime fiction translated into English

[sue neale]

I would like to know which authors readers rate in translation. I know that a lot depends on a good translator, but the style and humour etc of the original writer do come through sometimes in spite of a translator's quirks. Does anyone know much about Japanese or other Asian crime writers available in English.

thanks

[sue neale]

Petros Makaris is a Greek who speaks perfect English and is also very knowledgeable about the genre in Europe. At the present time 3 of his novels have been translated into English and published in the the UK by Harvill Press in the last couple of years. They are: The Late Night News, Deadline in Athens and Zone Defence. He tackles social and political issues in his crime novels, rather like some French writers who feel that the genre permits them to criticise those in power in a subtle way.

Is he published in the US too?

[Ayo]

I also like the Andrea Camilleri books and those by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza as well.

[sue neale]

Thanks for this suggestion though I am not confident that UK libraries hold onto their fiction long enough if it is not being borrowed by a significant number of readers. I hope to be able to check out translated fiction in one of the UK copyright libraries if I can't find it in a library or persuade the library to purchase it! By the way I misspelt Petros Markaris as I didn't have the book in front of me, sorry.

[Laura Root]

Other good imprints for crime fiction in translation:
Soho Press - http://www.sohopress.com/crime.html
Eurocrime - http://www.arcadiabooks.co.uk/books.php?genre=2

Japanese crime fiction:-
"The Tattoo Murder Case" by Akimitsu Takagi.

You might also be interested in books by Naomi Hirahara, Edgar winner and Crimespace Poster, who has written a series of crime books set amongst the Japanese-American community in California.

Also a reviewer called Kazuo Shimizu has put a list of translated Japanese crime fiction onto Amazon:-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Japanese-Mystery-Novels-English/lm/42X...

[Brian Thornton]

It occured to me after I posted about Jean-Claude Izzo's work that I ought to mention that I've read several of Arturo Perez-Reverte's works in translation as well. I speak French and a smattering of Spanish, and think it's interesting to consider reading Izzo's work in the original French, but doubt that I could get the full flavor of Perez-Reverte were I to tackle it with my minimalist Spanish.

[sue neale]

Yes, wouldn't it be good if we had some sort of ability to read in any language and enjoy the quirks that the writer intended without the need for a translator. I am not even sure that I get everything that French writers intend unless I reread a novel and I would tend to do that only if I were giving a paper or writing an article on them. There are too many books in the world to keep rereading no matter how enjoyable this is. I can see I have my work cut out to write 6000 words over the next year on this topic - as I have lots of reading to do.