Tag: book blog

Translated Fiction: A New Hope

I am a fan of translated fiction and I find it very enjoyable to escape to far off places and discover a culture and scenery that is different to my own. Translated fiction opens up next experiences, places, tastes and themes that are not native to me.

I enjoy Latin American, Asian and Mainland European authors. My reading of these is dependent on translations as I am unable to read Italian, Spanish, Japanese etc. I love discovering a new series and getting into it. Since I switched to reading via a Kindle in 2018, early on I discovered a series written by the author Marco Vichi. Commisario Bordelli – which follows a Commisario in Florence investigating crimes and dealing with the ghosts of Italy’s fascist past. It quickly became one of my favourite series and I quickly got through all six translated works. But that was back in 2018, and since then unfortunately no further books in that series have been translated. So I have been stuck reading the same six books several times… until an epiphany moment this week.

I was talking to a friend and they mentioned why not use AI or tools to translate the books that remain untranslated into English… Why had I not thought of it before? So I had a go and purchased a book online and gave it a try. I will say this, I absolutely hate DRM (Digital Rights Management on digital purchases and purely for my own personal reasons to retain a copy for my own library I remove this lock from every book I buy. In order to do what I did I had to remove the DRM.) and so after purchasing my copy I removed it and I discovered on Calibre (ebook library software) there is a translation plug in you can set up to translate books that are stored in the Library. I have it a go and you know what? It worked! The book translated with no issue and it is almost perfect, perhaps there is the occasionally formatting issue like a misaligned “” but it is perfectly readable from the chapters I have read so far.

I am delighted to have access to an otherwise hidden World to me, and revisit an old friend for some fresh adventures.

Whilst it does go against the spirit of copyright etc, this is only for personal use and enjoyment and only for items I purchase.

Fatale by Jean-Patrick Manchette

A short read but a book with so much to unpack. Follows Aimée a killer and master manipulator who arrives in a new town and integrates into the local upper classes and plays them off each other resulting in a deadly showdown of blackmail and revenge.

I enjoyed the book and the plot moved a long nicely, the first half was great at setting the scene but then the book just came to a crescendo too quickly. It would have been nice to flesh out some of the backstory of the locals and of Aimée too. Everything just happened too fast once the shit hit the fan regarding the corruption and poisonings. This book would have benefited from an extra 50 pages.

A good noir novel though, and I am curious if there are any adaptations of it.

Last Testament In Bologna by Tom Benjamin

I originally started this book when it first came out in 2023 but other books (I guess The World by Simon Sebag Montefiore) sidetracked me and I noticed a new book in the series came out recently and it reminded me to revisit this one. It is a series I enjoy an English ex-pat (always ex-pats if they are British, yet Immigrants if they are foreign to us lol) working for the family investigative business in Italy.

This installment focuses on an old feud and the world of fast cars and Formula 1, there is quite a lot going on with several threads and it all comes together quite nicely in the end. I am curious where the series goes next, and how it tackles the patriarchs health and the ever changing family structure like new members and the father/daughter dynamics.

Listening to parts on the audiobook I did notice the narrators voice seemed to change dramatically towards the end of the book. I assume it is the same narrator but he didn’t half sound different.

Japan in 100 Words: From Anime to Zen by Ornella Civardi

A fun and enjoyable read explaining many elements of Japanese culture from A to Z. Lots of interesting popular concepts explained from folklore, pop culture and the arts of Japan. I think it is a book that would encourage further studies.

Being a collector of Fountain pens the section on Maki-e and Urushi interested me as an owner of Japanese pens made from those crafts.

The book is beautifully illustrated.