New Translated Fiction Highlights Saisio, Haas, Odoom, Kamiya

Recent literary reviews highlight four notable translated fiction works: Pirkko Saisio's "The Red Book of Farewells," Wolf Haas's "Short Circuit," Lucia Odoom's "Cosmos," and Alejandra Kamiya's "The Fallen Trees Are Also the Forest." These selections showcase diverse narrative styles and thematic explorations from international authors.

Pirkko Saisio's "The Red Book of Farewells," translated by Mia Spangenberg and published by Penguin Classics for £14.99, concludes the Finnish author's autofictional trilogy. The novel delves into Saisio's young adulthood in the 1970s, detailing her coming out as a lesbian and her romantic relationships. A key relationship involves Havva, a communist lover engaged to another man, who relies on her wealthy parents for financial support while engaging in acts of protest, such as urinating in their private pool. The narrative also follows Saisio's election as vice-president of a political drama company, where her skills are seen as instrumental in bringing about revolution through theatre, even with productions like the "napalm opera" Vietnam-a-Go-Go. The book is praised for its blend of the absurd and the serious, its clear prose, and its playful shifts between first and third-person perspectives as Saisio recounts and analyzes her memories. The series is described as enchanting and deserving of classic status.

Wolf Haas's "Short Circuit," translated by Jamie Bulloch and published by HarperVia for £20, opens with a philosophical musing on time as a loop rather than a linear progression. The protagonist, Franz Escher, an avid jigsaw puzzle enthusiast and a "merciless hair-splitter," calls an electrician to fix his power and subsequently kills the man by accident. While awaiting the ambulance, Franz begins reading a novel about Elio, a character who assisted in...

Lucia Odoom's "Cosmos" and Alejandra Kamiya's "The Fallen Trees Are Also the Forest" are also featured in the roundup, though specific details regarding their plots, translators, publishers, and prices are not provided in the excerpt. The review aims to guide readers toward compelling new fiction available in translation, emphasizing the richness and variety of global literature accessible to English-speaking audiences. The inclusion of these diverse works suggests a trend towards broader international literary representation in translation.