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Re: The 3 books that had the greatest impact on you

Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:34 pm
by Sonjaconjota
Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird
Alex Haley: Roots
Olga Ravn: The employees

The last one requires a bit of an explanation. I was recently sent this for work, a publishing company wanted me to summarize it and give my opinion, because they were considering buying the rights and having it translated into German.
I was very surprised when I noticed that I was actually reading the English translation of a Danish book.
The publishers told me that the English version had come to their attention because it had been shortlisted for the Booker Price.
So, as a book translator myself, I would like to mention that I going to talk about the translated version by Martin Aitken, because I don't read Danish, and that a part of my praise probably goes to him.
So, what I wanted to say: I found this book excellent, just excellent, I can't remember the last time a booked impressed me so much.
It is science fiction, which I never read for my own pleasure, and still I enjoyed it thoroughly. It is experimental in form, finds just the right balance between being a literary work and entertaining. Well, I don't know if "entertaining" is the right word, because it is kind of disturbing, but you know what I mean. It is somehow multi-layered, you can stay on the surface or read many different things into it.
It is a short book, and I really, really recommend you try it if you are open to science fiction.
I would also be interested in hearing from someone who has read it in Danish.