The Gallic Blog
Lost in fiction
Up to now, why has so little of the fiction published in Britain originated from overseas?
The trend is starting to change, but it’s still an interesting question. Of the fiction sold in Britain, only three per cent is translated. The same astonishing figure applies to the American market where the University of Rochester’s website Three Percent is doing its best to raise awareness of the paucity of international literature on US bestseller lists.
Last week, Gallic Books brought François Lelord – bestselling author of Hector and the Search for Happiness – along to the inaugural ‘Translated Fiction’ evening at Heffers in Cambridge. François was joined by Danish writer, and author of the stunning ‘We, The Drowned’, Carsten Jensen (Guardian review) The event was an opportunity for both men to introduce their books but also a forum where people could answer questions such as the very one at the top of this blog.
‘Hector and the Search for Happiness’ and ‘We, The Drowned’ are two very different books. One tells the story of a young, country-hopping, French psychiatrist in search of answers to one of life’s biggest questions. The other, a 700-page nautical behemoth, immerses the reader into an epic story about a small fishing island in Denmark. And while both authors command much literary attention in their native countries, they recognised that promoting their books in the UK saw them having to start from scratch.
“The cultural gap between the UK and the rest of the European continent is bigger than the geographical gap,” conceded Jensen. He went on to say, “The UK is a very insular country and its bookshops reflect this. Unfortunately, if you walk around a bookshop in the UK you won’t see many foreign writers. This isn’t the case in a bookshop on the continent.”
“There is a very strong tradition of experimental literature in Europe,” explained Lelord.
“British fiction lacks this which is both good and bad. On one hand people are put off by experimental literature but at the same time it inspires international writers to improve their storytelling.”
Amazon’s top ten fiction bestsellers this week illustrate this point about good storytelling. Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy (www.stieglarsson.com) dominates (1, 2 and 3) with Hans Fallada’s ‘Alone in Berlin’ also selling well (6). Further down the list and foreign fiction is conspicuous by its inclusion: ‘The Prince of Mist’ (14), ‘The White Woman on the Green Bicycle’ (22), ‘The Wings of the Sphinx’ (33) and our very own The Elegance of the Hedgehog (53) are all fantastic reads and worthy of a place on your bookshelf.
But why aren’t there more? Do you agree with Carsten Jensen in that foreign writers will always find it difficult to crack the UK market? Or do the adventures of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomqvist mean that we will see more international authors and storytellers make their mark in the UK in the years to come?
The trend is starting to change, but it’s still an interesting question. Of the fiction sold in Britain, only three per cent is translated. The same astonishing figure applies to the American market where the University of Rochester’s website Three Percent is doing its best to raise awareness of the paucity of international literature on US bestseller lists.
Last week, Gallic Books brought François Lelord – bestselling author of Hector and the Search for Happiness – along to the inaugural ‘Translated Fiction’ evening at Heffers in Cambridge. François was joined by Danish writer, and author of the stunning ‘We, The Drowned’, Carsten Jensen (Guardian review) The event was an opportunity for both men to introduce their books but also a forum where people could answer questions such as the very one at the top of this blog.
‘Hector and the Search for Happiness’ and ‘We, The Drowned’ are two very different books. One tells the story of a young, country-hopping, French psychiatrist in search of answers to one of life’s biggest questions. The other, a 700-page nautical behemoth, immerses the reader into an epic story about a small fishing island in Denmark. And while both authors command much literary attention in their native countries, they recognised that promoting their books in the UK saw them having to start from scratch.
“The cultural gap between the UK and the rest of the European continent is bigger than the geographical gap,” conceded Jensen. He went on to say, “The UK is a very insular country and its bookshops reflect this. Unfortunately, if you walk around a bookshop in the UK you won’t see many foreign writers. This isn’t the case in a bookshop on the continent.”
“There is a very strong tradition of experimental literature in Europe,” explained Lelord.
“British fiction lacks this which is both good and bad. On one hand people are put off by experimental literature but at the same time it inspires international writers to improve their storytelling.”
Amazon’s top ten fiction bestsellers this week illustrate this point about good storytelling. Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy (www.stieglarsson.com) dominates (1, 2 and 3) with Hans Fallada’s ‘Alone in Berlin’ also selling well (6). Further down the list and foreign fiction is conspicuous by its inclusion: ‘The Prince of Mist’ (14), ‘The White Woman on the Green Bicycle’ (22), ‘The Wings of the Sphinx’ (33) and our very own The Elegance of the Hedgehog (53) are all fantastic reads and worthy of a place on your bookshelf.
But why aren’t there more? Do you agree with Carsten Jensen in that foreign writers will always find it difficult to crack the UK market? Or do the adventures of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomqvist mean that we will see more international authors and storytellers make their mark in the UK in the years to come?
Posted by Svein, 8th June 2010
Thomas - Good points. We are intending to get a few of our translators together to answer some Q&As for the blog in the not too distant future so look out for that.
Catherine - Not sure you’ll find many sales people (especially in the music business) who would argue with your point about a death boosting sales - hasn’t Michael Jackson just accrued £1bn in post-death sales? Saying that, I don’t think you can attribute Larsson’s success to his untimely passing away. If it wasn’t for the books’ strengths as engaging thrillers then his story would be nothing more than a postcript in the obituary section of a Swedish newspaper.
It would be great to see a French thriller writer ‘break’ the UK. There are a few (Guillaume Musso, Maxime Chattam) who are storming the bestseller lists in France. There is no reasons why, without good translations, these guys can’t make it here either.
Re: your point about decent French films, make sure you head over to the Cine lumiere for Romain Duris’ ‘Heartbreaker’. It is meant to be excellent.
Lost In Translation? Does translation have an impact? Can’t see anything on the site but it’d be interesting to reader your translators’ views on interpretation and translation. How much is idiom an issue? Can a good translation make a popular book sparkle and how easy it is to get it wrong enough to spoil the book?
The large amount of American culture available - in English - doesn’t help. In France sub-titled films with an English soundtrack (or dubbing) are fairly common. If the reverse isn’t true - as suggested - then it could be attributed to the large amount of English langauge books (and films, etc.) available from America. Minor/throw-away thrillers will get sub-titled in France but only the minority comes the other way (typically the better stuff, although having endured the film, Mon Pere Ce Hero, this isn’t, unfortunately, always true).
The adventures of Salander/Blomqvist owe a lot to the death of the author - there’s an easy story there for the press to report. French author published in English (without death backstory) is less newsworthy. More’s the pity.