From Havana to Tokyo, from Oslo to Alexandria, from Lahore to Paris, these 10 books (8 in translation and 2 about far-off cities) are a good introduction to the world of international fiction and translated fiction, to different cities around the world and their offerings of danger, edge, vice and energy.
Cities in translation
From Havana to Tokyo, from Oslo to Alexandria, from Lahore to Paris, these 10 books (8 in translation and 2 about far-off cities) are a good introduction to the world of international fiction and translated fiction, to different cities around the world and their offerings of danger, edge, vice and energy.
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The Half Brother
VintageWinner of the Nordic Prize 2002, The Half Brother tells the story of an ordinary Norwegian family in the 1960s, set apart by extraordinary family members. -
Burma Chronicles
Jonathan CapeThis graphic novel from Guy Delisle is a charming insight into a country notorious for its use of concealment and isolation as social control. -
The Alexandria Quartet
FaberThe Alexandria Quartet explores the sexual and political intrigues of a group of expatriates in Egypt before and after the Second World War. -
Dreams from the Endz
VintageA sharply observed, warm and witty exposé of life in the low-income outskirts of Paris. -
Dirty Havana Trilogy
FaberPedro Juan is a reporter in Havana, but as existence in Cuba and his own life begin to collapse around him, he gives up the farce of a daily job, and begins to 'train himself to take nothing seriously.' -
Moth Smoke
Granta BooksThis startling debut by Mohsin Hamid is a tightly packed exploration of Lahore's down and outers. -
The System of Vienna
Dalkey Archive PressAn astonishing and fantastical autobiographical novel, reminiscent of Italo Calvino and Laurence Sterne, The System of Vienna details Jonke's travels through Vienna by streetcar. -
City of God
BloomsburyBased on a true story, this is a sprawling, magnificently told epic about the history of gang life in Rio's favelas. -
Norwegian Wood
VintageLike Proust's Madeleine cake, the Beatles song of the title sets off a wave of memories for the narrator, Toru Watanabe as his remembers his teenage relationships with fragile first love Naoko and impetuous and unpredictable Midori. -
Gomorrah: Italy's Other Mafia
PanPublished to coincide with the eponymous blockbuster film, Roberto Saviano's groundbreaking and compelling book is a major international bestseller.
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