If you pick up any translated novel off a bookshelf in Japan, you will find the original author and the translator¡¯s names on the front cover. In an English-speaking country, however, you¡¯ll probably have to flick through a few pages to find out who translated the book you just picked up. It¡¯s a strange phenomenon that Japanese publishers always credit the translator on the front cover, whereas many Western publishers of translated novels don¡¯t.
Because of this, you might not realize the book you¡¯re reading was originally written in another language, especially if the translator has done an amazing job with the writing. ¡°The Memory Police¡± by Yoko Ogawa is described by Penguin Random House as ¡°,¡± but it¡¯s Stephen Snyder¡¯s words that evoke these emotions in the English reader.
Surely it¡¯s the author¡¯s words you¡¯re reading even in a translated book? Yes and no. The original author may write the story, but it¡¯s the translator¡¯s prose you¡¯re engaging with. ¡°It takes skill and talent to interpret the words of the original author and create an English equivalent,¡± says literary translator Louise Heal Kawai.
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