The purpose of this blog is to bring to a wider attention significant literary works not yet translated into English.
If you support me on Patreon, you will get to read my reviews a month before they are published here.
Here you can read the backstory of The Untranslated.
Also, check out my interview with The Collidescope, which has been translated into Spanish.
Email: theuntranslated(at)aol.com
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The Untranslated 
Have a look in Heimito von Doderer’s: Die Strudlhofstiege and Günter Grass’s: Grimm’s Wörter. Both of them untranslated yet…
Thanks for the suggestions. Doderer’s book has been in my sights for some time. It’s a pity it’s not available in English like The Demons, which is, unfortunately, out of print as of now.
Another one untranslated book:
Stefano D’Arrigo’s masterwork “Horcynus Orca,” published in 1975, has often been hailed a literary treasure. And finally equal praise is now being showered upon its translation into German. The cumbersome novel had long been considered absolutely untranslatable…
I’ve been following the reception of the book in Germany. It received a lot of media coverage, which is great, considering how impenetrable it appears to be. Moshe Kahn and John E. Woods are definitely the heroes of the decade, as they managed to translate some of the most translation-unfriendly novels of all time.
A great blog you have here, pretty excited to start searching it properly and read about novels I’ve missed!
Thanks for for stepping out of your magnificent ossuary to visit this place!
Haha! It is my pleasure, always on the look out for new novels to read. I’ve gone down a bit of a Soviet history rabbit hole at the moment, reading Stephen Kotkin’s magisterial Stalin biography . . .
I like https://theuntranslated.wordpress.com/about/
Thanks!
What a great blog!
Just out of curiosity (as I’m a translator): how many languages do you speak?
Thanks for the kind words! I am very strict in assessing my (and anyone else’s) speaking abilities, which means I wouldn’t say that speaking at the intermediate level is proper speaking. Therefore, I wouldn’t go beyond three or four languages. But when it comes to reading, it’s a different matter altogether. If I am allowed to use a dictionary, that number would be around nine.
Congratulations on a unique topic, and all of your research into untranslated books! Thanks so much for stopping by!
Thank you! I hope you will find something of interest here. And sometimes the books I review even get translated.
I’ve stumbled on your blog via Reddit. Very cool and inspirational idea!
Up above, you mention that you read 9 languages with the use of a dictionary. Which languages? Do you intend to study any other languages to the same reading proficiency?
The languages would be Russian, English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Catalan, Portuguese and one more, which, if mentioned, would reveal my geographic location, and hence – identity. Surely, at some point I would like to add a tenth language to that list.
You might be interested in this book that I stumbled on and can’t ready, unfortunately:
Калейдоскоп: расходные материалы (Большая проза) by Sergey Kuznetsov.
It was mentioned in an article about the recently published Russian translation of Infinite Jest.
From the article: “We used to see a lot of people who said ‘I only read Russian books,’” Kudryavtsev says. “But this is disappearing.” He points to the recent example of Sergey Kuznetsov, who wrote his novel Kaleidoscope (2016) after years spent studying the works of Thomas Pynchon.
https://www.calvertjournal.com/articles/show/10972/david-foster-wallace-comes-to-russia
*read
Thanks! I know a bit about the author. He was one of the pioneers of Pynchon studies in Russia. Unfortunately, his prose didn’t impress me much. I think he is by far a better journalist than a writer.
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This blog is a treasure trove, thanks!
Have a look at Juan Eduardo Cirlot’s poetry when you have time. His dictionary of symbols is well-known but he wrote several tomes of visionary and hermetic poetry that might be the secret cusp of 20th century Spanish poetry. He had an epiphany after watching The War Lord (1965) and thought that the lead female character, Bronwyn, was the image of his soul, the persian daena, his personal angel, his anima. “Del no mundo”, “En la llama” and “Bronwyn” are good starting points.
Thanks a lot for reading my stuff as well as for your recommendation! Never heard of this poet, so will have to investigate.
Hi there, The Untranslated,
I’ve perused your site and I’m definitely going to check out Horcynus Orca, so thank you.
I’m posting here to ask you if you have a favorite poem, in IT/FR/ES, that has never been translated (or perhaps not translated well)?
Most years I submit an entry to the Stephen Spender prize for poetry in translation (https://www.stephen-spender.org/stephen-spender-prize/).
I took a look at the Codice D’Arrigo but that work doesn’t speak to me, sadly. I always prefer poems that observe a very strict rhyme scheme and meter, as it cranks up the translation challenge a notch.
Anyway, if you can recommend a poem, I’d be grateful; if not, thanks for reading, and if I survive Horcynus Orca I’ll be back to post!
Thanks a lot for checking my blog! To tell the truth, I do not read as much poetry as I should. Most of the untranslated poems in these languages that I have read and appreciate could be categorised as either prose poems or blank verse, so, unfortunately, I am not the best person to give you a recommendation. That said, I wish you success in this competition!
Terrific blog! I’m into thick demanding books and your reviews are gorgeous! Since spanish is my mother tongue, I’m looking forward to reading translations of many of the titles you mention. I wish someone takes time to give us ‘Wallenstein’, by Alfred Döblin, Regards.
Thanks for reading my stuff, Alberto!
Have a look at Горизонт Sобытий by Ирина Полянская. It is one of the most affecting novels I have ever read. A Nobel-level work, in my humble. I would love to see her getting more attention, if only posthumously.
Thanks for the recommendation!
Hi. What books in German do you recommend?
Schattenfroh, of course.
Thank you. How about something less complicated?
Then Süskind’s Das Parfum. Can’t go wrong with that.