Translations...

The French author J. M. G. Le Clezio is the 2008 Nobel Prize for Literature, and Professor Marc Bertrand suggested that I check to see whether we have all of his works that are available in English translation. Here's the list, taken from his Nobel Prize website:

The Interrogation / translated from the French by Daphne Woodward. – New York : Atheneum, 1964. – Translation of Le procès-verbal

Fever / translated from the French by Daphne Woodward. – New York : Atheneum, 1966. – Translation of La fièvre

The Flood / translated from the French by Peter Green. – London : H. Hamilton, 1967. – Translation of Le déluge

Terra Amata / translated from the French by Barbara Bray. – London : Hamilton, 1969 ; New York : Atheneum, 1969. – Translation of Terra amata

The Book of Flights : an Adventure Story / translated from the French by Simon Watson Taylor. – London : Cape, 1971 ; New York : Atheneum, 1972. – Translation of Le livre des fuites

War / translated from the French by Simon Watson Taylor. – London : Cape, 1973 ; New York : Atheneum, 1973. – Translation of La guerre

The Giants / translated from the French by Simon Watson Taylor. – London : Cape, 1975 ; New York : Atheneum, 1975. – Translation of Les géants

The Mexican Dream, or, The Interrupted Thought of Amerindian Civilizations / translated by Teresa Lavender Fagan. – Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1993. – Translation of Le rêve mexicain ou la pensée interrompue

The Prospector / translated from the French by Carol Marks. – Boston : David R. Godine, 1993. – Translation of Le chercheur d'or

Onitsha / translated by Alison Anderson. – Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 1997. – Translation of Onitsha

The Round & Other Cold Hard Facts = La ronde et autres faits divers / translated by C. Dickson. – Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 2002. – Translation of La ronde et autres faits divers

Wandering Star : a Novel / translated by C. Dickson. – Willimantic, CT : Curbstone Press, 2004. – Translation of Étoile errante

I'm pleased to report that we have all of them except for Book of Flights, but I'm working on getting a copy of this one.

This brings up the issue of the general scarcity of translations of foreign language literature into English. Over the weekend there was an interesting article in the New York Times on just this subject. Entitled "Translation is foreign to American Publishers," it reports from the Frankfurt Book Fair, where the tepid American interest in Le Clezio's works was also discussed. It looks like his newest book, Ritournelle de la faim (Gallimard, 2008) won't be published in the US any time soon.