English Fiction Translated To Thai

[Swelters]

Does anyone know of a comprehensive list or even better major retail seller of english fiction translated into Thai?

I'm thinking specifically of Jhumpa Lahiri's writing but the subject comes up now and then.

Thanks much,

Swelters

[Rikker]

I'd love to be involved in compiling a list like this. I collect Thai translations of English literature (and vice versa), and while my personal collection is only a small portion of what's been published, I have at least a couple hundred volumes, many of which I've acquired from used booksellers.

I catalog my books on LibraryThing. My cataloging is lagging far behind my purchasing (I have a full bookcase of acquisitions not entered yet), but it's a start. Here's a list of fiction translated from English. (This excludes works not originally English, of course, such as folks like Tolstoy or Hesse. Here's another search for works translated into Thai from languages besides English.)

A truly large amount has been published, but so often it's by small publishers, so only a few thousand copies are printed, so these tend to go quickly out of print. That doesn't mean you can't find them, but you do have to know used booksellers (I've bought from a few online mom-and-pop used bookstores, and I regularly go to the National Book Fair, which is a treasure trove).

[Rikker]

To answer your other question, I looked around on Google and it appears Jhumpa Lahiri hasn't been translated into Thai. I did find some people looking for the same thing, and a rumor from a couple years ago that Interpreter of Maladies was going to be published soon, but it looks like that didn't pan out.

The best I could find was this translation of the first half-dozen paragraphs of "A Temporary Matter" (from Interpreter of Maladies), and this Thai review of The Namesake.

[oldsparrow]

For old prints, look around Wang-burapa area, in the old town part of BKK, there are several old book shops.

Edited May 18, 2009 by oldsparrow

[oldsparrow]

Again, search for translators/pen names like:

สันตสิริ (Pearl S. Buck etc.)

อาษา ขอจิตต์เมตต์ (Pasterneck / Grimm / De Maupassant etc)

อ. สายสุวรรณ (Doyle etc.)

อำภา โอตระกูล (German translator)

There are translation of Walther Scott, Twain, Kipling etc.

[Rikker]

At any decent-sized bookstore there will be a section called วรรณกรรมแปล (translated literature). Often this includes a lot of stuff from Chinese, a lot of chick-lit, and other things I will likely never read in Thai. But it usually also has at least something of interest.

That said, Thai bookstores are rarely organized very well. So you'll probably find just as much translated literature mixed in at other sections, such as วรรณกรรมเยาวชน (juvenile lit), or just the plain วรรณกรรม section.

I'd recommend any branch of ดอกหญ้า, แพร่พิทยา, or ศูนย์หนังสือจุฬา. To a lesser degree, Se-ed and นายอินทร์.

[RickBradford]

It can be very valuable - I found a Vietnamese translation of the pre-war classic "No Orchids for Miss Blandish" which I possessed in English, and reading them in parallel helped my learning of Vietnamese immeasurably. Just be aware that the overworked and unsupported translators don't always get it right, especially the slang sections.

Even the Vietnamese title read: "Maiden Blandish is yet to receive her exotic flowers".

Most of it was usefully accurate, though, perhaps helped by the fact that this classic 'American' thriller was actually written by an English guy.....

[oldsparrow]

Please try ฺB2S bookshops. They have some translated ัyouth literature especially of the publisher สำนักพิมพ์ผีเสื้อ.

[nicholasday]

I came across this a while back. http://www.wanakam.com/title.asp

is a whole bunch of literature translated into thai and put up online for anyone to download.

[Rikker]

Yes, Wanakam.com is a nice collection -- mostly short stories, with a few novellas like Animal Farm and Ethan Frome.

[sangfroid]

I came across this a while back. http://www.wanakam.com/title.asp

is a whole bunch of literature translated into thai and put up online for anyone to download.

Excellent site. Thank You.

[MKAsok]

I catalog my books on LibraryThing. My cataloging is lagging far behind my purchasing (I have a full bookcase of acquisitions not entered yet), but it's a start. Here's a list of fiction translated from English. (This excludes works not originally English, of course, such as folks like Tolstoy or Hesse. Here's another search for works translated into Thai from languages besides English.)

Rikker - Can't get either of those links to display anything (blank pages). Have you ever come across any Thai translations of Gabriel García Márquez? In particular, One Hundred Years of Solitude or Love in the Time of Cholera...

[Rikker]

I've seen One Hundred Years of Solitude translated as หนึ่งร้อยปีแห่งความโดดเดี่ยว, but since it's expensive as Thai books go (~500 baht), I have yet to buy a copy.

Details:

หนึ่งร้อยปีแห่งความโดดเดี่ยว

translated by ปณิธาน-ร.จันเสน

สำนักพิมพ์สามัญชน, ISBN 9789747607185

679 pages, 490 baht

This translation appears to have been first published in 1986, according to used book listings.

I haven't seen any other of his works, as far as I can recall.

And I'm not sure why those links aren't working for you--I used the "permanent link" feature from the website. Are they working for anyone else? You should see a listing of books from my LT catalog.

[MKAsok]

^ Brilliant. Thanks for the link.