Free e-books of translated literature

March 19, 2020 3:24 PM

Archipelago Books is giving away 30 e-books (in ePub or PDF format) from their back catalogue. Most are translated works of fiction, though you’ll also find poetry, such as by the Cuban Dulce María Loynaz (tr. James O'Connor), and the hard-to-categorize Novices of Sias by Novalis (tr. Ralph Manheim). Personally I’ll be downloading Hebe Uhart’s short story collection The Scent of Buenos Aires (tr. Maureen Shaughnessy), and the novels Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga (tr. Melanie Mauthner) and Wiesław Myśliwski’s Stone Upon Stone (tr. Bill Johnston).
posted by Kattullus (8 comments total)

Thanks! I chose 4 to try (Gate of the Sun, A Useless Man, Sarajevo Marlboro, & The Scent of Buenos Aires).
posted by kingless at 4:44 PM on March 19, 2020 [2 favorites]

I haven't read Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga, but I've read another work by Mukasonga that I greatly enjoyed. If you're looking for a place to start, that might be it.

I am also getting For Isabel: A Mandala which is one of those books that's been on my to-read list for a while, even though I've long forgotten why.
posted by tofu_crouton at 6:11 AM on March 20, 2020 [1 favorite]

Has anyone had any success in downloading The Novices of Sais? The website tells me it’s not possible.
posted by Kattullus at 7:08 AM on March 20, 2020

This is asking me for contact and payment info when I click buy now...the cost is zero but it's still wanting information. Is there a way to get them without having to go through the shopping cart payment thing? Thanks for this, hope I can get it to work because some of these look interesting to me.
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 10:42 AM on March 20, 2020 [1 favorite]

I ended up ordering a couple of physical books along with the free ebooks. Katullus, I was able to download that one. Their website seems more sluggish than I would expect.
posted by Standard Orange at 12:35 AM on March 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Not free, but Galley Beggars has put ebooks up for pretty cheap, including Ducks, Newburyport.
posted by tofu_crouton at 10:49 AM on March 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Thanks, Standard Orange! When I tried today it worked.

And I’m glad you ordered physical books from Archipelago, I can’t be the only regular purchaser of books who’s having to curtail the habit during this time. Culture as a whole is suffering.

Though I’ve decided that tomorrow I’ll buy a Sunday paper or two from my local bookshop, and some kids’ books for my son. Walking by the normally bustling store this week has been disheartening, I’d hate for it to vanish after the pandemic has passed.
posted by Kattullus at 4:15 PM on March 21, 2020 [1 favorite]

Archipelago Books have added 20 new titles to their giveaway, including Halldór Laxness’ satire of vikings Wayward Heroes (t. Philip Roughton), Marie Vieux-Chauvet’s novel of the Haitian Revolution Dance on the Volcano (t. Kaiama L. Glover) and Ambai’s collection of feminist short stories A Kitchen in the Corner of the House (t. Lakshmi Holmström).
posted by Kattullus at 1:54 PM on April 2, 2020 [1 favorite]