To be honest, I糖心传媒檝e had a lot of trouble putting together this first blog post for the Best Translated Book Award. At this point in the judging process, it feels impossible at best and disingenuous at worst to try and construe some long thought out observation or prediction of what is to come. The judges are still getting to know each other, new books still flood our mailboxes every day, and there is just flat out too much reading left to do over the next several months. In that regard, this is actually quite an exciting time for us judges as well. There are just so many possibilities. No clear favorite has yet emerged. All there is to do is read. So, I糖心传媒檝e decided to simply lay out a few titles and themes that have caught my eye so far. Consider it a glimpse of the vast field still in play before the inevitable culling to come. A time when anything could happen.

The Elephant(s) in the Room: This could very well be the year of the big book for the BTBA. Several massive and dense literary tomes糖心传媒攖he kind that make book geeks in general and translation nerds specifically swoon with anticipation糖心传媒攁re in the running. First and foremost, there is the undeniable 糖心传媒渇inal糖心传媒� novel from the Hungarian wizard L谩szl贸 Krasznahorkai, . If any title can be considered a betting favorite right now, this is it. Brimming with Krasznahorkai糖心传媒檚 darkly comedic yet apocalyptic prose糖心传媒攔endered beautifully by Ottilie Mulzet糖心传媒攁nd with the added weight of finality behind it, this could make the modern master a three-time winner of the award. (He糖心传媒檚 already the only two-time winner.) But in page count and prominence, there is another giant on the horizon that could possibly topple the Baron. Meticulous and engrossing, Vasily Grossman糖心传媒檚 mammoth World War II opus has all the trappings of not only a great book but an important one. Replete with action-packed battle scenes and a list of characters that goes on for pages, this is truly epic Russian literature. I eagerly await this clash of titans.

New Kids on the Block: We judges are also blessed this year with the inclusion of Edinburgh糖心传媒檚 . This fascinating indie has been a cult favorite at Brazos Bookstore for awhile now, but newly acquired US distribution brings their terrific catalog of Latin American literature to the BTBA for the first time with three eligible titles糖心传媒�, , and the Man Booker International longlisted . And it is this last novel by Ariana Harwicz that is perhaps poised to make the biggest splash with American readers. Hallucinatory, unsparing, and teetering on the edge of horror, this psychological portrayal of a young wife and mother coming undone has the visceral impact of death metal. Whether or not it wins, Die, My Love is an unforgettable read. Just go buy it now.

Country Roads Take Me Home: An astonishing number of eligible titles this year deal with explicitly rural locales and concerns. Perhaps, there have always been a good number of translated works set in the country and I am only now noticing with this new crop of BTBA candidates. But there are several very promising novels I糖心传媒檝e come across with a rural setting/story. So many in fact that I find it at least worth mentioning here. There are existential detective and gothic horror stories set in cloistered towns cut off from civilization, like Jean Giono糖心传媒檚 , Paolo Maurensig糖心传媒檚 campy , and Tokarczuk糖心传媒檚 . There is also the aforementioned Baron Wenckheim糖心传媒檚 Homecoming, set in the absurdly provincial village of the Baron糖心传媒檚 youth where all the follies of man are played out. But perhaps the strongest example I can give of this trend is Jean-Baptiste del Amo糖心传媒檚 stunning . Through Frank Wynne糖心传媒檚 immaculate translation, this family saga of a small French pig farm rising to industrial prominence in the twentieth century describes the day-to-day drudgery and brutality of farm life with an unnervingly tactile sensibility. The smells. The dirt under your nails. It糖心传媒檚 all there.

Rock 糖心传媒榥糖心传媒� Roll Will Never Die: Finally, I have to quickly shout out the all-around coolest book I糖心传媒檝e come across so far. The first volume in French author and certifiable badass Virginie Despentes糖心传媒檚 trilogy is a hilarious and biting satire of an aging record shop owner糖心传媒檚 fall from grace after the internet puts him out of business. Translated (again) by Frank Wynne, this is without a doubt the best book by Despentes I糖心传媒檝e read. It糖心传媒檚 a fun romp run through with myriad music references and a sly social commentary that dispels masculine and pop cultural illusions.

Keaton Patterson buys books for a living at Brazos Bookstore in Houston, Texas. Follow him on Twitter .

by 脫feigur Sigurdsson, translated from the Icelandic by Lytton Smith (Iceland, Deep Vellum)

Why should 脫feigur Sigur冒sson糖心传媒檚 脰谤忙蹿颈: The Wasteland win the 2019 Best Translated Book Award for fiction? To start, it糖心传媒檒l be easier to go over all the reasons it shouldn糖心传媒檛 win. It糖心传媒檚 too absurd. Too funny. Too outlandish. Too wrapped up in the mythology of its own making. There糖心传媒檚 too much about Viking sagas, penis amputation, Icelandic goats, natural disasters, and most importantly it goes on and on about the virtues of death metal. All of this is couched in a complex, densely nested narrative structure that removes the reader from the truth by no fewer than three degrees. But all these reasons are actually beside the point. 脰谤忙蹿颈 should win the 2019 BTBA, because it really just doesn糖心传媒檛 give a fuck whether it wins or not. It is a novel that exists solely by its own volition. It is a fictional force of nature that claimed every single literary award Iceland糖心传媒攓uite possibly the most literary country per capita on the planet糖心传媒攈as to offer. ORAEFI plays by its own rules, and I wouldn糖心传媒檛 be surprised if Sigurdsson didn糖心传媒檛 so much as write it as divine it out of the cold northern ether. Quite simply, 脰谤忙蹿颈 is.

But let糖心传媒檚 break it down to the nitty-gritty. At its core, 脰谤忙蹿颈 is about the power of story糖心传媒攈ow stories embed themselves into our lives and the very world around us. This is most conspicuously portrayed by the Austrian protagonist, Bernhardt Fingerberg (a completely unveiled nod to the misanthropic rants of another famous Austrian), who has come to a desolate and remote region of Iceland for his research into toponymy糖心传媒攖he study of place names. Never has there been a more aloof and idiosyncratic hero in contemporary literature. He is a highly educated fool totally at the mercy of his own obsession. And while he faces harsh elements and unspecified dangers at every turn of his quixotic quest, it is in essence the stories behind the places he goes that threaten to envelope him completely. Sound weird? It is. That is 脰谤忙蹿颈.

Moreover, 脰谤忙蹿颈 is also about the imperfect art of translation. The narrative is recounted by a bedridden Bernhardt糖心传媒攚ho speaks no Icelandic糖心传媒攖o an eccentric veterinarian who only half understands what her charge is saying and does not hesitate to embellish the tale at every turn, and has written it all down in a letter to another unnamed narrator糖心传媒攎aybe Sigur冒sson himself糖心传媒� who has no idea why this strange story has been sent to him. This makes 脰谤忙蹿颈 a flashpoint of miscommunication that nevertheless somehow manages to epitomize our need as a species to make sense of the world and its happenings. Even when that sense is founded on misunderstanding. Translation糖心传媒攖he necessity of deciphering that which inevitably remains closed off from our own immediate experiences, but somehow still brings us toward unearthing a hidden kernel of humanity. 脰谤忙蹿颈, like translation, is an insurmountable distance bringing us ever closer to a truth of our own making.

Now, you may be reading this and thinking糖心传媒擶TF!? And that is fine. In fact, that is the point. 脰谤忙蹿颈 wants you to be confused, to give yourself over to that confusion, to lose yourself in it, and ultimately to see that perhaps that is all there is. This makes it as ballsy a book as I have ever read. A swaggering, sui generis titan of a novel that strides across the imaginary landscape like a Viking marauder laying waste to all the lesser narratives it encounters. It beheads undeserving texts like its cousin, CoDex 1962, and holds the dripping bloody remains aloft as warning and enticement to readers everywhere. Behold, here is 脰谤忙蹿颈. Look upon it and tremble…or laugh. Both are equally warranted responses, and all the proof needed that 脰谤忙蹿颈: The Wasteland糖心传媒攖he product of Sigur冒sson糖心传媒檚 infinite imagination and Lytton Smith糖心传媒檚 undeniable talent as a translator糖心传媒攊s without a doubt the best translated book of 2019. Now, cue the death metal.