How We Are Translated by Jessica Gaitán Johannesson is about the translation of you as a person. What role do language, race, and country play in this? Can you say hello to the future?
How We Are Translated synopsis
People say ‘I’m sorry’ all the time when it can mean both ‘I’m sorry I hurt you’ and ‘I’m sorry someone else did something I have nothing to do with’. It’s like the English language gave up on trying to find a word for sympathy which wasn’t also the word for guilt.
Swedish immigrant Kristin won’t talk about the Project growing inside her. Her Brazilian-born Scottish boyfriend Ciaran won’t speak English at all; he is trying to immerse himself in a Swedish språkbad language bath, to prepare for their future, whatever the fick that means. Their Edinburgh flat is starting to feel very small.
As this young couple is forced to confront the thing that they are both avoiding, they must reckon with the bigger questions of the world outside, and their places in it.
Book review
How We Are Translated is an intriguing title – especially to those interested in languages – and it makes you consider the narrator’s actions in a certain way throughout the book. A well-chosen title that says something about how the main character perceives her boyfriend’s obsession with learning Swedish, but also about how she feels stuck in – but can’t escape – her work life.
Kristin feels like a different person depending on the language she speaks and the language that is spoken to her. When she is Solveig, the character she impersonates at work, the visitors of the living history exhibit take her words and actions in a certain way and translate her in a way she is not. The same thing happens at home with her boyfriend, though in this case, it is obvious that they mistranslate each other.
When a question comes up in either her work life or private life, the situation is mirrored in the other. Both Kristin and her boyfriend are stuck between worlds, trying to find out who they are alone and together, but also who they should be in the future. The perfect translation is still a long way off.
What I appreciate about How We Are Translated is how their struggles are subtly shown in the way Kristin describes her days. It is in the soft and loving thoughts she has about her boyfriend, but also in the small gestures that they both make. Jessica Gaitán Johannesson wrote a multi-dimensional character that is struggling with her identity. Who is she? Who will she be in the future?
Unfortunately, I have to continue this review by saying that I didn’t enjoy reading this book. This is mostly because of the way the story is told. The unpredictable narrative is refreshing at first, but gets tiresome after a while when you’re looking for something ‘whole’. When you can finally pinpoint what a certain paragraph is about, it switches to the next topic before you know the outcome or the next steps of the previous topic.
The narrative felt too shattered to me. Kristin addresses her boyfriend and not me, the reader. Perhaps if her boyfriend had read this book, they would have understood each other better. For me, there is no point in following her thoughts. A shorter glimpse would have been enough.
I feel neutral about the frequent use of Swedish words and sentences (all with English translations) in the book. I learned some Swedish, which is fun, but because of its frequency, I expected a stronger impact on the story. After a while I started to share Kristin’s sentiments about Swedish: “I do adore Swedish sometimes (as long as it stays where it is).” I do hope this was not the intended impact.
I finished the book with my thoughts as shattered as Kristin’s, and a strong hope for her to find a way to say hello to the future, especially if it happens today.
Interested?
Pre-order your copy of How We Are Translated from Amazon (available 2 February 2021).
Book details
Title: How We Are Translated
Author: Jessica Gaitán Johannesson
Publisher: Scribe UK
Pages: 173
ISBN (13):9781913348069
Publication date: 2 February 2021
Many thanks to Scribe UK and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
