like script writers of our favourite movies, translators of the foreign novels we love the most get little to no recognition. it’s easy to name your favourite movie or book, but when it comes down to the person who actually made it possible for those quotes you love the most to appear, they’re completely lost in the dust. a skilled translator, especially in terms of fiction, can make or break a book in its market. a crappy translation makes the book unreadable and reflects poorly all around. in research i’ve found out that haruki murakami picks most of his translators, which i think is vital for a good translation. in reading a few mario vargas llosa novels, i find that those are well translated alongside their original spanish versions, and the same with jorge amado’s.