Before you order a book, make sure it's printed in the language you speak.

Mrs. V. is a big fan of Adriana Trigiani. She's always waiting for her next book to come out.

I found a Trigiani book on Amazon that I had never heard of: Herbstwolken. Weird title, but that's no reason not to buy a book. Mrs. V. had never mentioned it, so I ordered it and was going to give it to her for her birthday. Big surprise. Woo hoo!

I got my big surprise today, when a package arrived from Switzerland. I thought, "Must be Adriana's book. But from Switzerland?"

I opened it and sure enough, it was Herbstwolken. I turned it over to read the back, to see what it was about, and the spine caught my eye. It was printed upside-down, with the first letter of the title at the bottom. "Well, that's weird. . . ." I looked at the back.

It was in German.

The book I'd ordered was printed in German. Its title translates Autumn Clouds -- its title as published is in the U.S. is Big Cherry Holler.

Well! I guess the German language doesn't have a forty-three syllable word that encompasses "Big Cherry" and a word meaning "Hollow" in a Southeastern American Mountain dialect. Lazy-ass translators . . . .

:blush:

Translation of books and its titles is always a surprise.

:hi:

"leaves" instead of "clouds." :dunce:

:hi:

:dunce:

Because I love to collect books in German.

"Grosses Kirsch Tal".

DH, who was born and raised in Germany, said he wouldn't have given the book title the direct translation.

Actually, this is often the case when books and movie titles are translated.

"Gone With The Wind" was "Vom Winde Verweht" - literally, "Blown Away By The Wind".