Book Review: The Closest Thing by Žaneta Voldánová

Natalina has a picture-perfect marriage, yet she’s not happy in it. She tries to make it work, but something is missing. Something is not quite alright. One night, she wishes for nothing else but to leave her husband and her life behind, and she sets off on the road, trying to escape it all. She knows she will come back because that’s who Lina is, after all – reasonable and responsible.

Translating 'Oh Dear'

“How difficult it can be to translate a text from a language I understand well to my mother tongue, right?” I thought to myself when I first opened The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune with the intention of forging my way as a new translator and bring this lovely book to the Czech audience. “Let’s see. What’s the first sentence?”

“Oh dear,” Linus Baker said, wiping the sweat from his brow.

“Oh dear,” I thought to myself and then spent about a week figuring out the best way to translate the first two words.

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Beginnings

It’s Friday, May 27, 2022, and I’m sitting at a Vietnamese restaurant across from my flat, getting fried spring rolls and coconut water. I didn’t plan to come here, but I’m feeling so tired, and it’s just the kind of a day for a treat. A group of older women sits at the table next to me, making it almost impossible for me to focus on my own words because theirs are that much more interesting. Continue reading

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