Review: The Translator

The Translator by Nina Schuyler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think my 2 year old daughter picked this out - we were at the library, and she pointed to it and said, "mommy, get that one!" so I did.

My experience reading this book was really, really weird. It's about a woman who is a professional translator. After being in a traumatic accident, she loses her ability to speak English, but remains fluent in Japanese. After living this way for a while, she decides to visit Japan and track down the Noh actor who was the inspiration for the last book she had translated.

The story up to that point is well-written and compelling. I began wondering why the book hadn't been recognized more. Then the book took a turn - it got very emotional and fantastical relating to Noh theater. A strange storyline with the translator's daughter emerged, and the ending was completely unsatisfying and disconnected from the rest of the book.

I'd try something else by the author, because I really enjoyed her writing. But this book as a whole was not great.

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