Diego Marani

After the acclaimed New Finnish Grammar and The Last of the Vostyachs, The Interpreter is the third in a trilogy of novels on the theme of language and identity. The Interpreter is both a quest, a thriller, and at times a comic picaresque caper around Europe, while also exploring profound issues of existence. Gunther Stauber, head of Translation and Interpreting...

He felt a shiver run down his spine when he heard the lateral fricative with labiovelar overlay ring out loud and clear in the chill air... It set forgotten follicles stirring in the soft part of his brain, disturbing liquids that had lain motionless for centuries, arousing sensations not made for men of the modern world. Ivan grew up in...

One night at Trieste in September 1943, a seriously wounded soldier is found on the quay. With nothing to identify him, and having lost his memory and language, he is a mystery to the crew of the German ship that rescues him. The ship's doctor, a Finn, identifies the name embroidered on the man's jacket as Finnish. Taking him for...