Varjak Paw Around The World, #7

#7: Finland

One of the nicest things about publishing a book is watching it travel the world. Varjak Paw has been translated into many languages; there are many editions around the world, and I've been doing a series of posts about them all. This week, I'm looking at the Finnish edition of Varjak Paw, where he's called Varjak Käpälä!

The front and back covers are very similar to the British editions, although the text is obviously in Suomi.  The interiors are similar too, with all of Dave McKean's beautiful artwork retained.  But I was excited to learn that The Wizard Of Oz becomes Ozin velho in Suomi!

Like Varjak Paw, The Outlaw Varjak Paw is published in Finland by Gummerus.  Again, the Finnish edition retains all of Dave McKean's beautiful art.

I've had some wonderful comments on this blog from readers in Finland, and I would be really interested to hear more about the translation, and about Finnish readers' experiences of Varjak Paw.  So please do leave me a comment if you've read the Finnish edition – or just say hei!

Varjak Paw Around The World, #6

#6: Poland

This was one of the very first Varjak Paw translations that appeared, so it still means a lot to me.  It felt totally magical to see the cover with a different language on it; amazing to think that there would be people who thought of this book as 'Sny Kota Warlapa'.

At the time, a Polish friend told me the title meant something like 'The Dreams Of Warlap The Cat'.  I really like that.  I love the idea of putting the dreams right up there in the title, as they really are central to the book.

I'm not quite sure why they changed his name from Varjak to Warlap, but I've heard from another friend that 'Varjak' actually means 'warrior' in Polish.  (I wish I could say I knew that when I wrote it, but I didn't!)  I think that would make it a good name for a cat who dreams of becoming a great warrior – but maybe they wanted to avoid confusion...

If there are any Polish speakers looking at this blog, I'd love to hear from you!  And if you would like to see more Varjak Paw translations, have a look here...

Varjak Paw Around The World, #5

#5: Turkey

One of the nicest things about publishing a book is watching it travel the world.   Varjak Paw has been translated into many languages; there are many editions around the world, and I've been doing a series of posts about them all.  This week, I'm looking at the Turkish edition of Varjak Paw, where he's called Varjak Pençe!

Apparently 'Pençe' means 'Paw' in Turkish, so that makes sense. This edition of the book is printed on a special kind of foil paper, so it's quite glittery in real life, but very hard to scan. Apologies if it looks a bit dark!

Here's the back cover.  As with the German edition, the Turkish publishers decided to switch front and back around, which is fine with me, as I love them both!  The interiors are the same as the UK edition, with all of Dave McKean's fantastic artwork.

Here's the first page, so you can see how it reads in Turkish.  I've learned a few new words by looking at it – for example, the Elder Paw becomes 'Yaşlı Pençe' – but my Turkish isn't strong enough to tell if it's a good translation or not.  So if there are any Turkish-speaking readers looking at this blog, I would love to hear from you!  And if you would like to see more Varjak Paw translations, have a look here...

Varjak Paw Around The World, #4

Italy

In Italy, Varjak Paw is called ARTIGLIO LUCENTE!  Well, the character is still called Varjak Paw, but the book title is Artiglio Lucente, which apparently means 'Shining Claw'.

Apart from the language, the interiors are the same as the UK edition, with all Dave McKean's art and layouts.  Here's a scan of the first page, to give you an idea of how it reads in Italian.  You'll notice for example that the Elder Paw is called 'Nonno Paw', which I rather like.  Click on the image to see it larger...

And here's the back cover, where they've put one of my all-time favourite quotes!  It came from an excellent book review site called bookmunch.co.uk, which sadly seems to have gone offline.  They gave Varjak Paw a wonderful review, including this line: "Imagine The Karate Kid directed by David Lynch".  The Italian publishers clearly liked this so much that it's the only quote they've used, anywhere on the book!

Are there any Italian readers out there?  If so, I would love to hear from you!

Varjak Paw Around The World #3

Germany

In Germany, Varjak Paw is called Titus Tatz!  I'm not quite sure how they got from 'Varjak' to 'Titus', but apparently 'tatz' means 'paws' in German, so I think that's a pretty good translation!

The German edition of Varjak Paw uses the back cover as the front.  I was very excited to see this, as the back cover was always one of my favourite images, and it's nice that they gave it so much prominence.  Their back cover is a bit less exciting - just text on a simple background - but I do love that amber colour:

The interiors are the same as in the UK edition, with all of Dave McKean's art and layouts.  The same is true in The Outlaw Varjak Paw - or 'Jagd Auf Titus Tatz', as it's known in Germany.

Unfortunately my command of the German language isn't great, but I'm told this means something like 'The Hunt For Varjak Paw', so again, that sounds like a good translation to me!

Are there any German-speaking readers looking at this blog right now?  If so, I'd love to hear from you - tell me what you think of the translation, and how the books are seen in Germany...

Varjak Paw Around The World #2

Japan

The Japanese edition of Varjak Paw is one of my favourites, right up there with the Russian one.  Although it doesn't use any of Dave McKean's brilliant art, I love the look the Japanese publishers created for it.  Here's the front cover of the first book:

And here's the back cover:

Unlike the Russian edition, which has different covers but keeps Dave McKean's artwork for the interiors, the Japanese edition has its own custom-drawn artwork & layouts, unique to this edition.  Here's an example - I think this is a scene where Varjak meets the Scratch Sisters:

And here's a dream sequence, which uses the same strategy that Dave did, placing the dream images behind the text, but using the soft charcoal pencil look that the Japanese edition uses throughout:

The cover of The Outlaw Varjak Paw looks pretty similar to the first book at first glance - but look closer and you'll notice lots of small, subtle differences - especially the reflections in Varjak's eye (click on the image to see it large!)

In the first book, you can see the palm trees of Mesopotamia reflected in his eye. But in this one, I'm pretty that it's Sally Bones... and she also appears on the back cover, looking rather terrifying, as she does in the Russian edition.

So what do people think?  Did the Japanese publishers do a good job?

Varjak Paw Around The World

#1: Russia

One of the nicest things about publishing a book is watching it travel the world.  Varjak Paw has been translated into many languages; there are many different editions around the world.  One reader recently left me a link to pictures from the Russian edition (thanks, Ivan!), so I decided to do a series of posts about all these editions.

I'm going to start with the Russian one, but I'm interested to hear from Varjak fans in all countries.  Please write in and tell me - how does Varjak look in your country?  Are the publishers doing a good job with it?!  Authors generally don't get any say in how their work appears in translation, so it's very interesting for me to hear people's thoughts.

Here's the Russian front cover of Varjak Paw:

And here's the back cover:

I have to say, I think these covers are amazing.  Of course, I love Dave McKean's original covers, and I'm glad the Russian editions use his art inside the books, but it's great to see another take on it.  I think they did a good job with the sequel, too - here's the Russian front cover of The Outlaw Varjak Paw:

And here's the back, with an extraordinary image of Sally Bones:

What do my readers think?  Have the publishers done a good job?