No, not Die as in “Cease to Live!” Die as in “The.”
That’s right, Uglies is soon to be translated into German.
The publishing company is currently deciding between two titles for this edition. Perhaps they’ll use the more faithful translation Die Haßlichen, meaning simply “The Uglies.” But there has been talk of going with a more descriptive title, such as Die Haßlichenweglaufenzugesichtersparenkinder. This teutonic mouthful means literally “the ugly away-running to save faces kids.” It should look very imposing on the cover:
(Apparently, the plot of Uglies has been used before in German literature. I mean, they’ve already got one word for the whole concept!)
I also received news today that Italian rights have sold. The Italians, however, have opted to buy only the first two books of the trilogy. It seems their clever spies have overheard my midnight screams as I attempt to finish Specials before leaving for Worldcon. Bastardos!
Despite their caution, I’m very pleased about Italians joining the party. As I explain in detail here, I had a friend in college who used to crack me up with literal translations of Italian movie titles. One day, she explained that the wacky comedy known here as Airplane was called “The Craziest Airplane in the World†in Italy. After learning this, my friends and I spent the next four years refering to all movies using this template. Thus:
The Godfather became “The Craziest Family in the World.â€
Jaws: “The Craziest Fish in the World.â€
All the President’s Men: “The Craziest Quaker in the World.â€
Now that I will finally have my own work in Italian, I’m going to insist on title approval in the contract. So which do you think I should go with:
“The Craziest Facial in the World”
“The Craziest Cosmetic Dystopia in the World”
“The Craziest Hoverboards in the World”
“The Craziest Ugly Away-Running to Save Faces Kids in the World” . . . ?
Okay, me stop now. (Any more suggestions?)
Anyway, these two sales makes the Uglies trilogy my most translated work, beating Risen Empire by one language. Go Simon & Schuster foreign rights department!
(And special thanks to niece Renee for helping with the German.)
Huh–synchronicity! I just two minutes ago finished reading Uglies. Awesome, awesome book. I liked it. I suspect YA-me would have liked it, too. Smart and thoughtful and fair and fun. Thanks for writing it.
Congrats. I’ve been saving Uglies for pleasure reading, but screw it, I’m going to read it now. Enough of this research poo.
Scott you friggin rule!!! You said there was going to be no german but here it is. * does sexy dance*. Thank you thank you DANKE! cant wait for it to come out. bye
Hmmm….It seems to me that uglies is taking over the world! My German Brother in law will be happy to hear this. Germans like things that take over worlds, generally.