Lit in Translation

Memoirs of a Polar Bear

Etüden im Schnee

Yoko Tawada (多和田葉子, born 1960)

Translated by Susan Bernofsky

English editions

In English

  • Memoirs of a Polar Bear

    Granta Books · United Kingdom · 2 November 2017 · Paperback · 256 pages

    Buy on Bookshop.org UK*

  • Memoirs of a Polar Bear

    New Directions · United States · 8 November 2016 · Paperback · 288 pages

    Buy on Bookshop.org US*

  • Memoirs of a Polar Bear

    Portobello Books · United Kingdom · 2 March 2017 · Paperback · 252 pages

* Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate and a Bookshop.org affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases. The price stays the same for you.

A grandmother, her daughter and her grandson, all polar bears, narrate in turn. Their lives move from Moscow and touring shows to East Germany and finally to Berlin after reunification. The grandson becomes a global celebrity and is invited to record the story of the Arctic, a place none of the three has ever seen, since they were all born in Europe. Through animal eyes, the novel becomes a tale of three generations of migrants and of the divide between East and West.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form
Novel
Length
312 pages in the original
Genres
Migration (assigned by AI)
Set in
Russia, Germany
First published
2014 by Konkursbuch Verlag Claudia Gehrke
Author's age
54 when first published
ISBN

9783887697372 (original)

9780811225786 (New Directions, United States)

9781846276316 (Portobello Books, United Kingdom)

9781846276323 (Granta Books, United Kingdom)

More
Wikidata