German Book Club Selection for August

Hampshire Nanny · 08-09-2014, 12:36 PM

I was browsing through the list of recent posts and ran across this one:

Buchclub - August 2014: Flavia de Luce 1 - Mord im Gurkenbeet von Alan Bradley

Now, I don't read, speak, or understand German. But I have a bare minimum of decoding skills to realize that the book in question is the first book in the Flavia de Luce series, English title is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. And, I know that "mord" is "death" but I cannot decipher "Gurkenbeet". Google translate is no help at all.

Next, I sent a message to a British friend living in Austria, asking if his German is good enough to translate this for me. He wound up talking to his wife, a native German speaker, and she translates "Gurkenbeet" as "that place in the garden where the cucumbers grow". (Wow! German packs a lot of meaning into a fairly short word.)

So a good English translation is Death in the Vegetable Patch -- and based on the story, it's a totally appropriate title, though not as intriguing as The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

Atunah · 08-09-2014, 12:52 PM

Mord is actually murder.

Andrew H. · 08-09-2014, 01:50 PM

>(Wow! German packs a lot of meaning into a fairly short word.)

Not really, it just looks that way - "Beet" is related to bed (as in "flower bed"); "Gurke" just means "Cucumber", so Gurkenbeet just means Cucumber Patch.

Billi · 08-09-2014, 02:36 PM

You will very rarely find that an English book title was translated into German 1:1. German publishing houses show great fantasy in inventing their own German title and having something to do with the original title or the content is not always a criteria.

08-09-2014, 12:36 PM	#1
Hampshire Nanny Guru Posts: 615 Karma: 8064562 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Sony PRS-505, Kindle 3 KB, iPad2	German Book Club Selection for August I was browsing through the list of recent posts and ran across this one: Buchclub - August 2014: Flavia de Luce 1 - Mord im Gurkenbeet von Alan Bradley Now, I don't read, speak, or understand German. But I have a bare minimum of decoding skills to realize that the book in question is the first book in the Flavia de Luce series, English title is *The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. And, I know that "mord" is "death" but I cannot decipher "Gurkenbeet". Google translate is no help at all. Next, I sent a message to a British friend living in Austria, asking if his German is good enough to translate this for me. He wound up talking to his wife, a native German speaker, and she translates "Gurkenbeet" as "that place in the garden where the cucumbers grow". (Wow! German packs a lot of meaning into a fairly short word.) So a good English translation is Death in the Vegetable Patch* -- and based on the story, it's a totally appropriate title, though not as intriguing as *The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie*.

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08-09-2014, 12:52 PM	#2
Atunah Wizard Posts: 1,817 Karma: 23400001 Join Date: May 2012 Location: USA Device: K1/K3/BasicK Voyage/Oasis1/Oasis3	Mord is actually murder.

08-09-2014, 01:50 PM	#3
Andrew H. Grand Master of Flowers Posts: 2,201 Karma: 8389072 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Naptown Device: Kindle PW, Kindle 3 (aka Keyboard), iPhone, iPad 3 (not for reading)	>(Wow! German packs a lot of meaning into a fairly short word.) Not really, it just looks that way - "Beet" is related to bed (as in "flower bed"); "Gurke" just means "Cucumber", so Gurkenbeet just means Cucumber Patch.

08-09-2014, 02:36 PM	#4
Billi Wizard Posts: 3,388 Karma: 14190103 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Berlin Device: Cybook, iRex, PB, Onyx	You will very rarely find that an English book title was translated into German 1:1. German publishing houses show great fantasy in inventing their own German title and having something to do with the original title or the content is not always a criteria.

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