A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Grossman, translated by Jessica Cohen (Jonathan Cape) Israel

‘An unexpected delight. Readers should be warned, however: A Horse Walks into a Baris neither remotely funny nor an easy read. First, Grossman no longer writes what we traditionally think of as novels: he has transcended genre; or rather, he has descended deep into the vaults beneath. Second, Grossman presents the reader with the difficulty of confronting and then coming to understand – and finally to love – the deeply offensive comedian who is at the centre of the story’ – Ian Sansom

Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorthe Nors, translated by Misha Hoekstra (Pushkin Press) Denmark

‘This 200-page lamentation on contemporary loneliness would quickly grate if it were not for the benevolent ingenuity of Nors’s writing. When Sonja’s narrative breaks free of the corner she has boxed herself into, the prose swoops and soars like her yearned-for whooper swans. It’s at these moments that Nors’s reinvention of experimental fiction is so marvellous.’ – Catherine Taylor

The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen, translated by Don Bartlett and Don Shaw (Maclehose) Norway

‘There is a unique universality about The Unseen. Jacobsen’s prose is beautiful, clean, poised and plain-speaking, but there are interludes of Shakespearean grandeur in the dazzling descriptions of storms... Jacobsen’s translators, Don Bartlett and Don Shaw, have surpassed themselves. Death stalks the pages and the family, because the winter fishing expeditions which Hans sets off on are dangerous and many fishermen are buried in the sea, not the earth.’ – Eileen Battersby, The Irish Times

Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell (Oneworld) Argentina

‘The way Fever Dream is written invests every scene with suspense and makes a tantalising riddle of the book’s meaning. Its events play out somewhere between fears aboutGM crops (Argentina is one of the world’s leading producers) and folk superstition. One could also argue for a reading of the book in which mothers, despite their overwhelming desire to keep their children safe, become the agents of disaster.’ – Chris Power

Judas by Amos Oz, translated by Nicholas de Lange (Chatto & Windus) Israel

‘Oz presents the clash of idealisms in such a way as to allow Israel’s recent past to reverberate in the present, while at the same time connecting them to the much more ancient Judas story that fascinates Shmuel. It’s a complex and impressive achievement, and although it can lead to characters speaking with a degree of articulacy that makes ordinary conversation seem like formal debate, Oz is also conscious of the need to keep things human and humane.’ – Andrew Motion

Compass by Mathias Enard, translated by Charlotte Mandell (Fitzcarraldo Editions) France

‘... a love letter to the cosmopolitan Middle East of the narrator’s professional travels in Syria and Iran, contrasted with his present sadness at the news from places such as Aleppo, where he had once spent fine times with other academics and artists, drinking and talking. One scene blends into another almost imperceptibly... The narrative suspense depends entirely on the author’s unashamedly deployed prolepsis and withholding of information.’ – Steven Poole