Though they never met in person, Yu agreed to let Berry translate his novel.

Berry finished the translation within a few months but was saddened that most US publishers showed little interest in the work. More than 20 publishers turned him down before Anchor Books in New York accepted the 250-page novel in 2003.

Book cover of To Live. [Global Times]

 

The English version of To Live, which tells the epic story of one man's transformation from a spoiled son of a rich landlord to a kindhearted peasant, later became required reading for many courses in contemporary Chinese abroad.

Since then, Berry has translated and published several works including The Song of Everlasting Sorrow by Wang Anyi, Nanjing 1937: A Love Story by Ye Zhaoyan and Wild Kids: Two Novels About Growing Up by Zhang Dachun.

"The ideal translation is to bring the work to the translators' mother tongue, not his foreign language," Berry explained.

"I have only translated books that I fell in love with," he added. "I have to read the book and feel I want to devote months or even years to the text, because that is the commitment you need to bring it to life in English. So I have to have a strong attachment and excitement that will keep me engaged throughout the long process."

Berry applies the same philosophy to his own original books.

Speaking in Images: Interviews with Contemporary Chinese Filmmakers, published by Columbia University Press in 2005, is a collection of interviews with 19 Chinese filmmakers including Zhang Yimou, Jia Zhangke and Ang Lee, among which 15 were carried out in Chinese.