Of all the many types of writers there are, one type has always filled me with awe—that of translator. They have to know both languages so well that they can capture the essence of one and pour it into the other—the images, the dialogue, the slang, and the emotions. I am fond of Andrea Camilleri and have reviewed several of his wonderful novels of Inspector Montalbano as he deals with crime in contemporary Sicily. Whenever I start a book, I study the credits and copyrights and title pages, which is where you find the translators when the books are not originally written in English. Poet, writer, and translator, Stephen Sartarelli does an excellent job of finding the English words that bring to life Camilleri’s world.
A few weeks ago I was contacted by the Picador blog team, who introduced me to this fascinating site: http://www.panmacmillan.com/picador/DisplayPage.aspx?Page=Picador%20Blog The posting titled, “Notes from the Purer Linguistic Sphere of Translation,” by Stephen Sartarelli, gives an intriguing glimpse into what it takes to translate good literature into more good literature. And reinforces my feeling of awe toward translators.
A few weeks ago I was contacted by the Picador blog team, who introduced me to this fascinating site: http://www.panmacmillan.com/picador/DisplayPage.aspx?Page=Picador%20Blog The posting titled, “Notes from the Purer Linguistic Sphere of Translation,” by Stephen Sartarelli, gives an intriguing glimpse into what it takes to translate good literature into more good literature. And reinforces my feeling of awe toward translators.
1 comment:
I think it is lovely that you remind us of the oft forgotten translator who has to work so hard to bring the magic of a book from one language to another. Thank you for this post Erica.
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