Susan Bernofsky

I've loved almost all of the translated work I've read and even those which aren't my favorite have been enjoyable for their novelty, so I was excited to pick up this anthology of essays by translators about their work. The first essay was a bit a of a let down though, too academic and abstract for my taste. Fortunately, very few essays in the collection had this flaw. Essay two, for example, provided immediate gratification with a discussion of the way translations are allowed to flout literary conventions, which resonated with me as one of my favorite features of the genre.

There were a few essays which I thought became too pedantic or talked about a text without sharing enough of the translation for me to follow. For the most part, though, the essays were easy to read but thought-provoking and raised issues I thought were relevant to me as a reader of translations. The middle portion of the book discussed an incredible range of issues translators can encounter which never occurred to me before. Some of the questions I found most interesting were whether translators should prioritize capturing the feel of the work they're translating or the exact meaning and how translators should handle words without exact matches in the language they're translating into. The essays at the end helped me understand what motivates translators. An essay by Murakami about translating The Great Gatsby was one of my favorites from this section.

Even there were a few essays in this collection which I didn't enjoy, the vast majority were both intellectually stimulating and fun reading. I think reading these essays will make me a better consumer of translated fiction, more aware of how translating works and which parts of the original are likely to be preserved through the translation process. I'm also going to try to do a better job giving translators a byline on my blog when I read translated work, because good translators are often overlooked. If you're someone who likes reading translated fiction or are interested in how languages differ from one another, I'd highly recommend this collection.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey.… (más)

I've loved almost all of the translated work I've read and even those which aren't my favorite have been enjoyable for their novelty, so I was excited to pick up this anthology of essays by translators about their work. The first essay was a bit a of a let down though, too academic and abstract for my taste. Fortunately, very few essays in the collection had this flaw. Essay two, for example, provided immediate gratification with a discussion of the way translations are allowed to flout literary conventions, which resonated with me as one of my favorite features of the genre.

There were a few essays which I thought became too pedantic or talked about a text without sharing enough of the translation for me to follow. For the most part, though, the essays were easy to read but thought-provoking and raised issues I thought were relevant to me as a reader of translations. The middle portion of the book discussed an incredible range of issues translators can encounter which never occurred to me before. Some of the questions I found most interesting were whether translators should prioritize capturing the feel of the work they're translating or the exact meaning and how translators should handle words without exact matches in the language they're translating into. The essays at the end helped me understand what motivates translators. An essay by Murakami about translating The Great Gatsby was one of my favorites from this section.

Even there were a few essays in this collection which I didn't enjoy, the vast majority were both intellectually stimulating and fun reading. I think reading these essays will make me a better consumer of translated fiction, more aware of how translating works and which parts of the original are likely to be preserved through the translation process. I'm also going to try to do a better job giving translators a byline on my blog when I read translated work, because good translators are often overlooked. If you're someone who likes reading translated fiction or are interested in how languages differ from one another, I'd highly recommend this collection.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey.… (más)

I've loved almost all of the translated work I've read and even those which aren't my favorite have been enjoyable for their novelty, so I was excited to pick up this anthology of essays by translators about their work. The first essay was a bit a of a let down though, too academic and abstract for my taste. Fortunately, very few essays in the collection had this flaw. Essay two, for example, provided immediate gratification with a discussion of the way translations are allowed to flout literary conventions, which resonated with me as one of my favorite features of the genre.

There were a few essays which I thought became too pedantic or talked about a text without sharing enough of the translation for me to follow. For the most part, though, the essays were easy to read but thought-provoking and raised issues I thought were relevant to me as a reader of translations. The middle portion of the book discussed an incredible range of issues translators can encounter which never occurred to me before. Some of the questions I found most interesting were whether translators should prioritize capturing the feel of the work they're translating or the exact meaning and how translators should handle words without exact matches in the language they're translating into. The essays at the end helped me understand what motivates translators. An essay by Murakami about translating The Great Gatsby was one of my favorites from this section.

Even there were a few essays in this collection which I didn't enjoy, the vast majority were both intellectually stimulating and fun reading. I think reading these essays will make me a better consumer of translated fiction, more aware of how translating works and which parts of the original are likely to be preserved through the translation process. I'm also going to try to do a better job giving translators a byline on my blog when I read translated work, because good translators are often overlooked. If you're someone who likes reading translated fiction or are interested in how languages differ from one another, I'd highly recommend this collection.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey.… (más)

I've loved almost all of the translated work I've read and even those which aren't my favorite have been enjoyable for their novelty, so I was excited to pick up this anthology of essays by translators about their work. The first essay was a bit a of a let down though, too academic and abstract for my taste. Fortunately, very few essays in the collection had this flaw. Essay two, for example, provided immediate gratification with a discussion of the way translations are allowed to flout literary conventions, which resonated with me as one of my favorite features of the genre.

There were a few essays which I thought became too pedantic or talked about a text without sharing enough of the translation for me to follow. For the most part, though, the essays were easy to read but thought-provoking and raised issues I thought were relevant to me as a reader of translations. The middle portion of the book discussed an incredible range of issues translators can encounter which never occurred to me before. Some of the questions I found most interesting were whether translators should prioritize capturing the feel of the work they're translating or the exact meaning and how translators should handle words without exact matches in the language they're translating into. The essays at the end helped me understand what motivates translators. An essay by Murakami about translating The Great Gatsby was one of my favorites from this section.

Even there were a few essays in this collection which I didn't enjoy, the vast majority were both intellectually stimulating and fun reading. I think reading these essays will make me a better consumer of translated fiction, more aware of how translating works and which parts of the original are likely to be preserved through the translation process. I'm also going to try to do a better job giving translators a byline on my blog when I read translated work, because good translators are often overlooked. If you're someone who likes reading translated fiction or are interested in how languages differ from one another, I'd highly recommend this collection.This review was originally posted on Doing Dewey.… (más)