"Britain's literary scene is so parochial that there is virtually a conspiracy against readers experiencing the best of the world's literature". Yes, and I agree with John Carey's speech. "If such laxity had applied 50 or 60 years ago, "that would have meant, for the English reader, no Kafka, no Camus, no Calvino, no Borges," he said.
Funny, I don't recall seeing translations of the inheritors of such Modernist greats (Handke, Bernhard, Appelfeld, Hofmann, to name but four) getting much attention from the chief literary critic of the Sunday Times.
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European novels aren't translated/ published in English as much as English into French, German, etc. Well, for that matter, not many Egyptian writers are available in English! It made me think (mentioned in in passing in a Molesky post the other day) of 'Le Ton Beau de Marot' 1997) by Douglas Hofstadter, who tackled translation to an extent in 'Godel, Escher, Bach', if I remember correctly. Yes, for e.g. page 372
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding me of that Hofstadter book Andy. I did try to get a copy once, but that was before Abebooks.
ReplyDeleteJosipovici could almost be called an Egyptian novelist I suppose!