Andrew Hazlett // This page is a notepad for ideas, links, and things of interest to me and probably few others. My Internet home-base is at http://www.TheOccasional.org.
I am establishing a cultural commentary and curation website called The New Modern. Visit http://www.TheNewModern.net for more information.
These days, it’s no secret that translated literature gets short shrift. It has become a well-known fact that just three percent (or less) of all literature published in the United States is translated from another language. These days, too, its hardly less well-known that many publishers and book pages still shy away from translated lit for fear that the taint of a foreign language will chase away coveted consumers.
Still, translation is in a much better place now than even ten years ago. Thanks to the work of some inspired publishers and advocates, the worth of translated lit—and our gross negligence in not publishing more of it—is becoming better known. We’re even getting a certain amount of access to some of the best contemporary writing the world outside the United States has to offer.
So far we’ve come, yet still so far to go. We have the Tolstoys, yes, we even have the Murakamis, but there is so much classic and contemporary literature still out there that has never been published in English—never ever. So, to acknowledge all that’s out there, to inspire readers to thirst for more literature not originally written in English, and to do a service for those publishers in search of the next great translated book, we offer this collection of recommendations.
We’ve talked to some of the top translators into English working today; we’ve talked to publishers big and small; we’ve talked to agents, journalists, and foreign-language authors. We’ve asked them all for the best books that still aren’t in English. And have they responded. They’ve told us TRANSLATE THIS BOOK!, and now we pass that on to you.
Just as I was starting to come to terms with the fact that I'll probably never finish my "lifetime reading list" within the allotted time, along comes The Quarterly Conversation with a reminder that there are whole worlds of literature yet untranslated into the world's de facto lingua franca [Latin was my only "foreign" language in high school].
Although there is a lot of wonderful writing in English from India, there is a rich literary tradition in Bengali that remains untranslated. As I'm unlikely to pick up a thorough knowledge of that language over the next few decades, I'd like to read more in translation.
Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory: The Illustrated Edition is a rare sort of book -- a product of intellectual rigor imbued with deep emotion. First published in 1975, this work of history and literature has helped readers come to terms with the legacy of the First World War. After garnering a National Book Award and other honors, the book has been a fixture on college reading lists and "best of" lists. Now, there is a vividly illustrated edition that should spark fresh interest in Paul Fussell's nonfiction masterpiece.
My latest review for The Book Studio.
----
Update: I just came across this Consumerist post about the restaurant and venue review site Yelp deleting "secondhand" and irrevelant reviews. Why can't Amazon take similar responsibility for editing customer reviews?
My first review for WETA.org's The Book Studio is now up. Managing Editor Bethanne Patrick (better known online as The Book Maven) has been putting together an outstanding online home for book reviews and fascinating video interviews with authors of all stripes. I'm thrilled that I'll be reviewing regularly at The Book Studio, though I may have bit off more than I could chew with my first title: The Case for God, Karen Armstrong's sweeping history of man and God. Here's my take:
Religion poisons everything… God is a delusion… the end of faith... these are phrases lately found among the burgeoning supply of books by "new atheists" who take arms against a sea of holy rollers and jihadis. In an age of faith-based politics, resurgent creationism, and religious terrorism, aggressive atheists like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens have become bestselling authors.A new book attempts to take a stand against both the religious fundamentalists and their militant atheist foes. The Case for God is a landmark work of intellectual and theological history by the renowned scholar of religion Karen Armstrong.
The book is nothing less than a comprehensive history of human religion in just over three hundred pages. From painted traces of Paleolithic hunter-shamans on the Lascaux Cave walls to hip postmodernist theology, Armstrong offers a lucid narrative of humanity’s relationship with the divine. In her telling, the story of God and man unrolls like an ancient tapestry richly embroidered with scholarly insights and references from the world's many religious traditions.
It is a compelling story, but it isn’t clear that many people—secularists or religionists—will find it persuasive.
Read the thrilling conclusion of my review of The Case for God at The Book Studio.
