Re: BANANAFISH digest 223
Tim O'Connor (tim@roughdraft.org)
Sat, 31 Jan 1998 17:44:03 -0500
> on translated novels...yukio mishima's novels (and several of his stories,
> too) have been translated into english with success. which is to say, while
> they may not be as powerful in english as they were in japanese, they still
> knocked me on my arse...matt
Another intriguing angle on Japanese/English translation is the work of
Haruki Murakami. As a writer, he has produced some incredible and magical
work ("Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World," "The Elephant
Vanishes"), but at least part of his style, most readers concede, was
formed by his other work; he translated such writers as Raymond Carver into
Japanese, so he has a unique perspective, in my reader's ear. He takes
American style and perspective, and layers that upon a strong Japanese
sensibility. The results are wonderful when they work. ("Hard-Boiled
Wonderland" is a brilliant example.)
I recall a number of years ago, when I bought a handful of Kafka's work in
its original German incarnation, and tried very hard to learn German in
order to get "closer" to his work. But time pressures prevailed, and I had
to quit the class. I sometimes think those Kafka volumes look down at me
balefully from their shelf, completely unamused at my failure to read them.
I would like to think that old Franz would forgive me this trespass.
--tim