Category: Reading

He said something in French and then in Latin which someone translated into English as “I think, therefore I am.”

I am enjoying Douglas Hofstadter’s extended essay Translator, Trader, which is published together with his translation of the French novel That Mad Ache, by Françoise Sagan.

I sent out a challenge to many friends and colleagues to translate a charming and intricate miniature poem by the sixteenth-century French poet Clément Marot.  I received many responses, and they ranged incredibly in quality, with perfectly bilingual people often stumbling terribly and coming out with what struck me as atrocious products, and conversely, non-fluent speakers of either the source or target language coming up on occasion with truly brilliant solutions.  As I came to see how few people, whether bilingual or not, could carry out such tasks at all well, my respect for translators of literary works in which form and content are intricately fused shot up enormously. …

At some point in my life, analogous scales fell from my eyes and I came to realize how deeply artistic, even creative, is the act of translating “ordinary” works of literature – “mere” novels, so to speak.

And then, the first of his four paradoxes of translation:

How can Dante Alighieri have written a book in English, a language that didn’t even exist when he was alive…?  Or take these “quotes” by three illustrious names from antiquity:

Euripides: “Onwetendheid van tegenslagen is een duidelijk winstpunt.”

Plutarch: “Wind je over de feiten niet op, ze hebben schijt aan de kwaaie kop.”

Confucius: “Laat de zon geen tranent drogen die je kunt wegvegen uit heg oot van degene die lijdt.”

Here are three famous gents of yore, all speaking impeccable modern Dutch (and Plutarch, that sly old imp, is even rhyming!).  I found these “quotes” all on a Web site, quote marks and all.  Is this not crazy?  Well, maybe or maybe not, but quite obviously the claim of authorship is profoundly muddied up by the act of changing from one language to another.

Followed by

• the Wrong-Style Paradox: “Since writing styles are every bit as different as are faces or fingerprints, how can Person B rewrite Author A’s book from top to toe and then not cringe in claiming that the resulting sequence of words is still “by Author A”,
• the Wrong-Place Paradox: “When idioms of culture B are placed in the mouths of individuals from culture A, the result is incoherent”,
• and more

Not a big fan of this audiobook.  But I did learn.  (That’s a pretty low bar, of course.)

My thoughts:

useful information mixed into a vat of corporate informercials

Goleman’s book starts strong and has several insights. He highlights the complex nature of the apparently simple choice between paper and plastic: plastic takes much longer to degrade, but paper takes more of some resources to produce. He mentions consumer indices that make it easier for consumers to know which products have a lower ecological footprint (Good Guide, Earth Stir, and Skin Deep), and he introduces (to me, anyway) the term “greenwashing” which refers to companies that highlight some environmentally friendly element of a product in order to divert attention from a remaining ecological footprint the size of Bigfoot’s. Goleman repeats the useful, eminently doable mantra: “Know your impacts. Make improvements. Share what you learn.”

But the book feels far too long. The detail he displays on each of the indices begins to feel excruciating, and while each of the environmentally innovative firms (who realize that they can earn money AND reduce their impact: wow!) is interesting individually, the list is interminable. Too many individual products, too many quotes from industry executives talking about what great stuff they’re doing (“I see going green as a team sport”).

I feel like he spends too little time on how MUCH we consume: the entire focus is on shifting between products (with a single passing reference to the freegan movement). Some of the analysis feels unsophisticated: At one point, he refers to experiments in which people only buy products marked as environmentally friendly when they cost more (perhaps because the higher cost makes the claim more plausible), and later he highlights consumer research suggesting that people would be willing to buy environmental if it didn’t cost more. (He consistently cites loads of consumer opinion survey without really thinking about what we learn from these.) He highlights Facebook applications like How Hot Are You? and suggests an application to actually change consumer behavior, which is a giant leap (which he acknowledges, to his credit).

I think Goleman is trying to show us what’s already happening and to give a vision of what could happen. But the identity of his audience is too diffuse. If it is the consumers who are willing to do very little, I doubt they’ll have the patience to read his book. My best bet is the companies, but then, Why am I reading?

I’m not sorry I listened this book: I really learned some things. But I hesitate to recommend it. Just read the first few chapters and then look up the consumer indices. Or listen to the abridged audiobook: Some books can use it.

I got an advance copy of this, which comes out in June.  I had read the Spanish version last year, and then I read the first three chapters and the ending in this translation.  My thoughts:

Doesn’t hold a candle to Shadow of the Wind, but it’s still a good ride

If you have not read The Shadow of the Wind, stop now! Read that first! It’s much much better.

In The Shadow of the Wind (SW), Carlos Ruiz Zafón shared his love of books with us, the readers. In The Angel’s Game, he shares his love of the art of writing. He introduces us to David Martin, a young man who does editorial work for newspaper of no repute. Soon David had the opportunity to write a story – in episodes – to the newspaper. Thus begins his career as a writer. A few years later, David meets a mysterious editor who offers him the chance to write a special book in exchange for a ridiculous amount of money.

Zafón captures our attention as before: When I read the Spanish version last year, I had never read a book in Spanish so fast. There is a central mystery, unattainable love, a house with a secret, mysterious characters, and – as always – a deep passion for literature. A wealthy friend replaces SW’s Fermin as the spouter of quotable wisdom. This book is darker than SW: more murders and more curses. In addition, David is less sympathetic to the main character of SW (even during the difficult period of the manufacturer). But we come to appreciate him. Finally, the love of literature feels more dangerous than it did before.

We see some friends from the other book (although the exact relationship between the two books is not revealed until the end), and Zafón continuously demonstrates his other passion (in addition to the literature): Barcelona!

The book’s greatest weakness is that the ending is absurdly abrupt. When I arrived at the last ten pages, I could not imagine how all would be resolved in ten pages. I thought the same at the last five pages. Two of the central mysteries are solved in the last two pages.

That said, I love the way that Zafón weaves an intricate tapestry of a story. He doesn’t just speak of his love of literature and writing, he demonstrates by example.

I read this first in Spanish (El Juego del Ángel). Graves’ translation seems good, although the prose is much richer in Spanish. If you can read it in Spanish (even if it’s work), do it. It’s worth it.

Note on content: There is one sexy scene early in the book. Beyond that there’s some black magic.

Alas, they can’t all be the best mystery.  And this DEFINITELY isn’t.  My thoughts:

Who are you? And what have you done with my friend Hercule Poirot?

This, Christie’s 5th Poirot book (although it takes place earlier in time than the third, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, as this novel was earlier published as a series of stories), is by far the weakest to that point. Poirot is up against a conspiracy for world domination, and he runs around in disguises, with poisoned darts in his cigarettes and little bombs. It is not unusual for Poirot to – as he says – “play the comedy,” but much of this action feels out of character. And the ending is unsatisfying. The plan of the villains seems supremely inadequate.

I found it entertaining enough, but any of these others are better: The Mysterious Affair At Styles, Murder on the Links, Poirot Investigates, the Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and Peril at End House (i.e., every other Poirot book I have read recently). Go there first.

I just discovered this awesome collection of links to book lists.  (They stopped updated in 2004, but if the list interests you, you can just google the original list to find the latest entries.)

Among my favorites:

Weatherford’s Great and Significant Books in Anthropology

Top 50 All-Time Bestselling Children’s Books as of January 1, 2001

The Ten Bestselling Books of All-Time

Prapa’s Great and Significant Books in Economics

Agatha Award for Best Cozy Mystery Novel, 1989-2003

Firecracker Alternative Book Award for Nonfiction, 1996-2002

United Kingdom’s 50 Best-Loved Novels Written by a Woman

Sidewise Awards for Alternate History, 1996-2003