You may have seen this elsewhere, but apparently Art Garfunkel has been keeping a list of every book he’s read since 1968. It’s not an unimpressive list, but I think a lot of people have been overly impressed by the current number. It’s really only about twenty-five to thirty books a year. I read a little over fifty books last year, and even I feel like I’m way behind the curve.
Month: January 2007
Over at Bookslut, Adrienne Martini takes issue with translations:
My shunning of works that have been moved out of their original tongue is based on my deep-seated belief that language is a vast and subtle mistress whose will cannot be tamed just because you have a box of shiny baubles to give her. Language and culture are inextricably intertwined. You can’t separate one from the other and you need to have a solid footing in one to fully grok the other.
Which may very well be the case, but, really, what’s the alternative? Either learning to read in the original languages — no small feat, that, even if it was just one — or not reading the books at all? Personally, I would much rather read a book in translation and possibly miss out on some of the nuances that only a native speaker would catch than not read and miss everything.
Martini goes on to write:
The same holds true to a lesser degree for book that are written by other English speakers with whom I do not share a country. Even with writers like Neil Gaiman and Jo Walton, who are incredibly accessible on infinite levels, I still feel that there are tiny bits of information that I’m not picking up on because I didn’t grow up under a Queen’s rule.
Which, I have to say, sounds fairly ridiculous. I don’t know about her, but part of why I read is so that I can encounter those different perspectives, so that I can see a world that’s different from the one I grew up in. If we start excluding books by writers of different nationalities, why not then also exclude writers of different genders, or centuries, races, sexual persuasions, or whatever category we think we can’t relate to? How could I hope to understand anything a black woman in the 1800s might have to say, for instance? What do I know about gay men living in the 1960s? Victorian England? Aboriginal Australia? Turn-of-the-century China? I just wouldn’t get it; why even try?
I agree with Martini that Andreas Eschbach’s The Carpet Makers is not a perfect book, and I will even concede that some of that may be due to translation. Maybe it is a better book in the original German. But I’m still very glad for the opportunity to read it without needing to be a native German speaker.
The FBI held the first in a series of workshops for Hollywood screenwriters to help them create a realistic portrayal of the FBI — as per the FBIs recent request.
Personally, I learned everything I need to know about the FBI from watching Corky Romano. I’m sorry, did I say watching? I meant trying to claw my own eyes out so I wouldn’t have to watch.
Of course, this could all just be an elaborate sting operation by the FBI. Osama bin Laden very well could be shopping around a Corky II screenplay for all we know…
The Friday Random Guess 10, “Three-Day Weekend, Hooray!” Edition:
- “City of Dreams” by Talking Heads, guessed by Remi
The dinosaurs did a dance - “The Lamb Sells Condos” by Final Fantasy
Oh honey, honey, shut your mouth - “Not the Doctor” by Alanis Morissette
Lend me some fresh air - “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel, guessed by Thud
I’ve come to talk with you again - “36-24-36” by Violent Femmes, guessed by Thud
I want lots of pretty chicks - “Call Me the Breeze” by J.J. Cale (or others), guessed by Kim
Ain’t no change in the weather, ain’t no change in me - “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” by the Beatles, guessed by Thud
The judge does not agree and he tells them so - “Peaches” by the Presidents of the United States of America, guessed by Remi
They were put there by a man in a factory downtown - “Beyond Belief” by Elvis Costello
You’ll never be alone in the bone orchard - “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Gus (orig. Blue Oyster Cult), guessed by Betty
Romeo and Juliet are together in eternity
Artist and song, as always. Best of luck! Last week’s answers here.