MDMD John 1:49 (278.25)

[Otto]

Doug Millison:
> Some of you may recall the interview with the French translators of M&D
> that I pointed to (it was published online by the daily paper, Liberation)
> and excerpted, they reported a lot of fax interaction with Pynchon and
that
> P took a hands-on approach to collaborating with them on the translation.
>
> I don't have the French version of M&D, but it might be interesting to see
> if it persists in the John 1:49 citation -- if so, given Pynchon's
> involvement with the translation, that *might* support the argument that
> the 1:49 is intentional and not a typographical error.  Anybody out there
> have the French translation?
>

The German translator tells similar things in an interview:

STANDARD: Hatten Sie während dieser Arbeit Kontakt mit Thomas Pynchon?
(Did you have any contact to Pynchon during this work?)

Stingl: Nein, er ist in seiner Zurückgezogenheit ja doch sehr konsequent. Am
Ende habe ich ihm über den Verlag ein Fax mit offenen Fragen zuleiten
lassen, und die hat Pynchon dann sehr offen und prompt schriftlich
beantwortet.
(No, he is very consequent in his reclusiveness. At the end I faxed him some
open questions, and he has answered them openly and promptly.)

STANDARD: Er hat also keine intensive Kontrolle über die Übersetzungen
seiner Werke?
(So he's got no strict control on the translations of his books?)

Stingl: Doch, doch! Mir ist es zum ersten Mal passiert, dass ich einem Autor
Referenzen über meine bisherigen Übersetzungen zukommen lassen musste.
Pynchon hat in seinen Auslandsverträgen eine Klausel, dass er seine
Übersetzer erst genehmigen muss. Ich habe ihm dann eine Liste zugesandt:
Etwa William Gaddis' Letzte Instanz oder eine Übersetzung eines Romans von
Rick Moody, der - was ganz günstig war - von einer Agentin Pynchons betreut
wird.
(Yes, yes, he got! It has happened the first to me that I had to send an
author "references" of my previous jobs. Pynchon has got a clause in his
abroad contracts that he himself has to "license" his translators. I've sent
him a list. For example William Gaddis "A Frolic of his Own" or the
translation of a Rick Moody novel, who, what has been helpful, is a customer
of Pynchons female agent too.)
http://www.brainstorm.at/artikel/standard180999.html

I must say that the translation of "A Frolic" is a masterpiece like M&D and
I have the highest respect of Mr. Stingl.

Given this fax of "open questions" and the correction of 1:49 to 1:47 in the
German text I suspect it's a typo. But you are right, someone should check
the other translations available.

Otto