Hartford Courant--Pynchon mention

[Richard Romeo]

Our man can obviously read French it appears--rich

Copyright 2002 The Hartford Courant Company
THE HARTFORD COURANT


January 20, 2002 Sunday, STATEWIDE

SECTION: ARTS; Pg. G8

LENGTH: 1749 words

HEADLINE: UNTOUCHABLES OF THE LITERARY CAST;
LA LETTRE PARISIENNE

BYLINE: VALERY LAMEIGNERE



snip...



   The Writer And His
    Foreign Voice
   It is commonly admitted that a gap often separates an artist from what 
one can imagine of him/her through the appreciation of his work. To avoid 
the usual disappointment, the well known rule is to never meet the man 
behind the book. The scrupulous translator, however, almost always 
transgresses this rule (either in person or in spirit), as translating 
implies going past the simple reading to discover the intimate architecture 
of the novel. Going up the course of the words like Theseus pulled Ariadne's 
thread, the translator sometimes finds himself burglarizing some of the 
author's most private
thoughts. This will inexorably lead the protagonists to experience a vast
range of intense and colorful feelings toward one another.
   Off the record, translators share juicy stories of authors and 
translators wishing to deepen their literary knowledge of each other with 
billets doux instead of fine words. Hardly surprising, considering the kind 
of closeness they experience through writing.
   Of course, there are many other ways of showing one's trust. Jim 
Harrison, for instance, allows his translator Brice Matthieussent to add 
little passages of his own coinage on the French version: "I think Brice 
writes better than I do, anyway," he jokes. Harrison and Matthieussent 
developed a deep friendship, and the translator ended up filming a 
documentary and writing a book about Harrison.
   Being the kind of translator who needs direct contact with the one he 
translates, Matthieussent got a little worried when he was asked to work on 
"Mason & Dixon," by the famously discreet Thomas Pynchon.
   "Thirty years ago, Pynchon hacked the computer of his university in order 
to delete any information about him. ... I was wondering how he would react 
to my inquiries." Pynchon asked to read 100 pages before giving his 
definitive consent. Matthieussent wondered if Pynchon read French; even when 
they don't, witers sometimes suggest they know the language to try to 
maintain some control and increase the pressure on the translator. A week 
later, Pynchon sent back the 100 pages to Matthieussent along with a simple 
Post-it note: "This adjective is slightly stronger than the one you have 
translated in French."

snip

LOAD-DATE: January 22, 2002

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