Finnegans Wehg

[Sascha Pöhlmann]

The edition distributed by Zweitausendeins that Kai mentioned is indeed a
complete translation of Finnegans Wake into German, if such a thing is
possible. It is called "Finnegans Wehg" and carries the subtitle "Kainäh
ÜbelSätzZung des Wehrkeß fun Schämes Scheuß". On the left page you get the
original page with some of the notes and explanations of translator Dieter
H. Stündel, on the right page you get his German version (this makes the
book so damn big, 1264 pages, format 42x30cm). Does it work? Is it good?
Well, it's a new book really. I'd say translating a book containing some 40
languages (and counting), even if based on English, is untranslatable. I
mean, what do you translate it from? And what do you do with the Germhun
parts? I don't mean to minimize Stündel's achievement. (He is so faithful to
Joyce that it took him 17 years to translate it, rougly the same time it
took Joyce to write it.) The point is: This book is as impossible to
understand for a non-English speaking German as the original. It is in a way
a very local book. However, it sometimes sounds really good, nevermind the
meanings, and that's quite a lot already. Plus, Stündel's notes can be
useful if you plan to read the original. It's a book to buy and have on your
shelf because it looks good, but you'll never read it. Hmmm. Maybe he DID
get very close to the original there... :)

Take care,
Sascha

> It*s a complete translation, as far as I know. It is published and =20
> distributed by Zweitausendeins, a book mail-order company in
> Frankfurt/Main.=
>  It  was=20
> mentioned in a brochure of Zweitausendeins. In former times,
> there existed =20=
> only=20
> a translation of the first chapter of "Finnegans Wake" in French
> (Beckett)=20
> and German (Hans Wollschl=E4ger) published by Suhrkamp. =20
>
> kwp