NP translation

[mikebailey at speakeasy.net]

good point, there's probably more need of marketeers to help drum up demand for exotic literature, and cultural arbiters to inspire people to read at all

still, as the voice said, build it and they will come....

> -----Original Message-----
> From: jd [mailto:wescac at gmail.com]
> Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 02:18 AM
> To: mikebailey at speakeasy.net
> Cc: pynchon-l at waste.org
> Subject: Re: NP translation
> 
> I'm not so positive that it's necessarily that the books aren't being
> translated, more that there isn't interest from publishers / readers
> for said works.
> 
> 
> 
> On 9/14/06, mikebailey at speakeasy.net <mikebailey at speakeasy.net> wrote:
> > http://www.pen.org/page.php/prmID/826
> >
> > Andrew Grabois, the senior director of the R. R. Bowker company, which keeps track of publishing industry figures, said this week that of the 185,000 books printed in English in the United States in 2004, only 874 were adult literature in translation. Mr. Rushdie called the low number of translated books "shocking."
> >
> > ----------
> > is there any money to be made doing that?
> >
> > I guess it would be a matter of heavy duty language skills and also pretty strong writing skills...
> >
> > then too, you wouldn't just translate a big book on spec probably...need some credentials and so forth, have to get permissions...
> >
> > what a fun career though (like the heroine in "Gaudi Afternoon" to be a translator living in Barcelona, that'd be a good lifestyle) and if I could learn some language that's virgin to Gravity's Rainbow, be able to talk shop with Pynchon!
> >