“Translation is, as I am wont to say, an impossibility. Every language is unique to itself. So a translator tackles that impossibility anew with every author, with every sentence for that matter. Arno Schmidt is in one sense just another case of impossibility. The density of his prose is sui generis, even in German, which can be intimidatingly dense. Then there’s the word play, the dance of literary references, the Rabelaisian humor, all packed into what I like to think of as ‘fairy tales for adults.’ So, what does a translator do? He puts on his fool’s cap and dances and hopes he amuses.” That’s James Woods on the Herculean task of translating Arno Schmidt’s BOTTOM’S DREAM from the German. Originally published in 1970, Schmidt’s colossal magnum opus has been lovingly reissued by the lunatics at Dalkey Archive Press. 🇩🇪 #translatedtuesday #arnoschmidt #bottomsdream #dalkeyarchive (at Unabridged Bookstore)
