SOUNDTRACK: COLIN STETSON: “Horn of Plenty” (interview, NPR’s All Things Considered) (2011).
I’ll be mentioning some recordings by Stetson shortly, but as an introduction to this man and his bass saxophone, this ten minute piece from NPR is absolutely essential. I had listened to his recent album and NPR has two concerts from him that are downloadable. I enjoyed the music, but after listening to this interview it gave me so much more appreciation for what the man is doing.
For a lot of classical and jazz, knowing what the author “meant” can help. Knowing that The Moldau is a river makes Bedřich Smetana’s piece all the more interesting and moving. Similarly, knowing that “Judges” is about horses… well, holy crap yes it is.
More importantly, knowing how he does what he does–circular breathing: taking air in through your nose while breathing out through your mouth (try it…it’s not possible) allows Stetson to essentially never have to stop playing. (Tenacious D has a very funny version of this called “Inward Singing,” although it lacks the gravitas of Stetson.)
Also, the bass saxophone weighs twenty pounds nad is almost as tall as him. The picture is preposterous. Who even thinks of making music with such a thing. And yet he does. Unsettling music, sure, but music nonetheless. Listen to this interview and be amazed.
[READ: 2010-2011 and beyond] Natasha Wimmer
Many readers don’t read anything that was written in a different language. And those of us who do probably give little thought to the translator. Until recently I didn’t give much thought about them either. Often I assumed that if I didn’t like a book, it was the author not the translator. And that could be true, but it may also not be so easy a judgment.
Natasha Wimmer has translated many of Roberto Bolaño’s English publications (she has not translated them all–see below–and, she has also translated other writers). But she has famously translated The Savage Detectives which rocketed her to prominence, and then she managed his unwieldy 2666. She has also recently translated Between Parentheses, the book I am currently reading.
Between Parentheses is a collection of newspaper columns, essays and pseudo-fictions. It is a far cry from the convoluted masterwork that is 2666 and yet Wimmer has made this collection of essays utterly readable (I’ll review the book proper when I finish it). Again, obviously the work is Bolaño’s and he deserves the credit. But as I’m reading these newspaper articles, I am aware that they were written in Spanish. And yet the word choices that Wimmer uses, from idioms to real seventy-five-cent words make the essays flow, give them real impact and really convey the kind of writer that Bolaño was. Let’s take just one example picked not at random but because it uses a real seventy-five-cent word and it mentions David Foster Wallace (can I go a week without mentioning him?). In “All Subjects with Fresán”, Bolaño states that he and Rodrigo Fresán spend much of their time talking about various subjects; he lists 30. Number 22 is “David Lynch and the prolixity of David Foster Wallace.” I have no idea what word Bolaño used in Spanish (he has an amazing vocabulary, so I’m sure it was a Spanish 75 cent word) but how many translations would have used the word prolixity? [Okay I had to look it up, he uses “palabrerío” which Collins translated as “verbiage, hot air.” How much more outstanding is “prolixity”!–Oh, and as if Bolaño wasn’t prone to palabrerío himself].
Ideally, a translator is supposed to be invisible. You’re not supposed to think about them, and typically it’s when you get to a clunky translation that you really notice them. I have recently been made aware of a number of translations that have far exceeded the previous versions that have been published in English. Lydia Davis’ translation of Proust’s Swann’s Way is supposed to be exceptional. And Edith Grossman’s translation of Don Quixote is meant to make the masterpiece really readable in English (I’ve always been afraid to read it because the translation was supposed to be quite dull, but I’m really game to give it a try with this translation).
As an English reader, I am quite lucky that so many great works of literature are written in my native tongue. And yet I am also spoiled because I don’t have to look outside of my comfort zone. There are ample foreign writers who have written excellent books. In theory, the best ones get translated over here, but some of them never make to America. Others are given a hasty translation and publication. And then others take a while to make it here and then the floodgates open. That is the case with Bolaño. Wimmer’s translation of Bolaño’s The Third Reich is due out in November. And, in the meantime, Bolaño’s Tres, has just been published, translated by Bolaño’s poetry translator, Laura Healy (I want to give her major props, because I can’t imagine how difficult it is to translate poetry).
Bolaño’s shorter, earlier books have mostly been translated by Chris Andrews. I don’t mean to sell Andrews short at all, because his translations of Bolaño’s early work are wonderful. And I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by him. I suppose in some ways he got the shaft because Wimmer was the one called to do The Savage Detectives, thereby putting her on the map with Bolaño’s first “hit.” But Bolaño is never an easy read–he’s evocative and, as mentioned, a poet, so his word choices are precise, and Andrews does a great job to make these difficult stories enjoyable. Chris Andrews has also translated César Aira, who I have not yet read but whose books sound wonderful. Aira was also a friend of Bolaño’s who contributes an introduction to Aira’s An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter (translated by Andrews–put out by New Directions–I’m starting to think I need to read everything that New Directions puts out). There’s also a great interview with Andrews in Quarterly Conversation.
Of course, even though Bolaño’s earlier books are convoluted and a bit crazy, they never quite reach the manic highs and lows of Savage and 2666. And for that reason, I think of Wimmer more when I think of Bolaño, and that’s why she gets the title of this post (well, and also because I’m reading Between Parentheses).
The opening photo of Wimmer is an original that comes from Curiosity; A Photoblog. I am particularly taken with it because it looks so much like this photo of Bolaño–same pose, same glasses, if Bolaño had more hair….
For ease of searching I include: Roberto Bolano, Bedrich Smetana, Rodrigo Fresan, palabrerio, Cesar Aira
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