The best Fall for the Book event that I attended was with the author Simon Freuland. He is a Danish author who had his works translated into English. The translator who translated his works was also present. Even though the author spoke English as a second language, he was very well spoken, even among the other authors' events I attended.
The great thing about having the translator of the works present, was the insight into the translation process. I was surprised to find out that at least in the case of this author and a Danish to English translation, very little, if anything was lost in terms of story meaning and intentions. There was nothing lost in translation, if you will. Which I found fascinating, considering an unintended audience from a completely different culture and that speak a completely different language can still enjoy a piece of literature the way it was intended by the author.
I also found interesting was the way the Simon Freuland had written a particular short story, unsettled, and himself not knowing the meaning. I like that an author can write something, and not know the ending ahead of time. And in the case of this particular story, it works well with the ambiguous nature of the story and its conclusion, in that, it really shouldn't have just one interpretation of it.
I felt I got more out of it, than the other events I attended. The author followed expected protocol and read a short piece, and discussed the story with the audience in an engaging way. I wasn't pressured to buy anything, and I wasn't lectured to. I felt that I was able to have a genuine conversation with the author. Which made me even more interested in the author, which I believe was the point of the event in the first place.
-Phillip Cobey
No comments:
Post a Comment