Category: literary life
LanguageHat has a post on the lengths to which publishers go to “localize” a novel. If the novel was originally published in Britain, say, some changes might be made prior to its U.S. publication. But in the case of A.S. Byatt’s Possession, the differences seem to go beyong localization efforts. Here are two paragraphs that he cites:
The U.K. version:
…he saw himself as a failure and felt vaguely responsible for this. He was a small man, with very soft, startling black hair and small regular features. Val called him Mole, which he disliked. He had never told her so.
The U.S. version:
…he saw himself as a failure and felt vaguely responsible for this. He was a compact, clearcut man, with precise features, a lot of very soft black hair, and thoughtful dark brown eyes. He had a look of wariness, which could change when he felt relaxed or happy, which was not often in these difficult days, into a smile of amused friendliness and pleasure which aroused feelings of warmth, and something more, in many women. He was generally unaware of these feelings, since he paid little attention to what people thought about him, which was part of his attraction. Val called him Mole, which he disliked. He had never told her so.
Why the extensive changes? You’ll have to hop on over to LanguageHat to find out.
The Booker shortlist has been announced: Margaret Atwood, Monica Ali, Damon Galgut, Zoe Heller, DBC Pierre, and Clare Morrall have made the cut. The BBC has brief profiles of the authors.
If you’re in the L.A. area, you can hear Monica Ali read from Brick Lane at Dutton’s Brentwood on Thursday.
Stephen King will receive a National Book medal for distinguished contribution to American letters this November. Previous recipients include John Updike, Arthur Miller, Philip Roth and Toni Morrison. Let the mud slinging begin.
Based on statistical analyses comparing the texts of dozens of plays, two French researchers claim that most of Moliere’s comedies (including Tartuffe and Le Misanthrope) were written by the more highbrow Corneille. This finding has inspired Moliere, Corneille, Rumsfeld, an Op-Ed by Daniel Mendelsohn.
Around this time last year, there was a lot of talk about the fact that conservative/pro-war books were selling more briskly than the liberal/anti-war ones. Then Stupid White Men happened, and with it the Scott Ritter and Noam Chomsky bestsellers. The trend is now stronger: With the exception of the telebimbo-whose-name-shall-not-be-used-on-this-site, the New York Times non-fiction best-seller list is now dominated by liberal authors: Not just Michael Moore, but also Al Franken (Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them), Joe Conason (Big Lies), Jim Hightower (Thieves in High Places) etc.
Neal Pollack writes to Moby about the Believer manifesto and the furor over their snarkwatch. Elsewhere, Gawker likens Eggers to “a demented 80s Larry Flynt.”