Happy first-of-July Friday, Asymptote! This week, annoyingly talented polyglot Vladimir Nabokov’s letters reveal—what, exactly? Marital discord and a whole lot of influence from his wife, Véra (among other things).
And the novel may be changing, but that’s a good thing. A dystopian novel written during the protests in the Ukraine—on Facebook, no less—will be translated into English (and published as a book). Good thing it’ll be published—and translated—by actual human beings, as computer-driven writers and translators aren’t quite up to the task just yet. And Palestinian and Israeli poets protest the house arrest of Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour, who is punished for an “inflammatory” poem.
The Internet featured blog friend (and fodder for the roundup) Michael Orthofer’s “quest to read and review the world” at his website, the aptly titled Complete Review, earlier this year. Yet another profile has sprung up, highlighting the impressive work Orthofer—who has also served as judge for the Best Translated Book Award—does to “explain the literature of the world.” Plus, Orthofer is going to be featured on a podcast soon—let him know what you want to know.
You know French writer Jules Verne for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but critics like Barthes (and less-likable figures like Sarkozy) agree that Mikhail Strogoff is Verne’s strongest work: a new English-language translation brings the original to new readers.
You probably already saw it, but this week’s Atlantic article about the relative efficiency (and inefficiency) of languages had us scratching our heads. What if over-determinism is extra-efficient?