by Ezra Pound
First published 2021
Kenneth Burke sits with his manuscript of Death in Venice, wrestling with Thomas Mann's German prose. Around him, three other literary giants face their own translation challenges. Ezra Pound grapples with Remy de Gourmont's philosophical treatise on love. James Gibbons Huneker works through Baudelaire's French verses. Virginia Woolf confronts the complexities of Dostoevsky's Russian narratives. Each translator brings their distinct voice to foreign masterworks, creating versions that few readers have encountered. The four writers discover that translation becomes an act of creative interpretation, where their own literary sensibilities merge with the original authors' intentions. Their individual struggles reveal how great writers transform classic texts through the lens of their own artistic vision.
Genres: biography, literary-fiction, 20th-century, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: creative-interpretation, found-family
Period: 20th-century
419 pages · Paperback