Books

Translation Works

Sanyat Sattar

Venicey Mrittue (Death in Venice)
Thomas Mann
Abdul Hai (Translator)
Shilpataru Prakashani; February 2003
ISBN: 9844553512

The world-famous masterpiece by Nobel laureate Thomas Mann is now translated into Bengali by Abdul Hai. Published on the eve of World War I, a decade after 'Buddenbrooks' had established Thomas Mann as a literary celebrity, Death in Venice tells the story of Gustav von Aschenbach, a successful but aging writer who follows his wanderlust to Venice in search of spiritual fulfillment that instead, leads to his erotic doom. In the decaying city, besieged by an unnamed epidemic, he becomes obsessed with an exquisite Polish boy, Tadzio. "It is a story of the voluptuousness of doom," Mann wrote. "But the problem I had especially in mind was that of the artist's dignity." Abdul Hai's translation is consistent with the illusion of hope and tragedy of passion that Mann writes of so simply and deftly. A wonderful translation that lets us forget that it is not Mann's own words and is, in fact, a translation.

Beowulf: A Verse Translation
Seamus Heaney (Translator)
Daniel Donoghue (Editor)
W.W. Norton & Company; December 2001
ISBN: 0393975800

Winner of the Whitbread Prize, Seamus Heaney's translation "accomplishes what before now had seemed impossible: a faithful rendering that is simultaneously an original and gripping poem in its own right". The translation is combined with first-rate annotation. Heaney's clear and insightful introduction to Beowulf provides readers with an understanding of both the poem's history in the canon and Heaney's own translation process. "Contexts" provides a rich selection of material on Anglo-Saxon and early Northern culture. "Criticism" features eight essays carefully chosen for their relevance to undergraduate readers, including a full discussion of the Old English poem that lies behind Heaney's translation. Contributors include J.R.R. Tolkien, John Leyerle, Jane Chance, Roberta Frank, Fred C. Robinson, Thomas Hill, Leslie Webster, and Daniel Donoghue. A Glossary of Proper Names and a Selected Bibliography are included.

Ourika: An English Translation
Claire De Duras
John Fowles (Translator)
Modern Language Association; December 1994
ISBN: 0873527801

Ourika is an amazing tale set in France during the French Revolution. Published in 1823, de Duras' novel represents a number of firsts: the first novel set in Europe to have a black heroine; the first French literary work narrated by a black female; and the first serious attempt by a white author to express the feelings of a black character. The story is based on a true account of a Senegalese girl, rescued from slavery and raised by an aristocratic French family. When Ourika overhears a conversation that makes her aware of her race and the prejudices it produces, her reality is shattered. This revelation causes her to become ill and she is no longer able to enjoy the lifestyle to which she is accustomed. Her struggle to reject living as a French woman and to exist as a black woman causes her to choose an "invisible" subsistence by removing mirrors and by wearing gloves to cover her hands and dresses to hide her neck and arms. Her desire to be cured causes her to seek medical attention. It is after her visits with the doctor that her "happiness" is restored. This enchanting story in this mind-blowing translation will be enjoyed by all.

(Those who want to know more about these books can email to sanyatsattar@hotmail.com)