Kudos to Reese for acquiring sufficient fluency in Uzbek to render this iconic novel into English, and for his full-throated defense of his rights as translator. As a literary translator myself, he has my sympathies!
That said, I did read his “Bygone Days,” but was not impressed. Is this because, not being Uzbek, I could not feel “nostalgic” about days of yore? Because the language seemed rather flat? Or?
In the interview, he colorfully described the society — and the language — as “in transition.” But I did not sense this dynamism in his rendition.
Kudos to Reese for acquiring sufficient fluency in Uzbek to render this iconic novel into English, and for his full-throated defense of his rights as translator. As a literary translator myself, he has my sympathies!
That said, I did read his “Bygone Days,” but was not impressed. Is this because, not being Uzbek, I could not feel “nostalgic” about days of yore? Because the language seemed rather flat? Or?
In the interview, he colorfully described the society — and the language — as “in transition.” But I did not sense this dynamism in his rendition.