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/lit/ - Literature

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3749952 No.3749952 [Reply] [Original]

Thoughts on Bolaño?

I find is work very, very good. Just finished The Savage Detectives, not as good as 266, but still a delightful work.

>> No.3749961

I bet you read him in English.

Ha, ha, pleb.

>> No.3749966

>>3749961

Yes, I did, so? Stop deying the power of translations. I bet you also read Dostoyevsky in Russian.

>> No.3749969

>>3749952
Jesus Christ, reading 2666 at the moment.

It's overwhelming, to say the least.

>> No.3749973

>>3749966
>implying Spanish is as difficult as Russian
>implying you're not just a lazy, monolingual embarrassment

Live the stereotype. Be the stereotype, you dumb American.

>> No.3749975

I studied Spanish in high school for five or so years. With a dictionary could I read Bolaño in spanish?

>> No.3749979

>>3749975
Just because you "studied in high school" for 5 years doesn't mean anything. Everyone knows high school is basically just free babysitting service where just showing up means you get at least a B.

>> No.3749982

>>3749979
Yeah I know. I'm saying I have a basic knowledge of spanish syntax and a decent vocabulary. So would it be reasonable to read books in spanish by consulting a dictionary?

>> No.3750004

>>3749982
It depends on how long you'd want to go looking up all the words you don't know.

Can you read this paragraph, from 2666, without dictionarial aid:

"Pero al cabo de pocos minutos volvieron a lamentar el incidente, por más que en su fuero íntimo estuvieran convencidos de que el verdadero derechista y misógino era el paquistaní, de que el violento era el paquistaní, de que el intolerante y mal educado era el paquistaní, de que el que se lo había buscado era el paquistaní, una y mil veces. En estas ocasiones, la verdad, si el taxista se hubiera materializado ante ellos, seguramente lo habrían matado."

You might want to get Bolaño's .mobis (which are almost all right here: https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B-Jj-XE2bMuWMDUwMjJiNjktMzkyZC00ZjNlLTk5Y2YtZmUzM2FmYjJjNTdh/edit?hl=en&pli=1)) and download a Spanish-English dictionary for Kindle. That way, if you don't know a word, you can just select it with the cursor and get an instant translate.

>> No.3750033

>>3750004
Yeah I would need a dictionary to get more than a gist of the meaning. That's kind've depressing though, knowing that my high school language classes did very little for me. I mean I knew they were shitty. Should've taken latin. Only good language instruction at my high school.

>> No.3750046

>>3750033
Don´t worry about it. Lots of people tell me they studied in high school for 4 years and then they end up not being able to speak the language on even on a really basic level.

It´s no big deal, as most people know "I studied it in high school" means almost nothing.

>> No.3750051

>>3750046
Any thoughts on how I can actually learn spanish? I at least have a shaky foundation. I guess immersion is the best option but it's not a realistic one for me at the moment. Are uni level courses any better than high school ones?

>> No.3750054

>>3749952
Everything I've read of his I've immensely enjoyed. His energy and ambition are both stunning, but for some reason I'm always more excited by him right after I finish something of his. After a while the admiration begins to fade.
I'd recommend him wholeheartedly to anyone around 21 and about to start reading the "big" books, but six months after I read one of his, I no longer feel like I'd count them among the truly great contemporary works. Don't know how to account for it.

>> No.3750065

Language elitists always seem to avoid talking about the actual text at hand and rather start spouting off inane shit about 'muh original language'. It's really quite humorous to see.

>Buttmad incoming

>> No.3751379

>>3749973
>>3749961
I read Borges in translation...(Borges is the translator).

Stay mad, white argie.

>> No.3751388

>>3751379
>I read Borges in translation...(Borges is the translator).

>I read an inferior version, stay mad fag.
We're all very angry that you can't read the superior original. Very angry. So angry. Like, grrr.

>> No.3751395

>>3751388
> brb learning german instead

>> No.3751419

>>3751388
implying Borges wasn't the biggest champion of translation

implying you even understand the text you're fetishizing

0/10, ps youre black

>> No.3751485

Got 120 pages into 2666 and could not keep going. Put it down. Will restart and complete this summer I think.

The Savage Detectives is one of my favorite books of all time at this point. I'd say it's a must read.

>> No.3751486

>>3751419
Spanish is my native language. I had the fortune to read Borges both in Spanish and in English (a frien of mine had an English version of Aleph). You are completely right, Borges is an excellent translator and the little he loses of his works in translation he makes up adding beautiful tones in English. The guy up there either doesn't know what he's talking about or just had a boring day and is trying to fix that