“Books in translation do sell, and at bestseller levels … The Name of the Rose sold. Smilla’s Sense of Snow sold. The Elegance of the Hedgehog sold. Suite Française sold. It seems, in fact, fair to expect that every couple of years will bring a bestseller in translation, and the more worthwhile question to consider is not whether books in translation sell, but whether those bestsellers are predictable, whether there are cycles, and in that context, whether the present moment is exceptional.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Homer Simpson Is Thomas Pynchon’s Role Model
He said so himself, in notes he made on a Simpsons script to which he (yes!) contributed: “Sorry, guys. Homer’s my role model and I refuse to speak ill of him.” (includes image of script)
“I Don’t Think I’m Zorro,” Says Director Hired To Rescue Paris’s Picasso Museum
“When the state appointed him president in June and dispatched him on this emergency mission, French headlines hailed [Laurent] Le Bon in the name of that fictional masked outlaw who battled tyrannical officials. And riffing on an English translation of his last name and his reputation for diplomacy, curators in the international art world called him Larry the Good.”
Icelanders, Laplanders, Turks, Oh My! Excellent Orchestras In Unexpected Places
David Patrick Stearns: “Symphony orchestras draw great cachet from their geographical homes: Any group with Vienna, Berlin, or Amsterdam in its name is going to command immediate attention from audiences … So can an orchestra from Turkey, Iceland, or Lapland hope to be noticed at the world’s busiest orchestra festival, [the BBC Proms]? Actually, it can.”
How Scottish Culture Shook Off The “Kilted Straitjacket”
“A generation emerged in the 1970s that wondered why it was still, so late in the 20th Century, watching men in kilts dancing around swords … when none of us knew anyone who actually did this kind of thing … Scottish national identity began to wrap itself in the cause of social justice – in the idea of resistance to unaccountable wealth and power imposing its will from outside. … This Scotland was also irreverent, self-mocking, and hilariously funny.”
RSC To Stage Forgotten Play By John “‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore” Ford For First Time In Four Centuries
The revenge tragedy Love’s Sacrifice, “published in 1633 during the reign of Charles I and hardly performed since, was chosen out of 16 works proposed by four academics for the [RSC’s] Scholars Pitch programme,” in which experts nominate a neglected play from Shakespeare’s era for revival.
“The 20th Century’s Most Important Writer” (Don’t Be Afraid)
“Reading the work of Jorge Luís Borges for the first time is like discovering a new letter in the alphabet, or a new note in the musical scale.” Jane Ciabattari explains why she thinks everyone should read him (and not worry that his work might be “difficult”).
Rome’s Pathological Theater (It’s A Real Place) To Become A University
“Changing people’s perceptions of mental illness has been a longtime mission for Dario D’Ambrosi, an Italian avant-garde actor and author. For the past five years, he has led Teatro Patologico, or the Pathological Theater, an innovative drama school here that offers classes to people with mental disabilities. Now Mr. D’Ambrosi is trying to turn his school into a full-fledged university.”
Spain Returns Colombian Antiquities Seized From Drug Gangs
“Most of the ceramic items are of huge cultural and archaeological value, and date back to 1400BC. They had been smuggled out of South America … by a man who specialised in laundering money for the drug cartels.”
In Germany, Dubbing Movies Is (Like Humor) A Very Serious Matter
“Over the last few decades, especially in Western Europe, dubbing has emerged as something close to an art form, with actors making a living speaking for cherished global movie stars. In Germany, dubbing, or synchronization, as it is known, has also become a big business.” Dietmar Wunder, who voices the likes of Daniel Craig, Don Cheadle and Adam Sandler, is one of the field’s stars. (includes video)