{"product_id":"kafkaesque-ten-great-writers-translate-the-twentieth-century","title":"Kafkaesque : Ten Great Writers Translate the Twentieth Century","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat happens to a writer's work when it's translated – specifically, what happens if his name is Franz Kafka? \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAfter Kafka died young and unknown, a German-speaking Jew in Prague, ten writers rescued him from oblivion. For years, long before he became a much misused adjective, Kafka existed mostly through their wildly different readings of his words.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMany of his first translators would later be counted among the greatest thinkers and writers of the twentieth century – and they all found in Kafka’s writing a guiding light through the dark of their own tumultuous lives. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePrimo Levi translated Kafka into Italian from the German he had learned in Auschwitz; Milena Jesenská lovingly into Czech before she too was deported to the camps; Bruno Schulz into Polish before being shot by an SS officer; and Jorge Luis Borges into Spanish as he slowly went blind. Vladimir Nabokov annotated \u003cem\u003eThe Metamorphosis\u003c\/em\u003e in exile, having undergone his own transformation from native to foreigner, while Kafka’s translators back in Russia were condemned to perpetual anonymity by the Soviet censor.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWith inventiveness, spirit and wit, Maïa Hruska has written a celebration of the impossible art of translation, and a portrait of the tragic, absurd twentieth century that Kafka so presciently described.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maïa Hruska","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57745376477571,"sku":"9780008768614","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0573\/8600\/8738\/files\/websitecovertemplate-2010.png?v=1775647986","url":"https:\/\/rarebirdsbooks.com\/products\/kafkaesque-ten-great-writers-translate-the-twentieth-century","provider":"Rare Birds Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}