Here’s a website I can recommend very highly: A.S. Kline’s collection of poetry in translation. I perused the German section and was favorably impressed. But many languages are represented – check it out if you’re looking for more reading material to keep you busy at home. Kline is working on a new verse translation of… Continue reading Poetry in Translation
Month: March 2020
How to stay sane on Twitter
Thought I had COVID-19 the other day but it turned out I’d just messed up my nose by sauteeing a whack ton of jalapeños until they smoked. So I’m still here. Still working on some projects – a book, an exhibition catalogue (when will people start going to exhibitions again?), and a collection of essays… Continue reading How to stay sane on Twitter
COVID-19 and the end of Waldenponding
Well, for the past 4 years I’ve largely been doing what Venkatesh Rao would call “Waldenponding,” that is, retreating from the Internet the way Thoreau retreated to his cozy cottage in the woods. I’m not completely gone – I still use email, maintain this website (a de facto part of the Cozy Web due to… Continue reading COVID-19 and the end of Waldenponding
When bad translations are good
Today I ran across an example of a category most people don’t know about: extremely close translations for opera singers. I say “close” rather than “literal” because it’s not just about communicating the exact meaning, but also keeping words in mostly the same order so that you could basically nail the target sentence on top… Continue reading When bad translations are good