For a time the Catholic Church was reluctant to approve Bible translations; now they are encouraged. What happened? This post is for students, people caught up in arguments about history and religion, and anyone else who’s ever wondered about this issue. I hope it’s a useful introduction to the topic. If you find part of… Continue reading Why the about-face on Bible translations?
Category: History
Is German “untranslatable?”
No, not unless you decide translation is impossible and every language is actually untranslatable. But William Shirer mentions in his Berlin Diary that one Major Atkinson of the BBC did an English translation of Spengler’s Decline of the West that was “even better than the original — one of the few great translations from the… Continue reading Is German “untranslatable?”
A letter from 1871
The flooding in Germany this summer reminded me of this letter I translated a few years ago, and the client gave me permission to share it. Spork is in Nordrhein-Westfalen, right by the border with the Netherlands. Josef was a family member who had left Spork to settle in Wisconsin. The flood is described in… Continue reading A letter from 1871
Dad’s tips for breaking into Spandau
While helping my mom clean out her basement, I found this 1976 newspaper clipping about the notorious SS officer Otto Skorzeny, who apparently used to boast that he would be willing and able to spring Rudolf Hess, Albert Speer, and Baldur von Schirach out of Spandau prison for a tidy sum. The columnist,… Continue reading Dad’s tips for breaking into Spandau
Homeless in Vienna
Vienna has once again been ranked the world’s best city to live in. Apparently it’s won the Mercer Quality of Living Survey 10 years in a row and from what I saw on my last visit there, I’d say the honor is well-deserved. But Vienna hasn’t always been such a great place to live. In… Continue reading Homeless in Vienna
Let’s Go: tenth-century Germany
Long before Berlitz, Lonely Planet and Let’s Go – long even before Baedeker – there was this handy German phrasebook for travelers from Francia, with the German translated into Vulgar Latin: I can show you all this thanks to Wilhelm Braune’s Althochdeutsches Lesebuch, which is in the public domain. You might think this doesn’t look… Continue reading Let’s Go: tenth-century Germany
They Thought They Were Free
This 1955 book by Milton Mayer, reissued in 2017 by University of Chicago Press with a helpful afterword by Richard Evans, is worth your time if you are interested in human beings. Mayer, a Chicago native, worked as a freelance journalist and taught Great Books seminars with Mortimer Adler and Robert Hutchins (he gets a… Continue reading They Thought They Were Free
American girls won’t get up early to shine your shoes
Deutsch für Amerikaner, my mom’s old German textbook (copyright 1960) is an interesting social-history artifact. Here’s a passage where a university student from Germany discusses the American family he’s staying with. (All these people are fictional of course, but intended to be representative of their time and place.) WHO IS HEAD OF THE HOUSEHOLD? The… Continue reading American girls won’t get up early to shine your shoes
Clara Wieck Schumann (book review)
If you’ve ever read The Gulag Archipelago, you probably remember the story where nobody wanted to be the first to stop clapping for Comrade Stalin: The applause went on—six, seven, eight minutes! They were done for! […] They couldn’t stop now till they collapsed with heart attacks! […] Nine minutes! Ten!…Insanity! To the last man!… Continue reading Clara Wieck Schumann (book review)
RIP Ray Furness
The world recently lost an inspiring teacher and all-round excellent person: Prof. Raymond Furness of the University of St. Andrews. He was the first German tutor I met at St. Andrews, at a reception for overseas students. I saw “German” on his name tag and said, “Oh!” but when he turned my way I came… Continue reading RIP Ray Furness