Micheál Ó Conghaile – Three Percent /College/translation/threepercent a resource for international literature at the University of Rochester Mon, 16 Apr 2018 14:57:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.6 Rambling Jack /College/translation/threepercent/2015/11/13/rambling-jack/ /College/translation/threepercent/2015/11/13/rambling-jack/#respond Fri, 13 Nov 2015 17:30:00 +0000 http://www.wdev.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent-dev/2015/11/13/rambling-jack/ ĴýRambling JackĴýwhatĴýs that?Ĵý
ĴýA novel. Novella, I guess.Ĵý
ĴýYeah, it looks short. What is it, a hundred pages?Ĵý
ĴýSorta. ItĴýs a duel language book, so really, only about… 50 pages total.Ĵý
Ĵý50 pages?Ĵý
ĴýIncluding illustrations.Ĵý
ĴýAnd thisĴýwhat is itĴý Dalkey ArchiveĴýthey want 14 bucks for a 50 page book?Ĵý
ĴýԨ𲹳.Ĵý
ĴýThatĴýs pretty short.Ĵý
ĴýIt is, but the book is good. What does it matter how long it is if itĴýs a good read?Ĵý
ĴýI guess. So is it?Ĵý
ĴýW󲹳?Ĵý
ĴýA good read?Ĵý
ĴýIt is. Oh yeah.Ĵý
ĴýRambling, eh? Sounds like fun.Ĵý
ĴýItĴýs not rambling like a romantic wayward hobo boxcar type of rambling, though.Ĵý
ĴýNo? Too bad.Ĵý
ĴýBut itĴýs good. Rambling, in this case, means rambling imagination.Ĵý
ĴýHܳ?Ĵý
ĴýThe protagonist. HeĴýs an old guy and his mind rambles and we get to read about it.Ĵý
ĴýSounds confusing.Ĵý
ĴýNo, no, the prose is really crisp and clear.Ĵý
ĴýWhatĴýs this other language?Ĵý
Ĵý.Ĵý
ĴýYou mean Gaelic?Ĵý
ĴýNo, Irish. ItĴýs 2015 for ChristĴýs sake.Ĵý
ĴýAnd this Irish, thatĴýs what itĴýs written in?Ĵý
ĴýYeah, but the translator, Katherine Duffy, she does a great job.Ĵý
ĴýAlright, so this is an old Irish guy, this Rambling Jack.Ĵý
ĴýYes. Jack. HeĴýs Irish. A gifted signer. Knows his old songs and all that.Ĵý
ĴýWaitĴýthereĴýs songs?Ĵý
ĴýA few, but itĴýs mainly a story about an aisling.Ĵý
ĴýA what?Ĵý
ĴýAisling. An Irish genre; a poetic technique from, like, the 17th century.Ĵý
Ĵý17th centuryĴý oh god.Ĵý
ĴýNo, itĴýs pretty amazing stuff. An aisling is a like a dream, a vision, usually of a girl.Ĵý
ĴýԳٱپԲ.Ĵý
ĴýAnd, in many cases, a young, beautiful girl.Ĵý
ĴýGetting more interesting.Ĵý
ĴýThatĴýs what happens to Jack.Ĵý
ĴýHe meets a young girl?Ĵý
ĴýSort ofĴýhe has memories of a girl, but it might also be a woman he used to love.Ĵý
ĴýWaitĴýthis is a romance?Ĵý
ĴýWell, itĴýs pretty sappy at times. Jack loved a woman and it didnĴýt end well.Ĵý
Ĵý?Ĵý
ĴýIĴým not sure. I donĴýt think weĴýre supposed to know the whole story.Ĵý
ĴýDamn writers with their games.Ĵý
ĴýWell, isnĴýt that better? I like not being spoon fed details. Makes me work a bit.Ĵý
ĴýI guess.Ĵý
ĴýAnyway, the young aisling could be the granddaughter of JackĴýs old love.Ĵý
ĴýN.Ĵý
ĴýOr maybe sheĴýs a dream of the woman he loved appearing as a young girl.Ĵý
ĴýSo itĴýs all a dream, like in a soap opera?Ĵý
ĴýSorta. ItĴýs a dream and itĴýs strange and nothing seems concrete, but it works.Ĵý
ĴýSo this JackĴý does heĴý you know. With the young girl?Ĵý
ĴýLetĴýs not get into thatĴýthe book is really bigger than that.Ĵý
ĴýBigger? ItĴýs all of 50 pages.Ĵý
ĴýIncluding illustrations.Ĵý
ĴýDoesnĴýt sound big.Ĵý
ĴýNot long, but big. And strange. And, well, kinda beautiful.Ĵý
ĴýI dunnoĴý ThereĴýs a new Franzen book. ThatĴýs, like, 500 pages.Ĵý
ĴýSure, but thereĴýs a lot to be said about a writer who can evoke something interesting in a small space as opposed to a large, bombastic novel with a lot of fat on it.Ĵý
ĴýI guess. Still, sounds a little odd.Ĵý
ĴýYeah wellĴýlifeĴýs too short to not read odd books.Ĵý

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