-
my perspective universal."
Both his first novel, Fatelessness (the
previous English translation was
Fateless) and Kaddish for an Unborn
Child (previously Kaddish for a Child
Not Born) — are available in Vintage
paperback editions, in new transla-
tions. In addition, Knopf published a
hardcover edition of another Kertesz
novel, Liquidation.
Never before available in English, it
is the story of a novelist who survives
Auschwitz and Buchenwald and
Hungary's Communist regime, only to
kill himself a decade after the fall of
communism. The death causes the
man's circle of friends to examine
their own history and memories.
All three books are translated by
Tim Wilkinson. Kertesz finds
Wilkinson's translations to be excel-
lent. Looking back on his own experi-
ence as a literary translator, Kertesz
said,"It's not enough to translate ver-
batim. You have to be very knowledge-
able of the mother tongue into which
you are translating.
"You have to understand the tune
and the tone. Those are the most
important. Any other mistakes can be
corrected. When you have a master
pianist playing, he might make one
mistake, but it doesn't invalidate the
final effect:'
Pieces Of Music
The Hungarian writer, who has also
Imre Kertesz receives his Nobel
Prize from the King of Sweden at
the Stockholm Concert Hall.
worked as a librettist to support his
writing of novels, frequently makes
musical references. (As an aside, he
notes that he doesn't see his librettos
as having literary value — he would
have worked as a lumberjack if he was
"strong enough and had the audacity
to do it.")
He looks at his novels as pieces of
music, and it's not only the musicality
of the sentences that interests him, but
the structure.
For Wilkinson, who has been trans-
lating from Hungarian to English for
more than 30 years, what's particular-
ly distinctive about Kertesz's writing
is that "although it is an attribute
shared with all truly goOd writers ...
Kertesz is able to conjure up what he
wants to write about with just a few
deftly chosen worlds."
The London-based Wilkinson said
that in translating Kertesz, there's an
advantage to having a familiarity with
the totality of his writing, as there are
many allusions to works by such other
writers as Nietzsche, Rilke, Kafka,
Camus "that are not flagged at all but
for which clues are to be found.
Sorting these out is hard work but
ultimately hugely rewarding because it
gives a real sense of the tradition of
great writing into which Kertesz fite
A reader encountering Kertesz for
the first time would do well to begin
with Fatelessness, first published in
1975 and now a feature film by award-
winning Hungarian cinematographer
Lajos Koltai. The book is a narrative of
a young man being sent to and surviv-
ing a concentration camp; the voice of
the child is unforgettable, reporting
with innocence and without judgment
on what he sees.
Kertesz worked on that novel for
about 13 years, and then it took sever-
al years to find a publisher. He laughs
when he says that 30 years after work-
ing for so many years on the book, he
spent eight weeks writing the screen-
play.
Kaddish for a Child Not Born, pub-
lished in Hungarian in 1990, is the
meditation of a man who chooses not
to bring a child into a world that could
produce Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
When told that a friend in Budapest
expressed her hope that Kertesz's
books would now be required reading
in all Hungarian schools, the Nobel
laureate smiles and said that he'd
never want to be mandatory:
"If anything, I'd want to be discov-
ered as the book students are reading
in secret during class, hidden under
the table." LJ
• Catering available at all locations
• Coupons are for all locations
including Hercules Family Restaurant
at 12 Mile & Farmington
Visit us at
www.leosconeyisland•com
Receive
$100
Off
Total Bill
Over $10
Not valid with Specials.
Not valid with any other offers.
With coupon. Expires 03/31/06
Receive
$200
off 10'0ff
Receive
Total
Bill
Total Bill
Over $20
Not valid with Specials.
Not valid with any other offers.
With coupon. Expires 03/31/06
Not valid with Specials.
Not valid with any other offers.
With coupon. Expires 03/31/06
Receive
10'Off
Total
Food Bill
Dine-in only.
Not valid with Specials.
Not valid with any other offers.
With coupon. Expires 03/31/06
I
IVATE
DINING
ROOM
010004b.41,
4420.0/4,1
FULL BAR
r), C- -t-e
1 -1_.f
FULL SERVICE
CATERING
flim401 r LOO 15
,
411Kiir',001NdeNdllw
491 /4,411PNdirNillr`morancl
, 4111PK41NolliNgeNsier;.'
INTeRIOR5
FAMILY ROHM AHD OPERATED
FOR 00E1. 1 30 ?MIS
„,
j i Mai it
WOOD FLOORS
Expertly Installed
Quality Refinishing
mi Exotic Species
Extensive Selection of:
Carpet • Area Rugs
Marble • Ceramic
Laminate • Vinyl
302t Orchard Lake Rd.
Keego Harbor
248'681 - 6460
iN
March 9 • 2006
41