The Novel of the Century brings to life the extraordinary story of how Victor Hugo managed to write his novel of the downtrodden despite a revolution, a coup d'etat and political exile; how he pulled off the deal of the century to get it published, and set it on course to become the novel that epitomizes the grand sweep of history in the nineteenth century.
David Bellos had his first taste of translation when he read a Penguin Classics edition of Crime and Punishment while sitting in the attendant's hut in the car park at Southend Airport; that same summer, he got his first interpreting job - helping a seafood seller to import Portuguese oysters from a middleman in France. He went on to teach French language and literature at Edinburgh, Southampton and Manchester, but it was only when he encountered Georges Perec's Life A User's Manual and was so convinced it should be read in English that he dared to think he too could become a translator. Since then he has translated many books from French and won numerous prizes, including the first Man Booker International Translator's Award and the Goncourt Prize for biography for the French translation of Georges Perec- A Life in Words. He is now Professor of French and Comparative Literature at Princeton, where her directs the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication. He clings to the view that even the most difficult and complicated things can be spoken of in plain and comprehensible prose.
Praise for Georges Simenon:
"One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories." --The Guardian "These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself." --The Washington Post "Maigret ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals." --People "I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov." --William Faulkner "The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature." --Andre Gide "A supreme writer . . . Unforgettable vividness." --The Independent (London) "Superb . . . The most addictive of writers . . . A unique teller of tales." --The Observer (London) "Compelling, remorseless, brilliant." --John Gray "A truly wonderful writer . . . Marvelously readable--lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates." --Muriel Spark "A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were a part of it."lle --Peter Ackroyd "Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century." --John Banville
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
