The Last Samurai

[avva]

LanguageHat так увлекательно описывает свой восторг от прочтения романа The Last Samurai - первого романа пока ещё неизвестной писательницы Helen DeWitt - что подмывает самому купить и прочитать. И эта цитата из книги тоже замечательна:

The first sentence of this little-known work runs as follows:

Es ist wirklich Brach- und Neufeld, welches der Verfasser mit der Bearbeitung dieses Themas betreten und durchpflügt hat, so sonderbar auch dieses Behauptung im ersten Augenblick klingen mag.

I had taught myself German out of Teach Yourself German, and I recognised several words in this sentence at once:

It is truly something and something which the something with the something of this something has something and something, so something also this something might something at first something.

I deciphered the rest of the sentence by looking up the words Brachfeld, Neufeld, Verfasser, Bearbeitung, Themas, betreten, durchpflügt, sonderbar, Behauptung, Augenblick and klingen in Languenscheidt's German-English dictionary.

Я редко читаю новых, малоизвестных авторов по-английски - просто потому, что так много известных ещё не прочитаны. Но стоит, наверное, иногда делать исключения из этого правила.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I'm delighted to see I've lured you to Ms. DeWitt - I promise you won't regret it! But I was distressed to see (in the brutally clear mirror of your copied quote) that I had added an excrescent u to Langenscheidt in typing those complicated paragraphs. I try to proofread myself, but... anyway, I can't bear letting typos stand, so I corrected it in my entry; I mention it here so that no one comparing your quote and mine (unlikely, but still) will think that you made the typo. Mea culpa.

Steve

Typos

[afuchs.livejournal.com]

You cannot bear letting typos stand and therefore will not regard my remark as a cavil, hopefully -- the "Behauptung" should be "diese", not "dieses."

Unless the typo in the quoted quotation is intentional.

In process of "proof-reading" I feel being enticed, too.

Re: Typos

[(Anonymous)]

Not at all, I'm extremely grateful - my German is not up to snuff, so I wouldn't have noticed it on my own - many thanks, and I'm off to fix it in my entry! (I checked my copy of the book, and I simply mistyped it.)

Steve