When I’m in the middle of translating a book, every cell of my brain is completely consumed by it. It’s hard for me to focus on anything else because I’m so immersed in the story, the characters, the words, the feeling… I choose each word with incredible care and approach each translation problem with pages of notes, setting out my options, keeping track of the research I’ve done, weighing out the respective benefits of each possible choice that could be made, and eventually my reason for deciding to translate something in a particular way.
When I’m finished the entire translation, it usually takes days or weeks to really get my head back into other things. Slowly, all of the words and ideas from the book settle into a deeper layer in my brain. I feel as if they’ll always be there, though, not far away, ready to pull out whenever I need them. I’m finding that’s not the case, though…
My translation Turing’s Delirium, by Edmundo Paz Soldán, came out in 2006. Like most books I’ve translated, once the initial excitement of having the physical book in my hands had worn off, I set it proudly on the bookshelf in my living room and eventually turned to other projects. I never pick up the books I’ve translated – the desire to change just this little word here or that little phrase there is too much. There’s always something I think I could improve but once a book is in print, that’s no longer an option. I therefore find it best just to leave the book be and satisfy myself with gazing proudly at the spine, knowing I brought it to life in another language.
This year, however, Professor Paulo Horta at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, has asked me to dredge up some of my memories about this particular translation and the translation process. He’s teaching a course on world literature and using Turing’s Delirium as one of the books. His students have now read it and passed on questions to both the author, Edmundo, and I. I’m thrilled to be included in this. Paulo is really making a point of examining the book “in translation” and he’s acknowledging my contribution by involving me in the discussion.
In this particular case, the book is very different in Spanish and in English: chapters were added, character motivations changed, aspects of characters modified. I was resistant to the changes at first but because Edmundo was fine with them, I slowly grew to accept the majority of them as well. (There are still a few I regret, though!)
In any event, Paulo’s students have asked some insightful questions and I would like to give equally insightful answers, but I’m finding that what I did or why I did what I did in the translation isn’t so easily accessible in what is evidently a much deeper layer in my brain than I’d thought. It seems the book I just finished in December is sitting on top of those memories, much more fresh in my mind. And the book I started working on a week ago is already taking up the majority of my thought and processing power.
Uh oh. I’d better go look for my notebook for Turing’s Delirium; looks like I’m going to need it…
