Podcast of Portuguese novelist Jose Luis Peixoto reading, followed by my translation and my reading
You may remember that I translated bestselling Portuguese novelist JL Peixoto's first short book into English a while back, and that this translation was published in the Warwick Review, a literary journal published in the UK.
Later I invited him, on behalf of my university, to give a reading and do a Q and A session in front of a crowd that turned out to love the guy. Peixoto is a lovely, lovely guy, and one of my favorite writers. The whole thing went really well.
The university has made the reading available for download on their website.
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/podcasts/upload/jose_luis_peixot...
The first third is Peixoto speaking and then reading a bit of the original Portuguese text; the rest is me reading my translation.
I'll post a link to the Q and A if anyone's interested.
thanks for sharing.blackhawk tactical pants.
— Spambot
"I could have done worse!" exultantly cried the murderer Lebret, sentenced at Rouen to hard labor for life. — Félix Fénéon
I really liked it.
Someone coughs right at the part where you're explaining the word that doesn't translate into English except as "You Died on Me". I can't tell if you explain it further or if I got your entire explanation.
I enjoyed the reading. Both yours and Peixotos even though I couldn't understand him of course. I was lulled by how pretty the Portuguese language is.
I would like to hear (or read) the Q&A!
I don't think any word was the problem, it's more of a construction issue in the title. Romance languages have this special case for pronouns, the ethic dative, where they imply a certain emotional attachment or closure. Stylistic and pragmatic functions are there, too. At least I believe it is so, and Phil should correct me if I'm wrong. But this sounds too similar to Romanian not to be so.
Ah, thank you! The the title is still very evocative in translation.
I enjoyed the reading. Both yours and Peixotos even though I couldn't understand him of course. I was lulled by how pretty the Portuguese language is.
I would like to hear (or read) the Q&A!
Irina's spot on about the translation difficulties. It's a shame someone decided to cough at that moment!
Here's the Q and A:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/podcasts/upload/jose_luis_peixot...
He's such an awesome guy.
thanks for sharing.blackhawk tactical pants.
— Spambot
"I could have done worse!" exultantly cried the murderer Lebret, sentenced at Rouen to hard labor for life. — Félix Fénéon
I enjoyed the reading. Both yours and Peixotos even though I couldn't understand him of course. I was lulled by how pretty the Portuguese language is.
I would like to hear (or read) the Q&A!
Irina's spot on about the translation difficulties. It's a shame someone decided to cough at that moment!
Here's the Q and A:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/podcasts/upload/jose_luis_peixot...
He's such an awesome guy.
Hey, he answers my question in his first response to your first question!
You sounded a little nervous at first, but you found your groove. 
He seems very cool. So is it true that most Portuguese novelists are also poets?
Very cool, Phil. Did I miss where your translation can be found?
Finally! Maybe in a few years when my Portuguese is fluent I'll be able to read his books in the original language.