Читать книгу Revenge of the Translator - Brice Matthieussent - Страница 26

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* The esteemed reader will have noticed that since the beginning of this chapter no adjective has encumbered my author’s ungainly prose. It’s not his own decision, but a unilateral and systematic redaction on my part. A sort of edict decreed by me alone. I know that similar suppressions are hardly defendable from the deontological (what a dreadful word!) point of view but, dear reader, you must admit that after this robust pruning, his prose has gained in elegance and fluidity. No more of that unbearable ponderousness, those seemingly endless agglutinations of adjectives! Such levity! His prose has become almost good, the bastard. And since he barely speaks French, he won’t suspect a thing. I have complete freedom of action, as long as the Parisian publisher for whom I’m translating Translator’s Revenge isn’t in the habit of going through their texts with a fine-tooth comb. And if I were now to revoke the adverbs? (Typist’s Nuisance)