I have been reading more and more Italo Calvino recently and having read The Invisible Cities in English before and finding in our library a copy of it in Italian read the brilliant last paragraph and though I only remember a little Latin to guide me through the dense Italian the words from William Weaver's translation in my mind and the words on the page connected and brought a tear to my eye.
This passage in particular
And Polo said: "The inferno is not something that will be; if there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day, that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space. |
I was wondering if any of you happened to know how to contact Weaver, the brilliant former Bard Professor, and know if he would do us the pleasure of giving a lecture on Calvino, Umberto Eco, teaching at Bard, translation and linguistics?
Also this interview in particular furthered my interest. http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/421/the-art-of-translation-no-3-william-weaver
Best, Homer
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