Whatcha reading?

[Kory]

Is CK our most famous member? Among people who actually post, I suppose.

[Wolter]

I’d say Kaleb.

[Dr. Medulla]

Is CK our most famous member? Among people who actually post, I suppose.

Fame being a very relative thing, of course, yeah, probably Chris as he's published a fair bit, paper and digital, and been cited by others in his area.

[Flex]

I'm gonna say Vince

Addendum: that citation of CK is super cool

[JennyB]

There's also AZA, who is an acclaimed movie director.

[Dr. Medulla]

There's also AZA, who is an acclaimed movie director.

I think you've got bingo.

[Dr. Medulla]

Finished listening to Savage's 1966. To the good, it's much better than most of these "year that everything changed" books, with Savage building thick and rich connections between popular entertainment (chiefly music) and cultural, social, and political trends. It's especially satisfying because of its emphasis on the UK, which these books tend not to do (i.e., the US gets most of the attention in other accounts). Yet I'm not persuaded by the argument that 1966 was the key year here, in no small part because he doesn't seek to downplay the significance of, say, 1965 or 1967. Is 1966 important? Yup. Is it the year that changed the course of the decade? I dunno, maybe? So as satisfying as his narratives are, I'm not seeing the greater claim over other years. Which is always a problem with these "year" books. One other annoyance is something exclusive to the audio version, which is performed by a Limey who has pronunciations that should have been corrected but weren't (e.g., it's Betty Frih-DAN, not FREE-dun). Nevertheless, recommended.

Up next:

This is a total popcorn book for me, the satisfying thin nutrition of exasperation. I don't expect much of this but head-shaking anecdotes, but whatever.

[Kory]

I've started reading Kafka and I'm getting mired in translation FOMO. This is why I prefer an author to translate their own work, like Nabokov.

[Dr. Medulla]

I've started reading Kafka and I'm getting mired in translation FOMO. This is why I prefer an author to translate their own work, like Nabokov.

I had a friend who wouldn't listen to audio books unless it was the author reading it. We argued about interpretation a lot and while he grudgingly acknowledged that there is no single correct interpretation, he still fudged it by saying the writer's interpretation was more correct than others. So another party performing it for an audio version was necessarily inferior to the writer doing it, even if the other person is a skilled voice artist.

[Flex]

I had a friend who wouldn't listen to audio books unless it was the author reading it. We argued about interpretation a lot and while he grudgingly acknowledged that there is no single correct interpretation, he still fudged it by saying the writer's interpretation was more correct than others. So another party performing it for an audio version was necessarily inferior to the writer doing it, even if the other person is a skilled voice artist.

Your friend sounds like he's a blast at parties.

[Dr. Medulla]

I had a friend who wouldn't listen to audio books unless it was the author reading it. We argued about interpretation a lot and while he grudgingly acknowledged that there is no single correct interpretation, he still fudged it by saying the writer's interpretation was more correct than others. So another party performing it for an audio version was necessarily inferior to the writer doing it, even if the other person is a skilled voice artist.

Your friend sounds like he's a blast at parties.

Back when he still drank, he was fun. But he had an especially romantic view of the artist-as-genius (even if he'd never acknowledge it).

[Kory]

I've started reading Kafka and I'm getting mired in translation FOMO. This is why I prefer an author to translate their own work, like Nabokov.

I had a friend who wouldn't listen to audio books unless it was the author reading it. We argued about interpretation a lot and while he grudgingly acknowledged that there is no single correct interpretation, he still fudged it by saying the writer's interpretation was more correct than others. So another party performing it for an audio version was necessarily inferior to the writer doing it, even if the other person is a skilled voice artist.

I mean I still read the translations of others, but when they all argue over the translation of one word, it really makes you wish the author was around to settle it.

[Dr. Medulla]

I've started reading Kafka and I'm getting mired in translation FOMO. This is why I prefer an author to translate their own work, like Nabokov.

I had a friend who wouldn't listen to audio books unless it was the author reading it. We argued about interpretation a lot and while he grudgingly acknowledged that there is no single correct interpretation, he still fudged it by saying the writer's interpretation was more correct than others. So another party performing it for an audio version was necessarily inferior to the writer doing it, even if the other person is a skilled voice artist.

I mean I still read the translations of others, but when they all argue over the translation of one word, it really makes you wish the author was around to settle it.

It's nothing I've ever gotten too hung up about because it's all a process of interpretation, that reading is a creative exercise. I'm working with the text, whatever it is, so some kind of fidelity to the author isn't that important to me. But I'm massively on the side of the audience in these kinds of arguments.

[Silent Majority]

I've started reading Kafka and I'm getting mired in translation FOMO. This is why I prefer an author to translate their own work, like Nabokov.

I love the recent re-translation of the Trial's opening line; "Without really doing anything wrong." Lovely, ambivalent take that changes the whole story.

[Kory]

I've started reading Kafka and I'm getting mired in translation FOMO. This is why I prefer an author to translate their own work, like Nabokov.

I love the recent re-translation of the Trial's opening line; "Without really doing anything wrong." Lovely, ambivalent take that changes the whole story.

Exactly, this is what I’m talking about!