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724 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1972
The literary form of Atay’s novel was not exactly what readers were used to either: the unbridled stream of consciousness, all kinds of short texts in different genres, that cut across the story, such as a poem of 600 lines plus commentary, a chapter of 70 pages, written without a single comma or full stop – it may remind us, the readers of today, of James Joyce, of Nabokov, Virginia Woolf and other western modernist writers – writers Atay was very familiar with. But, as the critic Ahmet Oktay once remarked, the number of Turkish readers that in the beginnings of the seventies had read Ulysses, was no more than ten.Some fine examples of the difficulty in translation were provided inthis threadby GR member Oolonthegreat:
-Hanneke van der Heijden ( “one of the Dutch translators of the novel”
In the novel, the main characters "Selim Işık" and "Turgut Özben" sometimes call each other as "Selimciğim Işık" and "Turgutçuğum Özben"Most of this sort of thing is not apparent in the translation; in fact, the introduction to the English edition also alludes to a number of the issues in translating the book, but those issues also are not apparent in the translation. Which is always one of the things a reader has to keep in mind in reading works of translation; where wordplay, nuance, or general difficulty (see: Buddenbrooks in translation, where the difficulty in the original text’s usage of Low German is not carried over into the English translation) does not always carry over 1:1 in translation. Which is a long winded way of saying that I expected the text to be considerably more difficult than it was; only Chapter 15 (the long stream of consciousness chapter) should provide any difficulty to a seasoned reader.
Let's analyze that: "Selim-cik-im" (k becomes ğ, due to consonant change.)
Selim is the proper noun, and "-im" is the possesive suffix (meaning mine). The "-cik" is the equivalent of "-chen" in German. It is used to create a "diminutive" form. It also adds feelings like "compassion, tolerance, and affection."
How are we going to deal with this? Can we use "My dear little one Selim Işık"? or "little Selim Işık my dear"? or should we just ignore it?
English was the language Atay knew and loved, and his confrontation with literature in English, notably Hamlet and the King James version of the gospels, is a feature of the book. An English translation is therefore called for, and by good chance one exists.Seydi's translation of just part of the novel - a 20 page poem had - in an echo of the original, already won a translation prize (the Dryden Prize of UEA) and in another echo, the publisher of this edition, Olric Press (Olric being a key figure in the novel) is a very small press with cost constraints, which led to very limited distribution. They themselves (2) have explained the publishing history:
Sevin Seydi (the dedicatee of the original) made a rough translation page by page as Atay was actually writing, as a sort of game, and discussed it with him. After 40 years living, studying, working, marrying in England she has thoroughly revised it, and it should be the definitive version.
Olric Press could print just 200 copies of The Disconnected [Tutunamayanlar], and it had to be priced at £50 just to cover the cost. It is a big book,more than 1 kg, and copies sent abroad have to be sent as single copies, again expensive: £13 to Europe, £18 to the rest of the world. We regret these costs, and hope that eventually a commercial publisher will dare to undertake it.Fortunately, thanks to the genoristy of fellow Goodreader Jonathan (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2...) I have secured a copy.
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Since our last post on 27 December, I now have to report that the book is officially out of print.
This was not a money-making venture. Though in effect subsidised by the copyright holder and the translator, neither of whom wanted a fee, it has just about covered its costs. What we hope is that it has fulfilled its purpose, of making known that a good translation of this important book exists, and that sooner or later (after 45 years!) a commercial publisher may take the plunge.
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We originally thought that libraries would be among the main purchasers: after all the price does not look high compared with much less substantial scholarly books from Cambridge or Brill. This would have made it available to more readers. In the event (though the six statutory deposit libraries got their free copies) not one UK library has bought it. We had even (in view of the squeeze on local authority budgets) set aside free copies for the London boroughs where there is a substantial Turkish diaspora. None of them took up the offer. Foreign libraries have been more forthcoming, and you can read it in, among other places, Basel, Helsinki, Tel Aviv and Buenos Aires.
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My apologies to those who have missed out. But if you have read it and liked it, spread the word.