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Kafka’s Trials

The job of a translator is both difficult and one of great responsibility. An author can be utterly misrepresented in a language that is not his own: ­David Magarshack, for example, who translated Chekhov’s plays, argued that the entire Western approach to Chekhov was grossly mistaken and based . . . . Continue Reading »

Christ-Like Holden Caulfield

When I recently ventured to say to an old acquaintance of mine, an academic mandarin who teaches literature at an elite university, that The Catcher in the Rye was a profound work of art, he smiled gregariously as if about to relish a shared ironic joke, then gazed at me with slowly . . . . Continue Reading »

The Lure of Orwell

I am struck by the everyday misery and uncertainty and sheer muddle that George Orwell endured, along with his quotidian joys and satisfactions; particularly when juxtaposed with today's handwringing.  Continue Reading »

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