Europe's Day of the Dead
SIR,—In his article about Malcolm Lowry (January 20), Anthony Burgess suggests that Under the Vol- cano was translated into Dutch immediately after the book's first appearance in 1947. This is not true. Although the novel had been read in academic and, particularly, avant-garde circles, it was not until 1966 that a translation appeared, published in Amsterdam by De Bezige Bij. There was no reason for the publishers to expect any profit, and the translation was published only because the trans- lator, John Vandenbergh, insisted it should. John Vandenbergh, who combined a Cambridge education with a strong interest in American literature, has long been famous for his masterly translations of Faulkner, Miller, Hemingway and others. Under the Volcano was the first great English novel he translated; it will be followed by Ulysses.
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