`Ward 7'
SIR.—It is no use Mr. Anthony de Meeus stating that the translation of Valeriy Tarsis's Ward 7, reviewed by me on May 21, is faithful to the original in letter and spirit. it is not. Comparing it with the original Russian, as printed in Grata, No. 57, 1965, I found the sense so altered that it was often.,hard to find the place or to be sure whether I had tracked down the right passage or not, apart from which long sections have been arbitrarily trans- posed. It seems to be more of a paraphrase than a translation. And why all the omissions? Why is the very first paragraph of Tarsis's text sunk without trace? Where is the last sentence of chapter IX, as printed in Grata? Where is the last paragraph but three in the novel? And why convert the name Soloveychik into Sokol?
Are there two quite different 'versions- of the Russian text, of which Grani has printed one and Katya Brown translated the other? Or are the divergences due to tampering with the original Russian. which somehow took place before it got into Grani? If so. I will gladly retract, though I think we could have been told about it in the preface. If not. I stand by what I said in my review. It is not the business of a translator to re- write his author.
RONALD HINGLEY
Fril ford Grange. Nr. Abingdon, Berks.
Previous page
