Actually, Tomas, Raymond Carver used to be one of favorites. He really was a master of the short story, though he did deal with the same depressing topics over and over. I also got hooked on John Irving with Garp and enjoyed a couple of his others, though I felt he too got repetitive. But the writer I have most respected over the years would have to be Nabokov. Lolita was terrific, and so are his other works. And, while he was so clever and eloquent in English, I was always amazed that he wrote and was published in three languages (English, French, Russian).
I’ve always wondered if there’s ever been another author who published respectable works in three languages. Does anyone know of another such person?
On the subject of astounding literary feats, though, I guess one has to mention Isaac Asimov for publishing more than 400 books in his lifetime. And he only lived to age 72. Assuming he was first published at 15, that’s an average of more than 7 books per year. How is that possible?
It’s people like them that make me want to go back to bed.
Not sure if Joseph Conrad was published in Russian, Polish or French but he grew up reading French and Polish versions of English books and supposedly preferred French.
Conrad didn’t speak English until his early-twenties, and it was indeed his fourth language. However, it was his favorite, and he said that he would never have become a writer had he been limited to those other languages.
I have a picture of Conrad on my wall. It was after reading his epic work, Nostromo, that I decided to try and make a living from writing. Eleven years later and I’m still trying
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]On the subject of astounding literary feats, though, I guess one has to mention Isaac Asimov for publishing more than 400 books in his lifetime. And he only lived to age 72. Assuming he was first published at 15, that’s an average of more than 7 books per year. How is that possible?
It’s people like them that make me want to go back to bed.[/quote]
Oh that is just exhausting… I find I can’t hardly read 7 books a year anymore… I used to be able to read 3 books simultaneously (one before sleep, and one for the commute and a third usually non-fiction to round it out) but now with kids, i find I am lucky to follow just one!
great read, although the amazon review does not do it justice. Hubby just finished the second book in the Triology “The Chinese Box” .
Shanghai is a historical novel loosly based on real history. Includes a character by the name of “pockmarked Chen” of the “green triangle” I am pretty sure he will end up being a character based on the real life crony of CKS pockmarked Huang of the Green gang… will let you all know.
Not sure if Joseph Conrad was published in Russian, Polish or French but he grew up reading French and Polish versions of English books and supposedly preferred French.
Alleycat, you get partial credit for Nabokov. I was trying to think of another at least tri-lingual author in addition to N. With the help of Google, I finally came up with one . . . sort of: John Milton.
Milton spoke English, French, Italian, Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and reputedly wrote poetry in English, Italian and Latin, though I don’t know if he was published in three languages in his lifetime. kirjasto.sci.fi/jmilton.htm
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]Alleycat, you get partial credit for Nabokov. I was trying to think of another at least tri-lingual author in addition to N. With the help of Google, I finally came up with one . . . sort of: John Milton.
Milton spoke English, French, Italian, Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and reputedly wrote poetry in English, Italian and Latin, though I don’t know if he was published in three languages in his lifetime. kirjasto.sci.fi/jmilton.htm[/quote]
Granted it was quite awhile ago that I was fired up on Conrad but I seem to recall something about him preferring French but bowing to the wider market for English.
In general, Conrad preferred - and was more influenced by - French writers, but let there be no doubt as to his preference for writing in English.
Here’s part of Conrad’s reply to someone who suggested that he had considered writing in French.
"The only thing that grieves me and makes me dance with rage is the cropping up of the legend set afloat by Hugh Clifford about my hesitation between English and French as a writing language. For it is absurd.
…And there are also other considerations: such as the sheer appeal of the language, my quickly awakened love for its prose cadences, a subtle and unforeseen accord of my emotional nature with its genius… You may take it from me that if I had not known English I wouldn’t have written a line for print, in my life."
No one has mentioned any Chinese writers who can perform such a feat. I don’t know about trilingual, but in the area of bilingual writing, two Chinese authors spring to mind: Gao Xingjian, the 2000 Nobel laureate who produces works in both French and Chinese, and Ha Jin, the Chinese expat living in Atlanta, whose novel Waiting won the National Book Award a few years ago.
Khalil Gibran–Lebanese journalist/poet/artist, wrote in Arabic, immigrated to New York and started writing in English. “The Prophet” is his most famous work.
And I have something written by George Soros in Esperanto… He could probably manage some Eastern European languages too.
