Thank you so much for the interview! Reading Flowers of Buffoonery directly after No Longer Human was such a fun and interesting juxtaposition of tone and perspective, and it really helped crystallize my understanding of what Dazai managed to accomplish in No Longer Human. Bett's comedic ear was a huge part of that effect; while absurd things do happen in No Longer Human, it's not exactly *funny*, but Flowers of Buffoonery is genuinely hilarious.
I keep coming back to Donald Keene's observation in the introduction to his translation of No Longer Human that one of the true tragedies of the work is the main character Yozo is so convinced that he's utter scum disqualified from the human race that he's unable to see that those around him genuinely care about him. Flowers of Buffoonery takes the story out of the first-person perspective, and so its tragicomic dance around the gaping abscess in the middle really recontextualizes what many events in No Longer Human would have looked like from outside of Yozo's head.
As a side note, I'd love to see an essay comparing different translations of the same work. I'm currently reading Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. There's three different English translations currently in circulation, and in trying to decide which version to read, ran into a lot of very strong, unsubstantiated opinions on the internet that I have no way to verify without reading all three translations myself.
Have you interviewed anyone about translating poetry? I find myself astonished by the simultaneous attention to translation of language and meaning in rhythm and rhyme.
Thank you so much for the interview! Reading Flowers of Buffoonery directly after No Longer Human was such a fun and interesting juxtaposition of tone and perspective, and it really helped crystallize my understanding of what Dazai managed to accomplish in No Longer Human. Bett's comedic ear was a huge part of that effect; while absurd things do happen in No Longer Human, it's not exactly *funny*, but Flowers of Buffoonery is genuinely hilarious.
I keep coming back to Donald Keene's observation in the introduction to his translation of No Longer Human that one of the true tragedies of the work is the main character Yozo is so convinced that he's utter scum disqualified from the human race that he's unable to see that those around him genuinely care about him. Flowers of Buffoonery takes the story out of the first-person perspective, and so its tragicomic dance around the gaping abscess in the middle really recontextualizes what many events in No Longer Human would have looked like from outside of Yozo's head.
As a side note, I'd love to see an essay comparing different translations of the same work. I'm currently reading Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita. There's three different English translations currently in circulation, and in trying to decide which version to read, ran into a lot of very strong, unsubstantiated opinions on the internet that I have no way to verify without reading all three translations myself.
Very interesting the world of translating books is.
It sounds like essence is more important than trying to be precise.
I just wonder how far you can drift before Lost in Translation becomes a thing.
This is so cool - I adore Bungo Stray Dogs and it led me to read No Longer Human. Thanks so much for a fascinating interview.
Thx for this intriguing conversation!
Have you interviewed anyone about translating poetry? I find myself astonished by the simultaneous attention to translation of language and meaning in rhythm and rhyme.