Tosh’s Comments (group member since Oct 12, 2007)

Tosh’s comments from the Boris Vian group.

Blues for a Black Cat is a fantastic book. For those who don't know, it is a collection of short stories by Vian. The one about the soldier I think is a classic.

Paige, once you start reading 'Foam of the Daze" you will notice the Huysmans touch. I love 'Against Nature' and I think Vian loved his work as well.

Celine needs to be looked over again!

Besides the two Mannheim translations I have heard that Celine is really out there with the racism. I never read the other books. I think they are published by Dalkey Archive. I was told that they were tough going. Brian have you read these books?

Paige it is great to have you here! I am curious, what do you think of the Celine translations?

Do you think Fantomas needs a new translation? Penguin just re-issued an edition that came out in the 80's. I have both the original English edition (from 1915?) as well as the new one. I read them both and for sure the new edition was edited differently than the original - but can't remember the details of both editions.

I saw Paul give a lecture on translations and it was a fascinating talk. He did it for a translation class. Remarkable talent that boy! I was lucky to meet Paul and Brian Harper at the right time and moment. These things just happens!

I would ask Paul (the Vian translator) to join this list, but I don't want him to stop working on the Gainsbourg text! I am a bastard as a publisher!

Do you think Genet or Celine need new translations? It's funny you brought it up because Paul has expressed interest in translating both writers. As far as I know he never read the English translations. But he really loves both writers!

Grove Press and New Directions as far as I know owns the English rights to Genet and Celine - so that is why I don't go for those titles. On the other hand if they do decide to do a new translation (meaning the publishers) Paul would be perfect for the job. I really think he is an exceptional talent.

I do know that when he comes upon a word or name that can't be translated - it's sweating buckets! But I feel he always comes through. Usually we talk it out, and so far, he has never been wrong.

Also as some of you know there has been British translations of both Heartsnatcher and L'Ecume des jours - and Paul and I both feel that Vian is served more faithfully in the American English language. One, because Vian really loved American pop culture - and this is not saying anything bad about the British translation - it is just a matter of opinion. But yes, I do feel Vian is more suitable for the American Englsh language.

I oftern talk to Lun*na (my wife from Japan - and no it's not a Deep Purple song title! But for the sake of others reading this ...) when she tells me that a book in Japanese is a great translation - she means that the Japaense translator has captured the vision or style of their subject matter. Another book Lun*na admires is Richard Hell's novel "Go Now." According to her it is a beautiful translation because she really captures the feeling of NYC in the late 70's as well as the writing style. And in this point of time, Lun*na pretty much understands American culture - so she can read that information in another's translation of a particular American narrative.

Hell mentioned that he knows the translator and is a good friend of his - so she (the translator) knows Hell's world pretty well.

I usually think of the term "good translation" when I read poetry. I have read French poetry and I just know ithe translation is not right! It can be either a phrase or the 'poetic' quality just doesn't jell.

And some of the early Penguin translations are really weird - because they are so British! For instance when you are reading a book that takes place in Spain or was written in the 1800' s - you just know that they didn't use phrases like "Hey Chap." That destroys that 'Spanish' feeling for sure!

My wife, who is Japanese, told me that "On The Road" is a terrible translation in Japanese. I think shortly there will be a new translation of the book - but for sure hurt the reputation of that particular title. On the other hand, "Cather in the Rye" is supposed to have a superb translation and of course is a classic in Japan.

So like anywhere else a great translation on a fantastic book is equally important as the original text.

Right now my press (or I should say Paul Knobloch) is working on the translation of Gilles Verlant's biography on Serge Gainsbourg. Verlant's prose style is easy to translate, but when you have to translate Gainsbourg's lyrics.... it's very difficult. At one time I wanted to do a whole book of Gainsbourg's lyrics translated into English. To this day I am having a hard time finding the right person to do the work - because Gainsbourg is such a literate lyricist - sort of in the Cole Porter but mixed with Dylan and Rimbaud - and maybe Gainsbourg is better than all those others!

Paul, my translator, feels that Gainsbourg is the best songwriter in the 20th Century - just the lyrics alone. But to translate them is ....extremely difficult. I have seen some samples of works done in English, but they're too literal - almost if someone just got the French dictionary out.

I can't even begin to tell you how important translating a literary text is! First of all thank you Cal for your kind words about the book and Brian for bringing up the subject of 'how can you tell if the translation is good or not."

First of all translations are basically re-writing the book by another person. You can't get around that, and Vian's work, is probably one of the most difficult texts to translate.

At the moment I work with two translators: Brian Harper, who translated "L'ecume des jours (Foam of the Daze) and Paul Knobloch who worked on the other Vian texts. Besides being good prose or narrative writers, they also have a connection or understanding of Vian's work and word play. Vian was a natural crazy wit, and the translator has to be really intuned to the source and understanding of that humor. Which means they must understand the culture that Vian came from.

And what makes Vian even more difficult, is that he himself borrows from other literary works, makes comments on them, plays with them, and etc. So the translator has to be aware of Vian's sources as well.

Also Paul and Brian are huge music lunatics - and I think that helps while translating Vian as well - who was a major music figure as well as a literary writer. In other words one has to deal with the whole package or cultural luggage while translating from one language to another.

Both Foam of the Daze and Autumn in Peking have endnotes, which deals with translation issues as well as historical facts about Vian's life and times. It's not neccessary to read the endnotes as footnotes - basically it serves the same purpose as a bonus documentary on a DVD. It's there if you want to dig more into the world of Vian.

But yeah, even the translation issues of War and Peace is fascinating to me. For instance what version did the translators work from, etc.?

My versions are very complete and comes from the annotated editions that came out recently from France. Also the Vian family approved the translated texts as well.

I will write more on this subject shortly!

When I look at my Goodreads menu for 'my groups,' and I see that no one has made any comments on my beloved Boris Vian list for seven days - I want to cry. So I am writing this so I can at least wake up tomorrow morning and it will say "6 hours ago."

Really? That's fantastic! I don't know Moorcock's work, but he has a large reputation. And he also saw the Vian influence in the Pynchon book as well? Well, that's great. I am going to have to check out the web to find that review.

I have heard of Aylett but never read his works. And Hughes doesn't ring a bell. Is he an American writer?

I'm convinced that Pynchon has read Vian. Not long ago I sent him copies of all my TamTam titles - including the Vian books. Still waiting for that phone call from him!

Boris Vian was also very much involved in music - both as a songwriter, jazz player, and singer. He wrote over 300 songs. In fact he pretty much stopped writng novels by 1950 - and after that focused on music making.

Which by the way is a real shame because he is the ultimate French writer of the mid-20th Century. When Camus had his major blow-out with Sartre was at Vian's house. Actually at a party held at his house.

Yes. With respect to I Spit on Your Graves, it became a huge scandal.

Vian made a bet with a publisher friend of his that he can write a thriller over a certain period of time - like a weekend. So Vian wrote "I Spit on Your Graves," and decided to give credit to a made-up author Vernon Sullivan, who was a recluse Black American author who couldn't get his book published in the states due to the sex and violence in its pages. The book is about a white negro who passes as a white man - and he goes on a murder/sex rampage in a small town as an act of revenge due that his brother was lynched. Vian is credited as the 'translator.'

The book became successful due to certain members of the French govt. who were pissed off with the American influence that was hitting France with great force. For five or six years, no movies or literature due to the Occupation. All of sudden it was American Jazz, American movies, American literature (Faulkner and Chandler - who by the way Vian DID translate from English to French) hitting the coffee houses of Paris and elsewhere. So, something that is similar to the HUAC, the French Govt decided to prosecute the publisher and the author himself Vernon Sullivan. Vian as his 'translator' told the courts and presses that Sullivan is a very private man and a recluse and he will speak for him.

So basically as time goes by, the courts want to bust Sullivan for writing this dirty book. And actually the same people who tried to stop Henry Miller books. Anyway as the court sessions got hotter of course the book became a bestseller in France. Like a huge bestseller. On top of that a murder took place where the deceased female body had a copy of "I Spit on Your Graves" with all the violent rape sex scenes underlined.

Vian keeping up the lie that Sullivan was in hiding in the States, had to finally cough up the original English edition of the book. Of course that didn't exist! But Vian told the courts ‘sure; we will bring the manuscript at the next court session. So over the weekend him and a G.I. buddy roughly and quickly translated the book into English. This is the edition that I published!

Eventually Vian had to admit to the courts that he himself wrote the book and Vernon Sullivan, the reclusive Black American writer doesn't exist. Vian was fined and almost sent to prison - but due to friends in the right places he escaped prison duty.

So what we have is a book by a French man who never been to America, but heard about the racial problems via the French media, Jazz pals of Vian, as well as Faulkner novels. Similar to Kafka's Amerika!

I have a couple of film clips of Vian on my website:

http://tamtambooks-tosh.blogspot.com/

One is an interview with him in English. He's hysterical. The other film clip is a short documentary on Vian in Japanese. I like to keep an international perspective on things...

Also Vian goes on these rants about the media of the time. He loathed the journalists who wrote about the 'scene.' The text is great because he goes from being a mock scientist talking about weather conditions in Saint Germain to verbal put-downs on reporters.

The heart of the book is a section where Vian writes a brief bio on all those who participate in the club life. A small world that somehow changed my world.

This is such a crazy insane book. It sort of reminds me of Looney Toons with a mixture of Bunuel. The opening scene of one of the characters trying to catch a bus is something out of classic Buster Keaton. In fact I think Keaton is a big influence on Vian. They both had the love of weird machines and things going wrong with them. A real love affair with the mechanical world. Vian was an engineer and collected vintage cars.

Autumn maybe one of my favorite Vian's. It is really a remarkable work that is slapstick, but something really serious is right around the corner. Like "Foam" it has so many levels and they are all going at once. I think Thomas Pynchon read this before writing 'Against the Day." I can't prove it, but if he wants to drop in, he's more than welcome!

This is a really remarkable novel is so many ways. It wasn't popular when Vian was still alive (he died in 1959). The only novel of his that was a commercial success was "I Spit on Your Graves," and of couse it was a book that started his 'career' and eventually killed him (he died during a screening of the film version).

Nevertheless "Foam of the Daze" became popular with young people during the Uprising May '68 in France. It was rediscovered at that point and ever since then it has become a classic youth text for Europeans and other parts of the world.

Lots of thngs are happening in this novel. On one level it is about young people who have to grow (ugh in Vian's terms), deal with sickness (super ugh in Vian terms), and deal with work, govt. and church (super duper ugh in Vian terms).

It's a fantasy dealing with things that are quite real. I would think people in their 20's would go ga-ga over the book - because you are basically a teenager who can legally get drunk! Ha ha, just joking! Sort of!

The book is also has a ton of music stuff in it as well. The back of the book has endnotes that deals with the issue of music, culture, Vian's life, and cultural stuff.