Ask Jonathan!

[Milan]

Dear Jonathan,
Some nine years ago I translated The House of Sleep into Serbian and even though I have translated many renowned authors since then (P. Carey, A.C. Clark, J.G. Ballard, J.C. Oats, E.L. Doctorow...) your book is still my favourite translation thus far. Of course the book is magnificent, but it was also the fact that I was very young, quite high on my new profession, and knew nothing about your work. The book was everything translator might hope for, it stretched my creativity to the limit, allowed me to translate my first rap, first sonnet and in fact to do so many things for the first time that it totally changed my outlook on translation in general. When aspiring translators of literature ask me about my profession I always tell them about how I was forced to locate/imagine/invent 12 Serbian words for different seashells for the sand castle scene. Then I tell them about the article with mixed up footnotes that needed to remain both ambiguous and humorous when translated. Some of them still want to give it a try after that :)
In short, I wanted to congratulate you for writing such a flawless book and thank you for the unique experience that you afforded me. I am just sorry that no one ever adapted it for the screen (though it would probably prove impossible to adapt) since I always thought of young Hugh Laurie as Robert and Gillian Anderson as Sara. Do you have faces of your characters in your head while you write, btw? I really do hope that I will get the chance to translate something else that you wrote (The Rotters' Club perhaps). It would be fantastic. keep up the good work.
Sincerely,
Milan Marković
PS
My girlfriend is teaching a university course in English literature and few months ago she received a paper on The House of Sleep by a student who totally failed to comprehend that there were two time planes intertwined in the novel. She tried to make it into a coherent story regardless of that and the result was simultaneously touching and hilarious, really resembling something that Sara would write in her condition.

[David]

Hello Jonathan. Previously, I tried to contribute to this conversation, but must have had technical difficulties, so I'll try again. This question is about The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim. The ending reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions, in which Vonnegut shows up as both character (creation) and author (creator)simultaneously. Did this work influence yours at all?

[Thomai]

To Mr Coe from Greece,
I'm sure you are not incognisant of the current situation in my country. We are still waiting for economical salvation, while selling off national resources. In the meantime, there's been a tremendous wave of young scientists and grad students gushing out to fill job vacancies aboard at lower wages.
If "What a Carve Up!"'s Michael Owen had prior knowledge of the consequences that followed the demoralization of England's leaders, would he be practical about it and flee abroad to find the resources he needed to better his standard of living, or fight against all odds and refuse to be chased away?

[Willo]

Jonathan wrote: "Willo wrote: "Hi Jonathan, please tell me why my favourite book of all time, What a Carve Up, has not been adapted for the screen. I'm a screenwriter, so if you fail to provide a reasonable answer,..."

Thanks, Jonathan. That's a very disappointing but typical story about the TV adaptation of What a Carve Up - and a story that has blighted a selection of my own stories. I continue to write my originals but I'm still sad to see so little of your work on the big or little screen. W.

[Palmyrah]

Thank you for your reply, Jonathan.

After reading 'The Bear' by Faulkner I developed a childish fascination with long sentences – even tried writing a few of my own. I like the idea that you started to write out Ben Trotter's musings without aiming to make it all one sentence, then saw what was happening and carried it through to the end. My own reaction, on seeing something like that happening, would be to go back and chop up what I'd written into shorter sentences. Which is why, I suppose, I am me and you are Jonathan Coe!

[Jonathan, Author of Expo 58]

David wrote: "Hello Jonathan. Previously, I tried to contribute to this conversation, but must have had technical difficulties, so I'll try again. This question is about The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim. The ..."

Hello David

Happy to talk about this topic, but let's move the discussion over here.

http://www.jonathancoewriter.com/mboa...

[Jonathan, Author of Expo 58]

Milan wrote: "Dear Jonathan,
Some nine years ago I translated The House of Sleep into Serbian and even though I have translated many renowned authors since then (P. Carey, A.C. Clark, J.G. Ballard, J.C. Oats, E..."

Hi Milan
Thanks for such a wonderful post. My goodreads webchat is now closed but if you would like to re-post over here, I'll be happy to answer.

http://www.jonathancoewriter.com/mboa...