The Gallic Blog
Q&A with Lorenza Garcia
Gallic Books uses a select bank of translators to work on the books it acquires. One of those translators, Lorenza Garcia, has been responsible for helping bring a number of our titles to a wider audience.
These have included the Agnes de Souarcy chronicles by Andrea H. Japp along with a number of the Claude Izners and, more recently, Francois Lelord’s ‘Hector and the Search for Happiness’. Lorenza has also translated the second in the Hector series, ‘Hector and the Secrets of Love’, out in February 2011.
We recently asked our readers, Twitter followers and Facebook group members to send in questions for Lorenza. Here, along with a few extras, are those questions ... and answers.
Many thanks to all those who sent in questions as well as Lorenza for taking part in the Q&A session.
Q: How did you come to be a translator?
A: It’s something I fell into to be honest. I lived in three different foreign countries from an early age and, through living there, became naturally receptive to other languages and idioms as well as to the difficulties of the translation process.
I did a degree that included languages, which I loved. And I often translated odd bits and pieces for friends. I also did subtitling, which I enjoyed because I love translating dialogue and the need to be very concise is a challenge. But my lucky break came when I wrote to a publisher, Harvill Press, suggesting they translate a Spanish book I had found. In the end, they decided not to take it on but instead hired me as a reader. From there, I was recommended to Gallic Books as a translator.
Q: Do you have to enjoy reading to be a translator?
A: I imagine it helps. I certainly do, and as a translator I try to read as widely as possible. I also read a lot of novels in translation. I find it useful to see how other translators deal with the same sorts of problems that crop up in every language.
Q: Do you enjoy translating?
A: Yes, definitely. It is a challenge but one that I enjoy. It is good when a book is well-written and the translation flows. But any writing can be tricky, particularly when there’s a lot of word play or novel use of language involved. That’s when you have to draw on your skills and judgement as a translator.
A fellow translator said to me once that translating was like ‘being forced to wear a hair shirt from dawn to dusk.’ I certainly don’t feel that way about my work!
Q: What is the hardest part of translating?
A: The hardest part is keeping faithful to the original text but not so faithful that the translation doesn’t flow. Translating is a little bit like reading music. There is a tone and a rhythm to a piece which you have to try to reproduce. For example, if the sentences in the original are deliberately short, your job as a translator is to try to keep them short.
Q: Do you speak with the author of the books you translate?
A: No, I never have but it does happen in the translating world. I’ve heard stories about authors who are very hands-on and invite their translators to meetings to discuss the various translation issues. On the other hand, there are some authors who don’t recognise translations of their work.
Jose Saramago once referred to the translations of his novels as ‘adaptations’. That shows, I think, his great respect for the translator’s work.
Q: Which was your favourite Gallic Books title to translate? And why?
Anne, Norfolk
A: It would have to be ‘Hector and the Secrets of Love’, the second in the series of Hector’s journeys. Firstly, because it was great fun revisiting Hector as a character. It was almost like meeting up with an old friend.
Secondly, in the book Francois Lelord has invented an amusing plot that enables him to deal in a light-hearted but penetrating way with another complex, fraught subject. He reveals, among other things, the pitfalls of attempting to find fast solutions to life’s biggest mysteries. In this case, what makes people fall in and out of love.
I also really liked translating the latest Claude Izner, ‘The Predator of Batignolles’, because the plot revolved around the Paris Commune, which I find fascinating. And the main character Daglan is probably one of their best.
Q: Was it easy to translate the Andrea H. Japp books considering they are set in a completely different era?
Samantha, Brighton
A: Some of the dialogue in the Agnes de Souarcy Chronicles was particularly tricky because of the register Andrea H. Japp uses. I also had to be careful not to let any glaring anachronisms creep in, words or expressions that were far too modern for that period.
Q: Did you have to do any external research into Paris before translating the Claude Izner novels?
Jack, Newcastle
Q: I enjoyed reading ‘Hector and the Search for Happiness’ as I found it a very simple book to read. Was it simple to translate?
Deirdre, Tyndrum
A: It is deceptively simple. Because it presents complex concepts in a faux-naif style I had to be careful not to be tempted to use, as Hector might say, ‘big’ words. I had to respect the reason why Lelord wrote ‘Hector and the Search for Happiness’ in that way – to demystify certain truths and present them in a fresh light.
Q: Who is your favourite French author?
Alison, Cardiff
A: One of my favourite French authors is Guy de Maupassant because, like Chekhov, his stimulus comes from life and not literature. He excavates the everyday and presents it to us in an unexpected way. I also like Georges Simenon for his portrayal of the underbelly of French society and his pet obsessions of greed, lust and madness.
These have included the Agnes de Souarcy chronicles by Andrea H. Japp along with a number of the Claude Izners and, more recently, Francois Lelord’s ‘Hector and the Search for Happiness’. Lorenza has also translated the second in the Hector series, ‘Hector and the Secrets of Love’, out in February 2011.
We recently asked our readers, Twitter followers and Facebook group members to send in questions for Lorenza. Here, along with a few extras, are those questions ... and answers.
Many thanks to all those who sent in questions as well as Lorenza for taking part in the Q&A session.
Q: How did you come to be a translator?
A: It’s something I fell into to be honest. I lived in three different foreign countries from an early age and, through living there, became naturally receptive to other languages and idioms as well as to the difficulties of the translation process.
I did a degree that included languages, which I loved. And I often translated odd bits and pieces for friends. I also did subtitling, which I enjoyed because I love translating dialogue and the need to be very concise is a challenge. But my lucky break came when I wrote to a publisher, Harvill Press, suggesting they translate a Spanish book I had found. In the end, they decided not to take it on but instead hired me as a reader. From there, I was recommended to Gallic Books as a translator.
Q: Do you have to enjoy reading to be a translator?
A: I imagine it helps. I certainly do, and as a translator I try to read as widely as possible. I also read a lot of novels in translation. I find it useful to see how other translators deal with the same sorts of problems that crop up in every language.
Q: Do you enjoy translating?
A: Yes, definitely. It is a challenge but one that I enjoy. It is good when a book is well-written and the translation flows. But any writing can be tricky, particularly when there’s a lot of word play or novel use of language involved. That’s when you have to draw on your skills and judgement as a translator.
A fellow translator said to me once that translating was like ‘being forced to wear a hair shirt from dawn to dusk.’ I certainly don’t feel that way about my work!
Q: What is the hardest part of translating?
A: The hardest part is keeping faithful to the original text but not so faithful that the translation doesn’t flow. Translating is a little bit like reading music. There is a tone and a rhythm to a piece which you have to try to reproduce. For example, if the sentences in the original are deliberately short, your job as a translator is to try to keep them short.
Q: Do you speak with the author of the books you translate?
A: No, I never have but it does happen in the translating world. I’ve heard stories about authors who are very hands-on and invite their translators to meetings to discuss the various translation issues. On the other hand, there are some authors who don’t recognise translations of their work.
Jose Saramago once referred to the translations of his novels as ‘adaptations’. That shows, I think, his great respect for the translator’s work.
Q: Which was your favourite Gallic Books title to translate? And why?
Anne, Norfolk
A: It would have to be ‘Hector and the Secrets of Love’, the second in the series of Hector’s journeys. Firstly, because it was great fun revisiting Hector as a character. It was almost like meeting up with an old friend.
Secondly, in the book Francois Lelord has invented an amusing plot that enables him to deal in a light-hearted but penetrating way with another complex, fraught subject. He reveals, among other things, the pitfalls of attempting to find fast solutions to life’s biggest mysteries. In this case, what makes people fall in and out of love.
I also really liked translating the latest Claude Izner, ‘The Predator of Batignolles’, because the plot revolved around the Paris Commune, which I find fascinating. And the main character Daglan is probably one of their best.
Q: Was it easy to translate the Andrea H. Japp books considering they are set in a completely different era?
Samantha, Brighton
A: Some of the dialogue in the Agnes de Souarcy Chronicles was particularly tricky because of the register Andrea H. Japp uses. I also had to be careful not to let any glaring anachronisms creep in, words or expressions that were far too modern for that period.
Q: Did you have to do any external research into Paris before translating the Claude Izner novels?
Jack, Newcastle
A: Not really. I know Paris quite well, and I have read a lot about that period in European history, so the places and events in the books were fairly familiar to me. I did look at old photographs to get more of a visual feel for the period in which the novels took place, in particular those by Eugène Atget, who was noted for documenting buildings and street scenes of nineteenth century Paris.
Q: I enjoyed reading ‘Hector and the Search for Happiness’ as I found it a very simple book to read. Was it simple to translate?
Deirdre, Tyndrum
A: It is deceptively simple. Because it presents complex concepts in a faux-naif style I had to be careful not to be tempted to use, as Hector might say, ‘big’ words. I had to respect the reason why Lelord wrote ‘Hector and the Search for Happiness’ in that way – to demystify certain truths and present them in a fresh light.
Q: Who is your favourite French author?
Alison, Cardiff
A: One of my favourite French authors is Guy de Maupassant because, like Chekhov, his stimulus comes from life and not literature. He excavates the everyday and presents it to us in an unexpected way. I also like Georges Simenon for his portrayal of the underbelly of French society and his pet obsessions of greed, lust and madness.
Posted by Svein, 13th July 2010
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Lorenza’s responses to the questions and was impressed with how thoroughly immersed she becomes in her author’s style, and place.