Wednesday 14 December 2011

Captain Bluebear



As I mentioned, Nico bought me a brilliant book for St Nicholas last week.  I am already through 450 pages!  It's kind of a children's book in how fantastical it is but the language (soporific, nostalgically, durability - I only learned some of these words in the last few years) is definitely for a more adult audience and often the humour too.  The world in which Walter Moers writes is incredible and Nico loves watching me read because I'm so active - laughing out loud, etc. 

What really amazes me is not just the fantastic job that the author did, but also the translator - John Brownjohn.  I often read translations and it doesn't impress me because I used to translate as part of my degree but given that Walter Moers makes words up as he goes along and John Brownjohn has to make those made up words fit an English speaking audience - I think he is quite an unsung hero!

I can't recommend the book more, and I'm planning to get into the rest of the series next year.  You can check it out here.

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