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A review by weaselweader
La terza traduzione by Matt Bondurant
4.0
A gem that almost hides itself!
THE THIRD TRANSLATION is not an easy book to like!
Our hero, Walter Rothschild, an Egyptologist at the British Museum, is an ineffectual, pathetic obsessed man, driven only by a passion for his science. Boring and weak, ineffectual as a parent, spouse and lover, indecisive, introverted, fretful and naïve, Walter generates only a vague, disinterested feeling of sympathy in the reader. The plot, on the other hand, at least contains the elements of a story that one might expect should unfold as a thriller! With the help of a powerful cocktail of drugs, alcohol and uninhibited sex, Erin, a beautiful young goth, steals a papyrus from the museum that Walter thinks may contain a vital clue to the translation of the Stela of Paser, a centuries old funerary stone. A rather stumbling investigation leads Walter to the acquaintance of Penelope, a staffer from the British Library, who helps him track the thief into the lair of a modern day Egyptian cult.
Like the earnest, trendy young people who mill about London's arty Soho district where some of Bondurant's tale is based, THE THIRD TRANSLATION is much too ardent and takes itself entirely too seriously. Or, at least, that's what I thought at first! But, it was Walter's daughter, Zenobia, indulging in a mouthful of babbling double-speak that made me realize Bondurant was yanking on the chain of London's intelligentsia sub-culture. She spoke of her new business venture, a women's magazine:
"While I was doing my master's at Columbia, she said, I discovered that most women's studies and humanities departments were engaged in a form of hypocritical liberal fascism, victimization, and debilitating group-think strategies that eventually were swamped in a morass of ambiguity and academic jargon that prohibited the real ideas present to make a dent in anything beyond the theoretical models. This magazine is intended to change all that."
By this point in the novel, it was quite clear that Bondurant was far too skilled a writer to have constructed such meaningless drivel by mistake so, I concluded that he had set out to create it on purpose. Do not judge THE THIRD TRANSLATION by the standards of what you were expecting to read. Rather allow it to be what it wants to be. Once that "aha" light came on for me, the novel, like the endless crescendo in a Rossini overture, built in beauty and moved from one strength to another.
And what exactly IS THE THIRD TRANSLATION? An eloquent, dramatic description of the current understanding of translation of hieroglyphics from a purely scientific point of view; an even more eloquent philosophical statement about hieroglyphics as a reflection of ancient Egyptian culture; an unrelated series of poetic, artistic asides that use certain features of modern cosmological theories of the universe as metaphors for Egyptian writing; a masterful, darkly comic, literary criticism of London life; an emotional, deeply moving description of a few days in Walter's life as he comes to grips with his inadequacies and failings and attempts to establish a renewed relationship of sorts with his estranged daughter; and, finally, a modest mystery that, in large part, remains unsolved at the conclusion of the narrative. This lack of a real conclusion to the story is, paradoxically, still quite satisfying!
Like many other books, enjoyment of THE THIRD TRANSLATION does not come with the first page. But, patience and perseverance will be rewarded with a real treasure!
Paul Weiss
THE THIRD TRANSLATION is not an easy book to like!
Our hero, Walter Rothschild, an Egyptologist at the British Museum, is an ineffectual, pathetic obsessed man, driven only by a passion for his science. Boring and weak, ineffectual as a parent, spouse and lover, indecisive, introverted, fretful and naïve, Walter generates only a vague, disinterested feeling of sympathy in the reader. The plot, on the other hand, at least contains the elements of a story that one might expect should unfold as a thriller! With the help of a powerful cocktail of drugs, alcohol and uninhibited sex, Erin, a beautiful young goth, steals a papyrus from the museum that Walter thinks may contain a vital clue to the translation of the Stela of Paser, a centuries old funerary stone. A rather stumbling investigation leads Walter to the acquaintance of Penelope, a staffer from the British Library, who helps him track the thief into the lair of a modern day Egyptian cult.
Like the earnest, trendy young people who mill about London's arty Soho district where some of Bondurant's tale is based, THE THIRD TRANSLATION is much too ardent and takes itself entirely too seriously. Or, at least, that's what I thought at first! But, it was Walter's daughter, Zenobia, indulging in a mouthful of babbling double-speak that made me realize Bondurant was yanking on the chain of London's intelligentsia sub-culture. She spoke of her new business venture, a women's magazine:
"While I was doing my master's at Columbia, she said, I discovered that most women's studies and humanities departments were engaged in a form of hypocritical liberal fascism, victimization, and debilitating group-think strategies that eventually were swamped in a morass of ambiguity and academic jargon that prohibited the real ideas present to make a dent in anything beyond the theoretical models. This magazine is intended to change all that."
By this point in the novel, it was quite clear that Bondurant was far too skilled a writer to have constructed such meaningless drivel by mistake so, I concluded that he had set out to create it on purpose. Do not judge THE THIRD TRANSLATION by the standards of what you were expecting to read. Rather allow it to be what it wants to be. Once that "aha" light came on for me, the novel, like the endless crescendo in a Rossini overture, built in beauty and moved from one strength to another.
And what exactly IS THE THIRD TRANSLATION? An eloquent, dramatic description of the current understanding of translation of hieroglyphics from a purely scientific point of view; an even more eloquent philosophical statement about hieroglyphics as a reflection of ancient Egyptian culture; an unrelated series of poetic, artistic asides that use certain features of modern cosmological theories of the universe as metaphors for Egyptian writing; a masterful, darkly comic, literary criticism of London life; an emotional, deeply moving description of a few days in Walter's life as he comes to grips with his inadequacies and failings and attempts to establish a renewed relationship of sorts with his estranged daughter; and, finally, a modest mystery that, in large part, remains unsolved at the conclusion of the narrative. This lack of a real conclusion to the story is, paradoxically, still quite satisfying!
Like many other books, enjoyment of THE THIRD TRANSLATION does not come with the first page. But, patience and perseverance will be rewarded with a real treasure!
Paul Weiss