“Don’t cry but I’m dying”...

Jun 25, 2012 by

“Don’t cry but I’m dying”

Over in the U.K, there’s a bit of an uproar over a school assignment – specifically, a “creative writing” project that could have doubled as a suicide note. Apparently the students were told to “imagine they had a terminal illness and express thanks to loved ones.” As a ghostwriter, I understand both sides of this particular issue – on the side of the school, it does indeed teach creativity and helps the student think outside the box and in ways they have likely not actually, seriously thought before. On the parent’s side, it’s scary as hell. You can read the entire article...

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Pablo Neruda

Jun 8, 2012 by

Pablo Neruda

We don’t read a lot of translated books around these parts–these parts being the US. Only around 3% of what we read here is translated text; mostly, US readers either read books in their original language, which is often English, but not always. We’re not savages, many US citizens are indeed bilingual (yes, including me – I speak Hebrew, though I learned it against my will. It was required of any Jewish child in my family). We’ll get into why I don’t call us Americans at a later date. That is not a rant for today. Today I am sharing a fascinating article about book translation and how amazing a job it is. When you translate a book, you dig deep into the meaning of the author, you almost delve into their mind. I...

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