Okay?
Okay.
I just looked for a book on the Louisville Free Public Library website, and when I didn't find it, I found myself tearing up, and, yes, I began to cry. And I felt a fierce wave of desolation wash over me. A wave that carried with it the flotsam of meaninglessness, of futility, of absolute, frigid uselessness.
The book I was searching for was The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, translated by H.T. Lowe-Porter.
That's Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter.
She was THE translator of Thomas Mann from 1924 until 1960, and, in fact, had exclusive rights to translate Mann from German to English for over two decades.
The last time I visited the library, I spotted an old-looking book on the Books For Sale cart. I picked it up and it was In Another Language by John C. Thirlwall. I'd never heard of it or him, but I like to look old books over. And a glance at the cover copy--"A Record of the Thirty-Year Relationship between Thomas Mann and his American Translator, Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter"--was enough to make me want that book.
I haven't read all that much of Thomas Mann...just The Magic Mountain and 3 different translations of Death in Venice (*). But I was impressed by Death in Venice (hence my desire to compare translations), and I was completely blown away by The Magic Mountain.
Speaking of which...I had read in several different places that I should seek out the "new" (1996) translation of The Magic Mountain by John E. Woods. More than that, I read that the H. T. Lowe-Porter translation was seriously flawed...that her lack of knowledge of German caused her to mistranslate some things, that she excised passages from the novel, and, even worse, that she added material. Needless to say, I had no interest in reading her translation.
But then I saw In Another Language at the library...and started reading it...and there is obviously another story here.
I haven't gotten all that far in In Another Language yet...20 pages of prefatory stuff and 28 pages of text...but two things are already clear to me: (1) I want to and will finish reading this book and (2) Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter has been seriously maligned by reviewers and critics.
For one thing, she devoted a huge portion of her life...almost 40 years...to translating Thomas Mann's works. For another, she was chosen by Mann to be the sole translator of his works into English. And for yet another, Thomas Mann spoke and wrote English. It's not like he was at the mercy of his translator.
In fact, letters from Thomas Mann (which are excerpted here) indicate that he and Helen had regular and detailed discussions about the translation of his works. Also, both acknowledged that translation always involved an element of changing, rearranging, and sometimes deleting portions of the original text. There's even one bit wherein Mann tells HTL-P to dump a section of the text because it won't translate.
The more I read of this book, the less validity the complaints against Ms. Lowe-Porter seem to possess. And on top of all that, there's the knowledge that the Nobel Prize Winning writer attributed s measure of the success of his works in the English-speaking world to his translator. In a letter dated May 24, 1935, Thomas Mann says "The excellent reception accorded Young Joseph by the press has pleased me immensely, and I do not fail to attribute a large share of the success to your skillful translation."
So with all of that in mind, I decided it was time to re-read The Magic Mountain...something I had intended to do ever since I finished reading the book the first time. But back then, I was determined to avoid the HTL-P translation. This time I was seeking that one out.
So I went to the library website and punched in The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann. There were four hits. The first was a reader's guide to the novel. The second was a dvd of the (not very good) movie based on the novel. The fourth was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's Cancer Ward...because the copy beneath the title compared it to The Magic Mountain. And the third? "The magic mountain / Thomas Mann ; translated from the German by John E. Woods ; with an introduction by A.S. Byatt...." (sic) The library's search engine can be a bit persnickety, though, so I typed Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter into the search box. 7 hits. The first a play by Ms. Lowe-Porter. The other six works by Thomas Mann. None of them was The Magic Mountain. I started feeling a little queasy. But wait, this is the 21st century. It's available as an ebook, of course. I looked. Nothing. I went over to Hoopla. No results. I went back to the library home page. Tried another search: The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann translated by H. T. Lowe-Porter. "No titles found (0 hits)."
I found myself tearing up. And then I began to cry.
All I could think was that even the greatest literary achievement by a Nobel Prize Winning writer...in the translation that he approved of, that he contributed to...has vanished from the library. That's how little Thomas Mann means in this world. That's how little Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter means in this world.
Quintessence of dust.
I knew that I could find a copy of the translation somewhere online. But the fact that the library system in the 29th most populous city in the United States of America didn't have a single copy of this book... not even a e-copy...just filled me with sadness for that moment. It made me feel the way I did after I went into the hospital with non-ischemic left bundle branch blockage (feels just like a heart attack, but we don't call it that): why bother with anything?
Nothing matters. Not even a little bit.
Well, that's no way to live, obviously, so I "pressed a finger delicately to my eyes" and started looking around for a copy of The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, translated by Helen Tracy Lowe-Porter. Found a few. But come to think of it, I think I saw one on the shelf of Half-Price Books a few weeks ago. I'm going to go see if that's still there first.
The first of these pictures was identified as Public Domain, and since it is cropped from the second picture, I assume that that is also Public Domain.
The third picture (my favorite) can be found at https://ibb.co/jbcpBhp.
The fourth (of young Helen) can be found at https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/literary-musings/imagining-helen-the-life-of-translator-helen-tracy-lowe-porter/.
P.S. Went to one of the Half-Price Books stores yesterday...there was not a single book by Thomas Mann there. Went to Books-a-Million today...nothing. To be continued.
P.P.S. Also, as I read further in the book, I find that in addition to the actual translation of the book, Helen T. L-P also did a considerable amount of research around the subject matter of the book she was translating...and was not paid very well for her work. And on top of that, here's a few words from Mr. Mann:
"I acknowledge willingly that much must be omitted in translating and I believe that such omissions had best be left to the judgment and the feelings of the respective translator...." (50)
So I'm feeling like this pretty much puts to bed the whole "H. T. Lowe-Porter did a shitty job of translating Thomas Mann" argument. Do you feel me?
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