A novel of tremendous scope and beauty, The Translator tells of the relationship between an exiled Russian poet and his American translator during the Cuban missile crisis, a time when a writer's words -- especially forbidden ones -- could be powerful enough to change the course of history.
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John Crowley's The Translator is a novel with a time bomb ticking over its head. It takes place during the dark days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, as an American coed develops a complicated relationship with an exiled Russian poet who is her college professor, poetic collaborator, and perhaps lover. Innokenti Falin is a man of many secrets--but then, so is Christa Malone. Growing up, her father spoke only vaguely about his work with the government and computers; her Green Beret brother died under mysterious circumstances in Southeast Asia; and Christa herself has a few things in her past that she'd rather not contemplate.
In their power to evoke the physical pleasures of poetry, the scenes in which Falin and Malone work together evoke A.S. Byatt's Possession, another gripping novel about language and the life of the mind. Improbably, Crowley even makes the act of translation sexy:
She thought, long after, that she had not then ever explored a lover's body, learned its folds and articulations, muscle under skin, bone under muscle, but that this was really most like that: this slow probing and working in his language, taking it in or taking hold of it; his words, his life, in her heart, in her mouth too.The novel's principal shortcoming is that it can't quite make up its mind whether it's a cloak-and-dagger cold war novel or a less realistic fable about love, loss, and the power of art. Nonetheless, as the depiction of an era, a passion, and one woman's helplessness in the face of history, The Translator succeeds. Much can be forgiven of a book that makes us feel that words are important--that they can in fact change the world. --Mary Park --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Writer's writer Crowley, who has been working for years on a series that weaves fantasy elements into larger, more naturalistic plots (Love and Sleep; Aegypt; Daemonomania), here abandons the otherworldly for a novel that builds realistically toward a historic event: the Cuban missile crisis. Christa "Kit" Malone and her brother, Ben, have rarely lived anywhere longer than a year: their father works on some hush-hush, inexplicable cybernetic business for the Department of Defense, and their mother has become an expert in packing. When Ben, with whom Kit is very tight, joins the Green Berets at the end of the 1950s, Kit, partly in protest, gets pregnant. Teenage pregnancy being more scandalous then than now, her folks stash her with some nuns until she has the baby, which is born dead. With this secret behind her, she goes to a midwestern university and meets a recently exiled Russian poet, Innokenti Falin. Kit, who has written prize-winning poetry herself, is attracted by Falin's story. An orphan raised on the street, his poems grow out of the intersection between learned and street culture, and are indigestible to the Soviets. After Kit receives news that Ben has died in a freak accident in the Philippines, she returns to the university and becomes, if not Falin's lover, at least his partner. Then the Cold War heats up over Cuba, an unnamed government agency starts nosing around Falin and the poet himself begins to act mysteriously. Since novels are built to show, not tell, few novelists, outside of Nabokov in Pale Fire, can both outline a great poet and produce the poetry. Although Falin does emerge as a vivid figure despite the faltering verses attributed to him, Kit never rings true. Crowley won't break out of cult status with this novel, and his fans may be puzzled by his hiatus from the fantastic.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
The first time that Christa Malone heard the name of Innokenti Isayevich Falin, it was spoken by the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
The first time that Christa Malone heard the name of Innokenti Isayevich Falin, it was spoken by the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By John Sollami
Format:Paperback
I thought this novel would be interesting, and it was, at the outset. I found myself engrossed in the lead character and in the misplaced Russian literary figure teaching somewhere in the midwest. There were good pieces of poetry that were being analyzed, and an interesting relationship was being developed between student and teacher.
But somewhere in the middle, I lost interest because there was just too much preciousness about it all, too much meandering in the writing, and I didn't seem to care anymore.
I did read the work all the way through, but never regained interest in it.
I really wouldn't recommend it.
But somewhere in the middle, I lost interest because there was just too much preciousness about it all, too much meandering in the writing, and I didn't seem to care anymore.
I did read the work all the way through, but never regained interest in it.
I really wouldn't recommend it.
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This is the first book I've read by John Crowley; I'd been attracted to buy it from a review, and was particularly looking forward to many of its elements--an exiled poet from Russia, how language can change the world, a look at the time when I grew up (I'm the same age as Kit, and I also grew up and went to college in the Midwest), with a backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis, which I didn't know much about.
However, I never got drawn into this novel--the writing seemed to keep me at arm's length, and I just didn't care about Kit, the young student/poet who is looking back at her days at college with the newly exiled Russian poet Falin, while also visiting Russia--and Falin's poet friend(s)--for the first time, years later. The writing of this book really disappointed me; I was expecting it to be better, though I can imagine it would appeal to some (the flat tone, perhaps).
The novel has a lot of elements to it but, for me, many just weren't detailed or developed enough (except Kit's story--and I found myself not caring about her past because I didn't care about her, period). I have young friends from Russia and know of the importance that poetry has in the lives of Russians that it simply doesn't in America; I found the book interesting in that regard, though so wished for more detail, both in the present-day Russian segments and in Falin's history (though the 'besprizornye'--lost children--of Russia is eye-opening, but I wanted more of Falin's past and less of Kit's brother's). I especially was fascinated by what details there are about the Cuban Missile Crisis, but again, thought there could have been so much more done with this, longed for more specifics in this backdrop.
The book seemed somewhat of a mishmash for me--is it a love story between Kit and Falin? Well, yes and no. Is it a Cold War whodunit? Well, no, not really, you never really understand fully what happened that last night, though Crowley threads the Cold War and the CIA/FBI through the last part of the novel particularly. Is it really about the power of language or poetry? Again, yes and no.
I felt, at the end, that I had read little bits about various interesting topics that just never quite hung together as a whole. I thought about the ending for awhile, but the book just never made an emotional impact on me, wasn't a book I thought about or pondered a great deal while I was reading it and didn't leave me thinking about it for days afterwards, as I do when I finish a book that's both multi-layered and pulls me into the story.
I would like to agree with the other five-star reviewers here, but just can't, in all honesty, though I started the book hoping I had a wonderful find in my hands. I kept on hoping it would pick up, draw me in, but it never did, alas. This may appeal, though, to readers who like more 'intellectual' or abstract books than I do--I like to get intimately involved in a story.
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This is one of the most powerful and moving books
I've ever read. Couldn't put it down and then couldn't
stop thinking about it afterwards. I'm still re-reading
passages in order to relive the sensations.
The act of translation and the ideas and issues surrounding
it are artfully used as a trampoline for delving into
many other interesting and emotional topics...
A wonderful, layered experience.
I've ever read. Couldn't put it down and then couldn't
stop thinking about it afterwards. I'm still re-reading
passages in order to relive the sensations.
The act of translation and the ideas and issues surrounding
it are artfully used as a trampoline for delving into
many other interesting and emotional topics...
A wonderful, layered experience.
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4.5 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Important people in your life want you to skip this book
This is the kind of reading experience in which you may find that you are breathing quietly and slowly, forgetting to eat or sleep, and letting the kids watch way too much... Read more
Published on Sep 27 2002 by "hallerj"
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clear-eyed cameo of an era - and more
John Crowley's prose, always a delight, just keeps getting better. Here it's polished like fine crystal: no flashy lyricism, no polysyllabic raids on Roget, just limpid phrases... Read more
Published on May 7 2002 by Royce E. Buehler
5.0 out of 5 stars
Crowley
I went to college in the Midwest in the early 60s so excuse me if I wax (is that a word?) a little rapturous. Read more
Published on Mar 25 2002 by T. Bisson
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Translator
Wow! This book is now my favorite of all time. I struggle to find words to describe it and how much I liked it.
Published on Mar 24 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Next Big Thing
John Crowley is this era's unrecognized literary genius. Working quietly, diligently, precisely, he turns out an exquisite novel every few years. Read more
Published on Mar 13 2002 by James T. Heeney
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