Why Translation Matters

“Groundbreaking.”—New York Times

“Grossman and others like her continue to offer us enlightenment. . . . [The subject] is passionately explored and patiently explained.”—Richard Howard, New York Times Book Review

“In this slim but powerful volume, Edith Grossman argues that translation performs a function that is too often ignored or misunderstood.”—Edward King, Sunday Times

“A passionate defense of the translator’s art.”—Peter Terzian, Boston Globe

“Grossman writes with passion and clarity, and with a wisdom acquired through decades of practice. . . . Why Translation Matters is well argued and stylishly written. Or, to put it another way, it is both able and seamless.”—Daniel Hahn, Times Literary Supplement

“A brief, forceful defense of [translation].”—Hillel Italie, Associated Press

“Required reading for publishers the world over. . . . It should also be given to all reviewers, agents, writers and readers. . . . In clean language that is a pleasure to read, Grossman argues why and how a good translation is just that.”—Julie Rose, The Australian

“A passionate and provocative case for the continuing importance of literary translation.”—London Review of Books

“This trio of essays is a record of a professional’s clear-sighted reflections on an often misunderstood craft. Composed with clarity and insight in what Orwell himself would have called ‘windowpane prose,’ the book is a beautifully written and boldly argued piece of scholarship.”—Thomas Patrick Wisniewski, In Other Words—Journal for Literary Translators

“There is a fair bit here about the mechanics of translation, including an excellent account of how Grossman overcame her anxiety about approaching Don Quixotee. . . . But it is her unswerving confidence in the metier and her blunt yet sophisticated defence of it that matter most, in the end.”—The Observer

“Straight-talking and thought-provoking. . . . Translation matters. Having read this, you won’t be in any doubt.”—Nora Mahony, Irish Times

“In this fascinating book, the author, a renowned translator herself, discusses her own methods of translation and argues the case that a bringing a literary work into a new language often gives it another identity while being intimately bound to the original. . . . This scholarly work . . . should become a classic of its kind.”—Gazette & Herald

“This scholarly work is surprisingly easy to read and should become a classic of its kind.”—Bill Spence, Yorkshire Gazette & Herald

Selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2010 in the Language & Literature category

“Edith Grossman, the Glenn Gould of translators, has written a superb book on the art of the literary translation. Even Walter Benjamin is surpassed by her insights into her task, which she rightly sees as imaginatively independent. This should become a classic text.”—Harold Bloom