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**ehib8yPc** · 07-04-2008, 06:45 PM

Thomas Warburton was born in 1918, so he is 90 years old this year. I am reading a wonderful small book of his memoirs - about his life as a translator. As you can see from his surname, he has something to do with Britain. Indeed, for the first 33 years of his life he was a British citizen.

But Warburton is no Brit. He is a Swedish-speaking Finn and this has stood him in good stead as a translator when conveying literature written in both English and Finnish to a Swedish readership. He is a bridge between cultures.

He has translated umpteen books from the Finnish, including the two-volume masterpiece by Volter Kilpi (1874-1939) called In the Hall at Alastalo which no doubt ranks with the works of Szentkuthy, as mentioned recently by Stewart, since Kilpi he is regarded as the Finnish Proust-Joyce.

But from English, Warburton has translated a good deal into Swedish - and some important and varied books:

William Faulkner: Intruder in the Dust; Sartoris; A Fable
Henry Green: Loving; Living
Tennessee Williams: The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone
Djuna Barnes: Nightwood
James Joyce: Ulysses; Dubliners
Edgar Lee Masters: The Spoon River Anthology
H.G. Wells: The History of Mr Polly
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles; The Sign of Four; The Speckled Band
George Orwell: 1984
Laurence Sterne: Tristram Shandy
E.E. Cummings: The Enormous Room

Plus works by a dozen other authors.

His memoirs are actually called Efter 30 000 sidor which means "after 30,000 pages". Warburton has, during his long career as a translator, translated roughly that number of pages. His comments on style, payment and other aspects of literary translation are most illuminating.

07-04-2008, 06:45 PM	#1
ehib8yPc Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 564 Senior Member	Thomas Warburton: A Translator's Memoirs Thomas Warburton was born in 1918, so he is 90 years old this year. I am reading a wonderful small book of his memoirs - about his life as a translator. As you can see from his surname, he has something to do with Britain. Indeed, for the first 33 years of his life he was a British citizen. But Warburton is no Brit. He is a Swedish-speaking Finn and this has stood him in good stead as a translator when conveying literature written in both English and Finnish to a Swedish readership. He is a bridge between cultures. He has translated umpteen books from the Finnish, including the two-volume masterpiece by Volter Kilpi (1874-1939) called In the Hall at Alastalo which no doubt ranks with the works of Szentkuthy, as mentioned recently by Stewart, since Kilpi he is regarded as the Finnish Proust-Joyce. But from English, Warburton has translated a good deal into Swedish - and some important and varied books: William Faulkner: Intruder in the Dust; Sartoris; A Fable Henry Green: Loving; Living Tennessee Williams: The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone Djuna Barnes: Nightwood James Joyce: Ulysses; Dubliners Edgar Lee Masters: The Spoon River Anthology H.G. Wells: The History of Mr Polly Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles; The Sign of Four; The Speckled Band George Orwell: 1984 Laurence Sterne: Tristram Shandy E.E. Cummings: The Enormous Room Plus works by a dozen other authors. His memoirs are actually called Efter 30 000 sidor which means "after 30,000 pages". Warburton has, during his long career as a translator, translated roughly that number of pages. His comments on style, payment and other aspects of literary translation are most illuminating.
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