RaveAsymptoteFrenkel’s linguistic \'origins\' and influences are multiple: although she wrote in French, it was her second language, and one of at least three she spoke fluently. Rendering the work of this multilingual and widely read author into English is therefore no small undertaking ... Frenkel’s multilingualism is just one of many complexities presented to the translator of her work ... Frenkel writes with arresting restraint. Observations are laid out in sparse passages deploying only sparing authorial judgement: space is left for the reader to contemplate atrocities in their nude horror ... Frenkel displays balance and empathy in characterising even some of the cruellest figures she encounters along her journey, often searching for redeeming qualities amidst the abhorrent, and investing her energies into understanding their motives rather than lamenting their brutality ... Smee’s translation renders many such passages to great effect, particularly in her well-researched use of period terminology and vernacular dialogue ... It is when the memoir moves into a more lyrical register that Smee really finds her voice. Frenkel’s deftness with imagery and strong eye for the symbolism of the everyday all contribute to the book’s literary, as well as journalistic, distinction, and Smee’s translation negotiates her figurative, rhythmic language with impressive agility ... the \'héroïne inconnue\' of No Place to Lay One’s Head has resurfaced at a time when it seems audiences are most in need of her voice.
Jean Frémon, Trans. by Cole Swensen
RaveAsymptoteThe author’s intimate knowledge of Bourgeois’s personal relationships, life experiences, and outspoken views on a host of subjects are in evidence throughout Now, Now, Louison ... With impressive versatility, Cole Swensen negotiates the multiplicity of voices, while also maintaining the distinctive spoken quality Frémon achieves in his text ... arguably Swensen’s greatest accomplishments in Now, Now, Louison stem from her complex engagement with the relationship between fidelity and translation ... Beyond his technical achievement, Frémon dives into his own memory to create an impressive fictional portrait, creatively responding to both Bourgeois’s life and art. This portrait stylishly captures Bourgeois’s voice but of course only forms part of it ... It is the forceful, irascible, often funny nature of this voice that accounts for so much of the text’s joy, lifting it beyond its potential to be seen as exploitative. Taking as its lead both Bourgeois’s voice and creative practice, this is a book that eschews excessive biographical detail to convey something closer to life, \'a kind of portrait\' captured through the combined artistry of writer and translator.
