Friday, November 17, 2006

Here Come the French!

Two new translations of stalwart French writers, Jacques Roubaud and Lydie Salvayre, will, yes, save your lives or allow you a kind of catharsis that rarely transpires. Rosemarie and Keith Waldrop have translated 150 poems of Roubaud in a volume entitled THE FORM OF A CITY CHANGES FASTER, ALAS, THAN THE HUMAN HEART. It is a lament for Paris, the old Paris, and this keen keen is a humorous lament, space and memory-affirming whether you live in Paris, New York City (where did it go?), or any domicile, near or far, that has undergone devastating changes. Lydie Salvayre's EVERYDAY LIFE reflects the blistering, boorish, and nearly maniacal subjectivity of a middle-aged secretary as she attempts to relinquish office power from a new secretary. If you've ever had a difficult time at work and wish to revisit the worst experience with precision and crushing candor, this book is for you. Both
titles are just published by Dalkey.

Curley