Author Event Recap: Jay Rubin at Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA (20070404)

I had a delightful evening at Elliott Bay listening to former UW professor, current Harvard professor, noted translator of Murakami’s works, and author, Jay Rubin. He was here in support of his new work, Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition).

Rubin started the event by talking for a little while about Akutagawa and the meaning of “Rashomon,” probing the audience for our perceptions of the word. Having just read the beginning of the book and sort of knowing the answer, I thought it would be cheating to pipe up, but another reader did chime in with the perception of a gate (indeed, Rashomon is a particular gate in Kyoto) and Rubin responded “you know too much.” I think what he was trying to kickoff the conversation with was the idea that the Western perception of Rashomon is entirely based on the Kurosawa film of the same name. People in the West undoubtedly think of Rashomon in significantly different terms than the Japanese, who have grown up with these stories as part of their cultural consciousness.

After a long stint of translating Murakami’s works, Rubin said he was excited to have the opportunity to do these translations of Akutugawa. The prior English translations were approaching 50 years old and suffering from somewhat formal and antiquated Victorian language. It was time for a “refresh.”

The project also gave Rubin the opportunity to read the entire works of Akutagawa and do a reassessment, selecting works which had not been translated before, stories that he found interesting. Indeed, the story he ended up reading to us that night, called “Green Onions,” was making its English debut in this novel and it’s a real gem. There are also several other works in this collection which had never been translated to English before and which are hardly known or studied in Japan. Stories like “Loyalty” and “Horse Legs” are pretty obscure and appearing for their first time in English translation. Teh project also gave Rubin the opportunity to organize the stories somehwta differently than previous collections. Rather than organizing the stories according to the chronology of when they were written, he chose to put them into sections based on the historical time they were written about. This makes the collection much more readable and cohesive.

When Rubin was approached by Penguin to do this collection, it was because the editor he was working with had “just stumbled upon Akutugawa” (this despite the fact Akutugawa is one of Japan’s most famous writers). From the get-go, Penguin was absolutely insistent that the title include the word “Rashomon” and that the introduction be done by Haruki Murakami, initially causing some consternation for Rubin since Murakami very publicly detests most Japanese writign. It therefore came as a bit of a shock when Murakami readily agreed (and I must note that the introduction is indeed quite spectacular).

Some other interesting tidbits I wote down from this evening:

• Murakami claims that he does not like to re-read his own completed work. He sees too many imperfections and errors in it. He loves reading his work in translation.
• Rubin’s goal when translating a work is to interpret the text but also to reproduce as much of the “irrational reading experience” as he can. This means sometimes changing jokes, imagery, language so that the reader smiles at the same spots or feels the same sadness at the appropriate. I found this to be a very musical anlaogy. This “irrational experience” of reading is important and probably one of the places where translators have to take the greatest liberty with the underlying text. Every culture has their own myths and metaphors they draw upon.
• Rubin made the decision “not to translate” “Kafka on the Shore” as he didn’t like its preachiness (although he felt the first 16 chapters were among Murakami’s best work, that the book might garner a major award). He said Murakami is very understanding of his decision not to translate the work and would rather use someone who is excited about the work. It has not altered their friendship.

Jay Rubin, Haruki Murakami, and Ryunosuke Akutagawa on Technorati.