Brady is translating the German translation of a English novel back into English. I could see where this would be an interesting way to have a gold standard to compare one's translation skills to, but then again I guess that depends on how much one trusts the original translator.
The Traitor's Gate, btw, is one of 13 novels that Edgar Wallace published in 1927, two less than the 15 he published in 1926. I remember reading somewhere that at the height of his career he had periods of dictating a book a week.
Update: The Wikipedia entry for Wallace is a good yarn in its own right. And, according to it, it's a book a weekend instead of week.
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I began a translation of a translation once, although this made, I suppose, a little more sense. I had the Swedish translation of a Norwegian novel that I thought my little brother would like. So I decided I'd translate it for him as a gift. I got about halfway through the book (which isn't even that long) and then got distracted by other things. It also took longer than expected. I always think, even though I know it's wrong, that translation will take not much longer than reading and since I read Swedish nearly as fast as I read English it shouldn't be a problem. But that's not the way it goes. Translation takes way longer.
Although, now that I'm reminded of it, maybe I should get back to it. It *is* a good book, after all.
You know, I wondered why it was set in England.
Oops, sorry. The translator is always the last to know.
my understanding is that in the 15th century someone (erasmus?) translated Jerome's Vulgate into Greek, making for a Greek->Latin->Greek edition of the new testament.
la plus ca change
What makes this really funny or embarrassing, depending on who you are, is that Mary did a big old post on Edgar Wallace on the blog a while back. Which I clearly didn't read.
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