Stranger In Translation

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Romance, French men and great food and scenery. The young man settles into a perfectly adequate apartment and begins. Then promptly gets stuck. It seems our unnamed translator hates the book, and feels contempt for the frivolous author. The city's people aggravate him. He's fighting feelings of his ambiguous se In what seemed like a great move at the time, a young linguist agrees to spend six months translating a current bestseller from English to French.

He's fighting feelings of his ambiguous sexuality, his ennui, and the terrible itchy feeling that something is missing. That his life has no meaning, and this trip is a waste. He beings hanging out in a local cemetery, on a small bench facing the gravestone of Maurice Mansour.

Soon enough, a handsome and mysterious young jogger begins to meet him there, and a slow dance of seduction begins. Along the way, our narrator has a series of encounters with various men, one-offs and meaningless. But always, the jogger nudges and occupies his attention.

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Just as our young man begins to feel some hope, something solid, something worthwhile And I can't tell you more without ruining the story and where it goes. Charles Raines has captured the restless, scratchy, wrong-in-my-skin unrest that men feel as they grapple with what their place in the world will be. Gay, straight, bisexual - it doesn't matter. Raines shows in fascinating and intimate detail is that it's the journey, not the destination, that matters.

It's the self-definition and discovery that leads to acceptance and calm, not what others perceive you as. This book is at once in-your-face and quietly fascinating.

We see the young man's struggle, his restlessness as he wrestles with his own feelings of superiority and snobbery, which fade into a deeply unsettling, to him, revelation of what his place truly is in the world. And how the challenge of changing not only definition of self, but his worldview, makes him settle into himself.

I really liked that there were no easy solutions for our unnamed narrator. Life is seldom tidy and clean, and the bumpy ride feels Raines has a steady, brutally frank voice that I find intriguing and like a LOT. I can't wait to see where he goes next, because this book is brilliant. Apr 08, 5amWriterMan rated it it was amazing. I have an addiction and Charles Raines is my drug. His stories never cease to impress me and his writing hypnotizes me. Love, sex, and mystery between gay men is superbly described in the prose of his literature.

Although I had an inkling of the outcome at the end, I was still surprised to read it Oct 23, David rated it it was amazing. Finally, however, I was able to tune out the world, put on a pair of headphones, fire up my Kindle, and begin to read. Immediately I was so drawn into the story that by the time I got to the last page far too soon, it seemed to me , I was surprised to discover that we were already landing in L. Instead, I will limit my comments to why I thought this book was such a great read.

The narrator, forever struggling to fit into the world in which he has sequestered himself, learns from a series of erotically-charged encounters with strangers, and a chance encounter of a different kind in a Marseilles cemetery, that he will always be a stranger until he opens his heart and stops hiding from the man he really is. As the story unwinds, we see the narrator gradually transform from the cold, detached person we meet at the beginning—a man that I did not particularly like—into the kind of man worthy and capable of real love.

I look forward to many more releases by Charles Raines and I recommend this novella enthusiastically. Aug 29, Chris rated it did not like it Shelves: So-so stream-of-consciousness story of a Englishman living in Marseilles, translating a novel into French and becoming intrigued by a stranger who persists in chattering away when he's trying to enjoy the quiet of a cemetery. View all 3 comments. Oct 04, Lena Grey rated it it was amazing. Depending on how the word is defined, stranger can have several meanings.

In 'Stranger in Translation' Charles Raines takes full advantage of this diversity, creating not merely an intriguing story, but an enigma as well. The story is told in first person and the narrator is never named, therefore, he remains a stranger. He takes us on a whirlwind tour, not only of life in a French city, but also one of his own conflicted thoughts and feelings.

He's in denial, not able to acknowledge that his at Depending on how the word is defined, stranger can have several meanings. He's in denial, not able to acknowledge that his attitudes are perpetuating his feelings of isolation and non-acceptance. He's a stranger to the rules of life and has not yet learned to translate them. His position of stranger will endure unless he's able to form a more realistic view of his attitudes toward himself and others.

Our translator is like so many young people. He thinks they've got life all figured out; but as time goes by, it begins to dawn on him that he doesn't even know what he doesn't know. He's put him in this neat, secure little box and never ventures out of it. The chap wants to fit in, but goes out of his way to be different. He does this because it's the proper thing to do, such as wearing a suit even though he works at home.

As the story moves along, his clothing becomes more suited to the situation, showing that he's relaxing his ridiculously inflexible standards and becoming more aware. The same holds true for his sexual exploits. His inclination toward men is both a desire and a curse because he is too inhibited to follow through. When he finally does break into the gay scene, he limits himself to meaningless one-offs rather than pursuing a loving relationship.

Their deeper relationship seems to be quite mutual and he's lured into a false sense of security. He thinks he truly knows this man and is ready to commit. However, the object of his affection turns out to be more of a stranger to him than anyone and turns his world upside down. This book is a well-written account of a young man coming to terms with his sexual orientation in a very dramatic way. His narration gives us the opportunity to share the highs and lows of his conflicted feelings, taking us through his struggle with him.

Instead of the sexual encounters being portrayed in graphic detail, they are presented in a sensual and passionate way, which I found quite refreshing. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a story with a challenge, one which will keep you on your toes with its hints, clues, and intensity, while presenting an intriguing journey both physically and mentally. It's a story which you will ponder long after closing the book. Thank you, Charles, for the mental exercise and the powerful story.

This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. Mar 25, Warren Collen rated it it was amazing. This is a book by a newer author for me. I had read and reviewed a short story, Dicing with Danger, so knew his writing was provocative and different than many. But Stranger in Translation went far beyond my expectations.

Stranger in Translation

This book has everything; romance, suspense, tension, sex, mystery, unexpected surprises, violence, and above all else, subtlety and nuance. Every page has an unexpected twist or something that will surprise you and make you just keep reading. This part of his life he is not real impressed with. He is also an English teacher to a very spoiled young man. His adventure in life begins when he meets a stranger on a bench in a cemetery, and it just continues throughout the time frame of the story.

The man is a mystery, and the relationship is a mystery. All of this will change within this story, but there are also many other things that go on within it. By the end of the book, I was enrapt.

His sex scenes border on violent, but not so that you are repulsed or uncomfortable. The scenes turn from what you expect, and change into exactly the opposite. I just kept shaking my head, wondering what had just happened. Mar 25, Erin rated it it was amazing. But we must, or else lose some very precious clue about our own humanity. Hour by hour, the central character is on a spiritual quest for the meaning of life, which crystallizes and finds its ultimate translation in the confines of a graveyard.

The first person narrator, never named, is a man in his mid-twenties, an Englishman who longs to be French, desperate to fit in to a soulless apartment and a foreign city. Yes, the irony is harsh. This fellow who scorns the shallowness of his client and his job is living a life just as trivial. This young Englishman strives to imitate the nuances of everything French—the gestures, the clothing, the accent.

He cannot or will not face his own ambivalent sexuality. He keeps a stiff reserve between himself and everyone who could possibly touch him emotionally. But as the novel progresses, his translation of his own mysterious self begins to find a kind of harmony with the vibrant life around him. At first, the narrator scorns the very idea of being seen and known … he guards his privacy as he keeps a symbolic steel jock strap between him and any hint of sexual release. Yet a chance meeting with a stranger on a graveyard bench serves as the catalyst to flinging open the layers of stiff reserve, indeed his very soul.

I can find no better way to describe a book that is haunting, edgy, and yet ripe with a pleasure which transcends the merely physical. Edgy, unforgettable, strange and wonderful. Raines; I will not forget this book. Mar 07, R. Glenn Guillory rated it it was amazing. Charles Raines writes with the skill and precision of a great author. I have found in this book a blend of sentiment and emotion expressed through the characterization and plotting that left me with a strong feeling of having read about real people in real interaction, even though we are taken into the realm of paranormal events.

The male attraction to male in the erotic "fantasy" scenes is so true to life that one knows this is fiction based on personal research and experience in the "search" a Charles Raines writes with the skill and precision of a great author. The male attraction to male in the erotic "fantasy" scenes is so true to life that one knows this is fiction based on personal research and experience in the "search" and "connection" and also "anticipation" of sex with another male.

There are elements of male eros that have definite internal subjective hallmarks when experienced. These sorts of sexual experience cannot be revealed to a reader by someone who has not known the experiences intimately and organically as a whole. When you read Charles Raines material you get the real stuff.

He can without even getting "explicit" set such a high pitch of erotic excitement that you feel you are in the hands of a master The authenticity of his love scenes and the scenes leading up to them are exciting, and he balances tension in the reader with a great pay offf, eveery time. His satisfaction of the reader's expectations is always met.

His books resound in my memory long after I read a book of his. I can imagine the book almost in it's entirety weeks and months after reading his fiction so vividly and elegantly presented is it. A year after reading his novel I can recall personalities of his characters, the story line, and the tone of his works. How is it that something so subtle as a novel's atmosphere can be presented in such a way that it stays with the reader? Talent in storytelling, which you will find here: A story presented to pleasure you in a memorable way.

Apr 12, Rob Damon rated it really liked it. I feel this happened to me with Stranger in Translation. This nameless guy spends a lot of time alone, drumming up enthusiasm to translate the latest celebrity mush book into French. Seeking tranquil moments, he is persistently disturbed by a stranger who interrupts his quiet spells in the local cemetery. I have to say something about the style of storytelling here, because whilst reading this I was reminded of Ray Bradbury. It is haunting, dreamlike, melodic, cryptic, and no doubt full of sub text — of which I cannot even guess at for the moment.

But throughout this text there is a compelling hand lulling you all the way to an ending that is likely to wet the corner of your eye.

I would recommend this to those readers, gay male readers especially, who prefer depth and dimension fused with the erotic. Sep 30, C. Zampa rated it it was amazing. Everyone before me has given you teasers of the plot. I can't even talk about the PLOT. To suit his own prose, he confidently restructures the paragraph and sentence divisions. The Connecting links give the impression of causality absent in the French: Gilbert adds two semi-colons and a colon in the first paragraph alone.

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Gilbert also uses many Briticisms, which we examine later, that domesticate his translation. In her preface she describes the translation as a collaborative work with three undergraduate students, a rather audacious undertaking for presumably inexperienced translators. Unfortunately, the results belie carelessness. Spelling errors abound 9: Moreover, basic translation errors proliferate: This work was never reviewed in any major periodical, national newspaper or scholarly journal.

The poet and critic, thirty-seven years old at the time of the translation, had been educated at Stanford, at University College in Dublin, where he was a Fulbright Scholar, and at Columbia. He won the PEN translation prize in It was also considered markedly British and colloquial, as we will soon see. Knopf commissioned a new translation. Translating references of tutoiement into English is not always a straightforward task.

Referring to the query of Marie, his girlfriend, Meursault says: And describing a conversation with his employer, Meursault states: His choice of words seems more appropriate for the United Kingdom than for Algiers. While the first translator seems to have taken great strides to acclimatize readers to the foreign text, Laredo veers off in the opposite direction, adhering to the source text so closely that at times his rendering appears awkward.

Ward tends to find expressions that fit idiomatically, where Laredo clings to the original: Laredo translates this as: When Marie and Meursault meet up soon after the funeral to go out to the beach, Camus writes: This seems to indicate his discomfort at describing any kind of sexuality, proceeding as it does the following: Ward here is more straightforward: Gilbert has clearly appropriated the text, crafting prose that reveals a style all his own.

In Part II, the narrator describes his first days in prison: The bolded terms indicate his own interpretation, tantamount to embroidery. When Marie asks Meursault what Paris was like, he declares: In the first translation, the taciturn protagonist becomes talkative and emphatic: These flesh out the novel as he sees it, not necessarily how Camus wrote it.

While Gilbert is consistent in his own writing style, a reader comparing his translation with the original is likely to get a different picture of the protagonist.

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And this departs from the disjointed quality of the French. Here Gilbert succeeds in being more idiomatic:

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