I try to read in the original language whenever possible. I have come across a book at the very bottom of my wanting to read pile which makes me sad that I dropped Italian. Umberto Eco’s language is so rich and intricate that my basic understanding would never suffice and so I am reading “L’isola del giorno prima” in a German translation.
This breathtaking version has to be read to be believed. I have grown up with Thomas Mann and his famously challenging sentences and the beauty of a demanding style. The translator, Burkhart Kroeber, is a magician. I wish I knew him. What a command of the language. Chapeau!