Oriana's Reviews > If This Be Treason: Translation and its Dyscontents

This book is actually kind of slow-going, mostly consisting of strange linguistic digressions and discussions of authors I've never read, or even heard of. It's nerdery at its best, but only makes sense to read if you're really into any of the authors whose books he's done.

But the discussions on Cortazar made it all worth it, for me. For those of you who've read Hopscotch and 62: A Model Kit, I'll tell you this, which will blow your mind: Rabassa translated them without having read them first. He just made it up as he went along. Right? He also discusses translating Magda and Juan's Gliglish (Gliglicio in Spanish), as well as some of the cooler / crazier sections in both books. Furthermore, while translating Julio's works, Gregory consider's himself Julio's paredros, and, as the two were actually lifelong friends, Julio calls Gregory cronopio, a title Gregory says he bears 'with the pride of a knight'.