Pearl Buck....Elfrieda Jelinek
There are always exceptions to the rule =) Munro, William Trevor, Kundera are not exceptions to the rule though.
Btw, Joyce is a total hack =P I would replace him with Zola, Twain, Capek, Chekhov, Greene, Borges.
PS I am happy for Mo (I'll be sure to pick up some of his books). I am just a bit disappointed because I feel he has a few more years in the tank than Trevor, Munro and a handful of other old times I would have liked to see win the honor.
Joyce a
hack? Now, you've done it:
Behold the handmaid of the moon. In sleep the wet sign calls her hour, bids her rise. Bridebed childbed, bed of death, ghost-candled. Omnis caro ad te veniet. He comes pale vampire through storm his eyes, his bat sails bloodying the sea, mouth to a mouth's kiss.
...
In terror the poor girl flees away through the dark. She is the bride of darkness, a daughter of night. She dare not bear the sunnygolden babe of day...
And when reading Chinese literature in translation we should always remember Borges' immortal lines:
By 1916 I resolved to endeavor myself with the study of Oriental literature. While reading with enthusiasm and credulity the English version of a Chinese philosopher, I found this memorable passage: "A death row inmate does not mind walking by a cliff, he has already given up on life." At that point the translator put an asterisk and I noticed that his interpretation was to be chosen over another version by a rival Chinese Lit. expert who translated it this way "the servants destroy the artwork to avoid having to judge its beauties and its defects." Then, as Paolo and Francesca, I stopped reading. A mysterious skepticism had crept into my soul.
Hacia 1916 resolví entregarme al estudio de las literaturas orientales. Al recorrer con entusiasmo y credulidad la versión inglesa de cierto filósofo chino, di con este memorable pasaje: "A un condenado a muerte no le importa bordear un precipicio, porque ha renunciado a la vida. "En ese punto el traductor colocó un asterisco y me advirtió que su interpretación era prefelible a la de otro sinólogo rival que traducía de esta manera "Los sirvientes destruyen las obras de arte para no tener que juzgar sus bellezas y sus defectos. "Entonces, como Paolo y Francesca, dejé de leer. Un misterioso escepticismo se había deslizado en mi alma.