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. 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.
Outside The Stranger? English Retranslations of Camus’ L’Étranger
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.
- Zenith: The First Book of Ascension.
- Great Expectations!
- Lady Bliss.
- ;
- Stranger in Translation by Charles Raines!
- In This Life.
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.
Stranger in Translation
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. It was one of those delicious, "Yes, yes, I think I know where this is going" followed by, "Well, no, maybe I don't" The ending, I mean.
I'm completely disoriented, having finished this little shining gem of a story. The ending, I tell you, the ending. Beautiful, a why-the-hell-didn't-I-write-that Everyone before me has given you teasers of the plot. Beautiful, a why-the-hell-didn't-I-write-that sort of conclusion. The title is clever, fits the story so well.
The main character, so beautifully fleshed out, the kind of character I lovethe I'm right there in his head type fellow. What a perfect, handsome, sexy, gentle, wonderful character he is. Just wait until you meet him on that bench in the cemetery. The young man whose grave is central to the whole story.
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The mystery of him, the poignant care the two main characters have for him as they share their intimate thoughts of who they think he was, what his life must have been. A wonderful, vivid supporting cast. Everyone so meticulously crafted, so much color and life for such a short story. A character all its own. Smells, sights, touches, tastes. Frank, blunt yet rippling stream-of-thought-natural prose. A huge part, I think, of what mesmerized me from the first page. I want you to meet the jogger. When you read the last page and 'close' the book, your mind will be just where mine is right now.
On the beautiful jogger. Nov 25, Michael rated it it was amazing. Charles Raines has given readers of gay erotica a storyline that musters the senses to seek the thrill of living in a foreign city. With each experience or encounter, anticipation leads to desire, and desire leads to physical contact with someone new. And as the story develops, every time this reader read a chapter, I wanted to have an affair with that someone. That is the provocation Raines' writing gives me.
And do you know, I loved that thrill and the ability he uses to instill th Charles Raines has given readers of gay erotica a storyline that musters the senses to seek the thrill of living in a foreign city. And do you know, I loved that thrill and the ability he uses to instill that passion in me.
Erotic passions are the letters of the author's keyboard as he weaves the strands of the main character's life on the streets of Marseilles. The tension between the characters is so real, the reader senses the moment of arousal as the English translator meanders through dangerous backstreets and forbidden alleys.
As in real life, there are 'highs' juxtaposed with 'lows' that anyone trying to fit in as a local in a foreign culture would experience. The reader is never disappointed when the conquest of the stranger is consummated. And the beauty is that the author's wordpictures are so well crafted they bring vivid sensual imaginery to mind throughout his short story. I wholeheartedly recommend "Strangers in Translation" to everyone who enjoys passion stirred deep inside oneself.
Oct 27, Cy Price rated it it was amazing. Presented in the first person narrative, we meet an unnamed Gay Englishman who is in France for the job of translating a novel. When we meet this young man, it immediately becomes apparent that not only does he hate the job he's hired to do but he's also dissatisfied with his life. As the translator attempts to make the best of his situation, he encounters a number of characters that thrust him into a cycle o Author Charles Raines delivers a very thought provoking read in Stranger In Translation.
As the translator attempts to make the best of his situation, he encounters a number of characters that thrust him into a cycle of self-exploration. He begins to really think, feel, and identify with what he truly needs to free himself from being a "stranger" - a stranger not just in a foreign land but also the stranger within. While there were sexual encounters in the story, the author presented them in such a way that they did not detract from the intrigue of the story. There's even a wee bit of mystery sprinkled throughout.
The book was very well-written and beautifully described. Highly recommended for gay romance book lovers. 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. And this departs from the disjointed quality of the French. Here Gilbert succeeds in being more idiomatic: Do the translators compensate in other ways for this phenomenon, impossible to reproduce?
When the court rises and Meursault is taken back to the prison in a van, Camus describes: Here, aside from the referential meaning, Ward captures the significance of the prose: No sentence in French literature in English translation is better known than the opening sentence of The Stranger.
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It has become a sacred cow of sorts, and I have changed it. This latest translation is the one that most openly embraces foreign elements from the source text. Each version reveals different aspects of the time and place in which the translation was written, as well as individual proclivities and idiosyncrasies of the translators themselves. Certainly he seems to be domesticating the text, making it perhaps more accessible for a mid-twentieth century British reader.