New translation of Zorba the Greek

       A new translation of one of the best-known works to come out of modern Greece, Nikos Kazantzakis' Zorba the Greek, is coming out -- at least in the US, from Simon & Schuster.
       Why a new translation ? Well, Carl Wildman's did come out in 1952, so one can argue that, after more than half a century, it might be time for a new one. But Peter Bien offers a better explanation in his Translator's Introduction:

The answer is both clear and simple. The earlier translation was made by someone who did not know Greek and who worked from a previous translation into French.

       [That sound you might have heard in the distance was my pained wail, followed by by the thud of my head again smashing against a brick wall. Is there no international court of literary justice seeing to it that the miscreants responsible for these outrages are held accountable ?]
       Okay, it is Kazantzakis, and true fans (like me) will recall that he actually wrote a couple of his works in French -- Toda Raba, anyone ? -- but certainly not this one.
       Bien also notes that:

when one places the earlier translation next to the original Greek text, one is quite amazed by the differences: omissions sometimes of many sentences, obvious errors, even commissions, i.e., supposedly translated material not in the Greek text at all.

       Surprised ? Hardly. Editors and translators continue to take such absurd liberties (and readers continue to be kept in the dark ...).
       I note also that the UK publisher of Zorba the Greek is Faber & Faber -- who notoriously are also responsible for the continued circulation of the abomination that is the from-the-French-translation translation of Lem's Solaris -- and that they don't seem to have jumped aboard the new-translation-bandwagon here either: their catalogue listing -- and Amazon.co.uk listing -- continue to be the Wildman translation-translation.
       But at least in the US readers will now have a chance to read a closer translation; see the Simon & Schuster publicity page, or pre-order your copy at Amazon.com.
       I'm not sure that 23 December publication date is ... ideal -- hoping for the very-last-minute- shoppers, are they ? Looks more like any and all coverage of this important publication -- come on, this is pretty much the only modern Greek title that readers can probably identify (Z is surely more famous for the film version) -- will be lost in the Christmas noise and rush. (Which is why I mention it now.)

       And while I am very pleased to see this proper translation, it pains me to read:

Translation copyright © 2014 by Kazantzakis Publications Ltd

       Sorry -- no, no apologies necessary: translation copyright belongs with and to the translator. Any other 'arrangement' is unacceptable.