Thanks to two industrious woodworkers, “The Anarchist’s Tool Chest” has become our first book to be translated into another language.
Titled “Die Werkzeugkiste des Anarchisten,” the book is published by HolzWerken and is now available for sale. It was translated by Andy Kevill and Martin Gerhards who spent a great deal of time trying to get the tone right, as well as the technical stuff.
I’m pleased also with the look of the book – the publisher took pains to capture the feel of the English edition. This is somewhat unusual. Many times translations become something else entirely. And sometimes it’s horrible.
Other publishers have approached us about translating some Lost Art Press titles into French, Korean and Chinese. So who knows what other culture will learn about tube tops and tool-shaped objects?
— Christopher Schwarz
It would be cool to hear if there were any specific euphemisms that came out of this translation, like a Top 3 or something. I’m sure there were a couple they must have laughed about like crazy trying to decide on the best translation-
There wasn’t a specific top three of euphemisms. What was most difficult to get right were the cultural references, which are of course entirely American. Most Brits get them because of the Hollywood influence but I had to bend my brain a lot to get them through my Brit mental filter into something meaningful for Germans (and Austrians and Swiss).
I had to dig my heels in with regard to the humour: my favourites were that cat nearly beat NASA to the moon due to a badly designed table and the quote (this is from memory as of course I can’t find it when I want it): “Note to self: I must stop anthropomorphising about tools. They hate it.”
My German was proof read by a retired teacher of German who is more Prussian than Bismarck and she simply could not cope with what is essentially a technical book being laced with daft asides. In the end I got her to put it down to Anglo-American cultural decadence. “Look Anke, this bloke is from the country that gave us The Simpsons, McDonalds and Budweiser and they think that counts as beer and they drink it while chewing on a Big Mac while goggling at what Homer is up to … so just cut him a bit of slack.” Which more or less did the trick. By the end of the job she was actually starting to warm to Chris’s style.
“… a technical book being laced with daft asides…”
That is a brilliant summation.
My German is very rusty. But I’d be curious to see what they did with “Disobey me!”
it says ‘bitte nicht gehorchen!’
somehow disobey me rolls off the tongue easier…
Yeah — but it sounds a lot scarier in German!
Good point. That’s probably why they added “bitte” (please disobey me)!
The is no word. Disobedience in Germany is verboten! At least, that’s what Der Struwwelpeter taught me as a child!
The Beatles had some of their big hits translated and reissued into German too.
Is Chris Ringo?
Pete Best.
Who is Yoko?
We have a cat that yowls a lot like a dying badger….
That pretty much sums up her tracks on Double Fantasy.
The publisher even added a „bitte nicht gehorchen“ sticker and a postcard 🤗
I would like to propose a new T-shirt based on this post…
“LOST ART PRESS: Keeping those A-holz werken!
Odd question: Will this book be available in the USA?
No clue. I doubt it.
It has an ISBN: 9783866307452. And it shows up in the catalogue of my local dealer. So you can try. When I select zip code 41017 as delivery destination on Amazon it shows up as well. (I am not saying you should order there.)
Thanks Michael. Ordered it through Amazon. I also contacted the German website and they indicated they would sell to the USA also.
Turbogeil!