SOURCE: Kauffmann, Stanley. “Almost-English.” The New Republic 155, no. 24 (10 December 1966): 26, 38.

In the following review, Kauffmann faults the translation of Attendance List for a Funeral.

The subject of translation is worth continual discussion, and I am especially qualified to discuss it because I cannot read any foreign language.

I had just written the above when the November 18 New Statesman arrived with an article on translation by the always stimulating Hans Keller. Says Keller: “So far as my views on translation are concerned, I only accept criticism from bilingual people: nobody else can judge.”

Nevertheless, I continue insisting on my qualifications. I can plod through some Italian and German, less French, but I cannot really read anything but English. Those who can read one or all of those languages may argue with my credentials for judging books from those sources, but do they suspend their own critical judgment on books translated...