Harlequin Butterfly

English language

Published 2024 by Pushkin Press, Limited.

ISBN:
978-1-78227-977-8
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(2 reviews)

A surreal novella about the global pursuit of a mysterious writer who somehow writes in dozens of languages, perfect for fans of David Mitchell and the work of Hideaki Anno. This dizzying, witty literary caper about books and translation is a delightful work that will captivate and surprise readers, and not just because it features Vladimir Nabokov as a character. An affluent entrepreneur named A.A. Abrams sinks seemingly infinite resources into the global pursuit of a writer about whom very little is known. Abrams’ target, known as “Tomoyuki Tomoyuki,” moves from one place to another, producing work in the local language before moving on to another part of the world. But how does Tomoyuki Tomoyuki move from one language to the next with such ease? Agents employed by the Abrams Institute attempt to make sense of the writer’s erratic movements and baffling writing habits, but come to find that within …

1 edition

Compelling ideas, but too short

I decided to read this book because the synopsis made it seem like it would be really relevant to translators and other types of wordsmiths. While that assumption wasn't wrong, I think that the length of the work left me feeling a bit unsatisfied with the philosophical concepts that were being explored in the story.

I don't think that stories necessarily need to provide explicit answers and many excellent stories that I love don't, but this one just felt too short to even give me enough time to begin to chew on what I was reading and contemplate the characters and their actions.

Might try to read some of this authors other work in Japanese, since I don't think anything else is published in English, to get a better grip on the author.

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Subjects

  • Language and languages