The Wheel of Time

There must be a difference in what you saw… depending on whether you sought adventure or had it forced on you. Macerayı aradığınıza ya da buna zorlandığınıza bağlı olarak, olayları nasıl gördüğünüz konusunda fark olmalıydı. -Robert Jordan, The Eye of the World / Dünyanın Gözü Çeviren: Niran Elçi

When publishers make strange title translation choices

O anda duyuyor sesi.  Arnavut kaldırımında yankılanan adımlar.  Emin olamıyor onca gürültünün arasında.  Evet, ayak sesleri.  Yoksa kendi adımlar mı?  Hızını düşürmeden kulak kesiliyor.  Sokağı, karanlığı, geceyi dinliyor.  Ömürlerini çoktan doldurmuş bu evlerin, çürümüş mezar taşlarını andıran duvarlarında yankılanan ayak seslerini.  Temkinli, dikkatli, sinsi biri tarafından atılan adımların tekinsiz seslerini.  Evet, biri var arkasında.  GölgesiniContinue reading “When publishers make strange title translation choices”

No one can read it now but archivists & activists

If you do not know much about them, Illitan and Besź sound very different.  They are written, of course, in distinct alphabets.  Besź is in Besź: thirty-four letters, let to right, all sounds rendered clear and phonetic, consonants, vowels and Demi-vowels decorated with diacritics — it looks, one often hears, like Cyrillic (though that isContinue reading “No one can read it now but archivists & activists”

Whoever risks fighting monsters

Her kim bir canavarla çarpışmayı göze alırsa, bir canavar olmayı da göze alın.  Çünkü karanlığı uzun süre bakarsınız, karanlık da sizin içinize bakmaya başlar.  Whoever risks fighting monsters risks becoming a monster.  For when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also begins gazing into you. Nietzsche 

The closest “crosshatching”

“Corwi?” “Boss?” “You know that area: is there any chance we’re looking at breach?” There were seconds of silence. “Doesn’t seem likely.  That area’s mostly pretty total.  And Pocost Village, that whole project, certainly is.” “Some of GunterStrász, though…” “Yeah but.  The closest crosshatching is hundreds of meters away.  They couldn’t have…” It would haveContinue reading “The closest “crosshatching””

Deck passengers

Büyük İnsanlik by Nazım Hikmet The Great Humanity The great humanity travels as deck passengers by ship By train in third class By foot on the roads Great humanity. Büyük insanlık gemide güverte yolcusutirende üçüncü mevkişosede yayanbüyük insanlık. The great humanity goes to work at age eight Marries at twenty Dies at forty Great humanity. BüyükContinue reading “Deck passengers”

Stalactite – Damlataşı

Stalactite – Damlataşı by Karin Karakaşlı Should tears grow larger Will they form stalactites? You know, like in caves where for fifteen years Drip drip flowing and freezing Freezing mid-flow Gözyaşını büyütüncedamlataşı olur mu?Hani şu mağarada on beş yıldamla damla akıp donanDonup akan You’d be surprised by how stone lives I once saw a stone’sContinue reading “Stalactite – Damlataşı”

Civilian

Civilian by Karin Karakaşlı They won’t look like much, no matter what you do School skirts If you roll them up at the waist Or take them in They’re still that same mousey gray Ne etsen bir şeye benzemez okul etekleriÜstten kıvırdığında da daralttığında da değişmez Hep o aynı faremsi gri You know what it is to tryContinue reading “Civilian”

Keep your ontological distance

Ontological Distance by Karin Karakaşlı When you see me, take a step back Let’s keep our ontological distance Could be that you’ll find yourself overwhelmed By the truth of your soul And won’t be able to get past the feeling In fact, in order to have a pretext, You really always need distance To makeContinue reading “Keep your ontological distance”