Thursday, February 15

The Athenian Murders - José Carlos Somoza

I was captured by the concept of this book – the text tells the tale of the death of Plato’s Academy student Tramacus, apparently torn apart by wolves on the slope of Mount Lycabettas in Athens, not long after the Peloponnesian War. Heracles Pontor, Decipherer of Enigmas, believes the death is not as it appears and, with the assistance of his old friend Crantor, and Academy head Diagoras, attempts to discover who really killed Tramacus, and why.
So far, so unremarkable. Except that there’s a second, sub-textual mystery being unravelled in the footnotes of the man translating The Athenian Murders out of Ancient Greek. Working from the only existing translation, the Translator is initially convinced that there’s an eidetic message, but becomes increasingly concerned about what he’s uncovering.
This is a truly unique and intellectually intriguing concept, and is well executed. I studied Roman and Ancient Greek culture, literature, philosophy and art for a year at school, and found that very helpful, but by no means a prerequisite. The characters, including the Translator, and the twin plots, were less satisfying than the concept and the execution, but I enjoyed the book nonetheless. This is the first of Somaza’s books to be translated into English, and I’m curious about the form and contents of his other work. Ecco’s text on translation has certainly raised my awareness of and interest in translation, though none of his literary erudition is referenced – and for that I am inordinately grateful. – Alex

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