Zeit und Sein

A short film in German on 40 years of Momo, including an interview with author Michael Ende waxing remarkably (but unsurprisingly) prescient about the current state of the world from his vantage point of 1993...although, really, a choice between economic disaster or environmental disaster? Why have one when you can have both?


The accompanying article says the book has been translated into 40 languages and is one of the 100 most-read books worldwide. Evidently not here, though, because both translations into English have achieved the iconic status of being continuously out of print. (Not to go all Grey Gentlemen on you, American publishing industry, but NOW would be the time.)

Quote of the Day

The Japanophile Republic of East Thirdflooria writes:

Gotta love late 19th century translations:

"The Records sound queer and bald in Japanese, as will be noticed further on; and it is therefore right, even from a stylistic point of view, that they should sound bald and queer in English. The only portions of the text which, for obvious reasons, refuse to lend themselves to translation into English after this fashion are the indecent portions. But it has been thought there could be no objection to rendering them into Latin."