Seldom are any creative works in Tamil published in English, although a few are available in Sinhala. However, some poems have appeared in English here and there. So Pathmanathan is one such translator.
But here I want to say something of a translator more than the original writer and his piece of writing. The original titled Erimalai in Tamil is by T Gnanasekaran, of whom one has to write in detail sometime later.
About the translator and his proficiency in English. He is V. Thillainathan. The translated work is given the title The Volcano. I have not met Velupillai Thillainathan as yet, but I have read his writing style earlier. I am gathering information from the blub of this so-called novel.
Thillainathan is a retired school and University teacher of English and a writer of fiction in Thamil. He has also written a few short stories in English. Two of his stories were published by Channels. In an Islandwide short story contest, one of his stories won the second prize. A novel of his Tamil was a co-winner of the State Literary Awards in 1978.
A winner of many awards in English and Tamil - bilingual writer. Ayathurai Saanthan has written a review of this book.
Excerpts:
“Erimalai, the winner of the Goodge award for the best Tamil novel published in 2018, is considered extraordinary creative writing because of its subject matter. The work is the outcome of an attempt to encapsulate the whole history of the Sri Lankan ethnic crisis within a novel, revealing the agony and ambitions of a section of the people of this country.
Though there have been works that dealt with different periods and handed particular aspects of the development of the problem, no other work has ventured so far in dealing with the full history of the tragedy.”
Even Volcano portrays Gnanasekeran as a righteous human and sincere Sri Lankan.
The book is dedicated to the late Upali Leelaratna “who contributed enormously towards promoting reconciliation and ethnic harmony through his literary creations and translations”
I was fascinated by the use of idiomatic and proper use of the right word at the right place by the translator. I felt I am reading an original English novel.
Congratulations to both the original writer and the trans creator
Add new comment