«Fight Club» — Belarusian version :: Charter'97 :: News

Belarusians are going to have an opportunity to read the cult novel “Fight Club” by Chuck Palahniuk in their native language. It will become possible thanks to a student Syarzhuk Myadzvedzeu. According to the translator, he has been working on “Fight Club” for some 14 or 15 months. Now 100% of the text is ready but there are still some details to be corrected.

It is hard to predict whether the novel will be published. There are some financial and copyright problems. Syarzhuk Myadzvedzeu says:

“This is my first work in this field. I have never translated anything serious before, only some small articles. The process itself was interesting rather then hard. This is popular literature. That’s why I think that this kind of books should be translated in the first place.

Most classics are already translated into Belarusian. The reaction in livejournal shows that such literature will be eagerly read in Belarusian.

I don’t think that a big print run could be sold out quickly. But it is necessary to settle the problem of copyright. I wish someone helped me”.

ERB NOTE:

Syarzhuk Myadzvedzeu was born in Vitsiebsk in 1985. He is a fourth year student of BSUIR. He is also a student of the Belarusian Collegium and works at the “Translation workshop” of Hadanovich. He won a literature contest dedicated to the centenary of “Nasha Niva”.

There was some mysticism too. Syarzhuk received a parcel from Chuck Palahniuk on the day he finished the translation. There were some things symbolic for the novel “Fight club” inside: a plastic cut finger, calculator, mint candies, seeds of forget-me-nots and some others.

But the most important present was a teddy bear. The translator thinks that this toy symbolizes the author’s creative power. Syarzhuk says:

“The fact that I received the parcel on the day I finished the translation of “Fight Club” is a coincidence. Palanuik does not often communicate with his fans. Two or three times a year he organizes a special event for fans – the so-called “mail window”.

You can send him letters during the event. Palahniuk promises to answer every letter if it is written in accordance with the given rules.

I wrote him about my translation during the “mail window” event in 2006. At that time only 60 or 70 per cent of the novel was translated. The parcel was a response to my letter”.

Part of the translation can be found at Syarzhuk’s web page http://siarzh.livejournal.com/. Now it is the only possible way to see the Belarusian version of the novel. When Syarzhuk Myadzvedzeu was asked about his future translation plans, he answered:

“I don’t know. In fact, I have often asked myself what to translate next. I was thinking of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo`s Nest” by Ken Kesey. But we decided to deal with modern prose in the end. So, if my translation of “Fight Club” is successful I will continue my work in this field.

I already have a printed translation of Palahniuk’s “Choke”. I might start translating something popular and important if somebody advised me such a book. Anyway it is early to think about it. But I have plans to continue translating”.

«European Radio For Belarus»