Olivier Castaignède, author of Radikal (GOPE editions), will be speaking at the Georgetown Literary Festival in Penang

For French readers, French writer Olivier Castaignède, author of Radikal (Éditions GOPE), will be speaking at the Georgetown Literary Festival in Penang (on Saturday, November 25th, at 4:30, "Lasalle University Student Reading").  Radikal tells the story of a young Indonesian DJ in Jakarta who switches from drugs to Jihad.  

Set in Jakarta, 2014, Hendro is a DJ at the top of his game.  In his constant pursuit of new highs, he likes to lose himself between his techno music and all the drugs freely available in the night­club where he mixes. When unexpected revelations reopen childhood wounds linked to his mother’s past, Hendro can no longer find solace in his own excesses or even in his love with his transsexual girlfriend, Jasmine.

Lost in a world where Islam lives side by side with a ram­pant prostitution, and torn between a modern society where everything can be bought and a world of traditions that still fascinates him, Hendro now needs new expedient to appease his internal turmoil.  Before long, he slips into the temptation of becoming a jihadist.

Born in Metz, France in 1973, Olivier Castaignède has been living in South-East Asia for the last seventeen years.  Engineer by training, he first worked as a commercial counselor in the French embassy, before moving on to sales and marketing positions in technology companies operating in Asia, including in Indonesia.  Since 2015, he has dedicated himself to writing and traveling.  When he is not in Jakarta, in Tajikistan or in Somaliland, he spends his time in Singa­pore with his wife and two kids.

RADIKAL ROMAN
Olivier Castaignède
Le destin tragique d’un jeune Indonésien, DJ et toxicomane, qui glisse de la drogue vers le djihadisme.
***
Jakarta, 2014. Hendro est « Radikal », un DJ au sommet de son art. Amateur de sensations fortes, il aime se perdre entre la musique électronique et les drogues qui circulent librement dans le night-club où il mixe. Lorsque des révélations inattendues viennent raviver un traumatisme d’enfance lié au passé de sa mère, ni ses excès en tous genres, ni l’amour de Jasmine, son amie transsexuelle, ne suffisent plus à l’apaiser.
Perdu dans un univers où l’islam coexiste avec une prostitution florissante, déchiré entre une société moderne où tout s’achète et un monde de traditions qui le fascine, Hendro a soudain besoin d’autres expédients pour étouffer ses tourments. C’est la faille où viendra se loger la tentation djihadiste.
Né à Metz en 1973, Olivier Castaignède habite en Asie du Sud-Est depuis dix-sept ans. Ingénieur de formation, il a d’abord été conseiller en ambassade, avant d’occuper différentes fonctions marketing et commerciales dans des entreprises basées en Asie, notamment en Indonésie.
Depuis 2015, il se consacre principalement à ses projets d’écriture et de voyage. Quand il n’est pas à Jakarta, au Tadjikistan ou en Somaliland, il passe son temps à Singapour où, entre deux romans, il essaie de convaincre sa femme et ses deux enfants de lui apprendre à parler le bahasa.
***
252 p., 13 x 19 cm, 18.85 €, ISBN 979-10-91328-47-0
Information détaillée sur https://hendroestradikal.blogspot.fr/
Éditions GOPE – Tél. : 09 54 88 04 59 – gope@gope-editions.fr

Editing the French Translation of Lovers and Strangers Revisited, a Whole New Experience

Just had my first interview translated into French, due out after Trois autres Malaisie is published.  Now I’m finding working with the French publisher Éditions GOPE over revising Trois autres Malaisie, the French translation of Lovers and Strangers Revisited, a whole new experience, but not in the way that I was expecting.  Over the years, I’ve worked with four editors on the previous versions of Lovers and Strangers Revisited (Heinemann Asia, Silverfish, MPH, plus the editor I hired when I decided to revisit the stories), and all of the previous editors concentrated mostly on grammar and story clarity to make sure it’s clear what’s going on in the story. 

But this time around, there are new considerations.  Other than idioms that rarely make any sense if you translate them literally, the questions I’m getting are mainly about culture or physical details peculiar to Malaysia or even Southeast Asia .  Unlike the previous editors and even the French translator Jerome Bouchaud, who have all lived in Malaysia or Singapore, the French publisher/editor that I’m now working with does not, so many of the questions have been about Malaysian itself. 

If a wrong assumption is made, as was pointed out to me from the onset, then the French translation or any editing changes based on that assumption, will be wrong and it will affect a scene, or how the reader will interpret what’s going on. 

For example, in “Mat Salleh” and “Smooth Stones” I had to clarify if a woven mat, often made from rattan, reeds or pandan leaves, was a carpet or a rug, or if the side steps and back steps were stairs or ladders since the words are different in French.  The best way to describe them, as I did on page 124 in ”Mat Salleh”, is "ladder-like wooden steps".  This seems apt.  They requested a photo so I pulled up a sample from wikipedia (I showed them samples of the mats, too).  The house I’m describing has a totally different front steps, which are in fact stairs, and a proper verandah, but it gives them a better idea as to what I’m actually describing so they don’t make any wrong assumptions.

Also in “Smooth Stones” I had to clarify as to how some Malay fishermen fish, or why the character Omar is slapping the water with the bamboo pole while fishing.  If the French editor is picturing in his mind a bamboo fishing pole instead of merely a bamboo pole, then slapping the water doesn’t make any sense; it will only scare away the fish, thus he won’t catch any.  But in this case, Omar is slapping the water not with a fishing pole but just a bamboo pole to drive the fish in the opposite direction, toward the net that the other fishermen are holding.

When translating, and especially when editing what’s been translated, it’s important not just to look at the original text in English, but also not to make any cross-cultural assumptions.  The last thing a writer needs are errors of any kind to be introduced into the text.  So far that’s not happening because they’re not making those assumptions, they’re asking me to clarify, just to make sure they got it right (or not) and I’m so glad, because once the story goes into French, I’m clueless.  I won’t be able to catch those mistakes, but the readers sure will, especially those readers in French who are familiar with Malaysia.

And a tribute to translators.

*Update, the 20th anniversary of Lovers and Strangers Revisited, my collection of short stories set in Malaysia

**Update: Book orders for Trois autres Malaisie.   E-book orders.  Or recommend it to your friends, especially those who would like to know more about Malaysia or have an interest in Southeast Asia.

  

Here's a link to the intro and excerpts, and to four reviews of Trois Autres Malaisie in eurasie.net, Malaisie.org, easyvoyage.com, and Petit Futé mag.

***Here’s an update to the French blog about Trois autres Malaisie and my meeting the French translator Jerome Bouchaud in Kuching, and my involvement in a French documentary for Arte (June 2017) on The Sensual Malaysia of Somerset Maugham.

“Home for Hari Raya” finds a home in Turkey

I know it’s two months early for Hari Raya here in Malaysia, but my short story “Home for Hari Raya” from Lovers and Strangers Revisited (MPH 2008) has just been published in Istanbul Literary Review, the book’s 80^th short story publication. Turkey has become the twelfth country that one of the stories from this collection has now appeared.

Of course, come August that number will take a spike when Lovers and Strangers Revisited gets published as Trois autres Malaisie by French publisher Éditions GOPE.  The collection will then appear in about a half dozen countries, several in Europe will be new.  That number will steadily grow as the stories  reach other French speaking countries, or countries that have a large French speaking population to warrant either a French bookstore or a French section of a bookstore like the one in Singapore that has already pre-ordered the book as I blogged about earlier this month in gearing up for the French

Now that the translation has been completed by Jerome Bouchaud, author of Malaisie - Modernité et Traditions en Asie du Sud-Est, whom I met recently in Kuching, the publisher has begun the editing process.  They’re also comparing the translation with the original, and that brings me back involved in the process.  Initially, I revised all of the stories before passing them along for the translation, and now I’m answering questions about the English text to ensure the accuracy of the translation.  For example, I had to clarify in “Mat Salleh” if the “outhouse” that I mentioned in back of the kampong house was in fact a toilet or a wooden shed.

After reading  "Home for Hari Raya", here’s the storybehind the story.   Wishing all those who celebrate Hari Raya, a two-month early Selamat Hari Raya!  By the time Hari Raya does come, those who read French can read the story in French for a fascinating cross-cultural experience.

Update: Now "Home for Hari Raya" is being adapted into a film by Ohio University.

 *Here’s the link to the French blog for Trois autres Malaisie.

**Update, the 20th anniversary of Lovers and Strangers Revisited

Here are links to some of my author-to-author interviews of first novelists:

Ivy Ngeow author of Cry of the Flying Rhino, winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.

Golda Mowe author of Iban Dream and Iban Journey.

Preeta Samarasan author of Evening is the Whole Day. 

Chuah Guat Eng,  author of Echoes of Silence and Days of Change. 

Plus:

Five part Maugham and Me series

Beheaded on Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part I 

First Draft of New French Cover for Lovers and Strangers Revisited

Draft cover for Three Other Malaysia, a collection of short stories set in Malaysia.

Here's a first draft look at the new cover of Trois autres Malaisie (Three Other Malaysia), the French translation of Lovers and Strangers Revisited. This is book two of a new series of short stories set in Southeast Asia by Éditions GOPE.  The first book was Trois autres Thaïlande by Etienne Rosse.  For the book, I went through all of the stories again, revising them before passing them to the French translator Jerome Bouchaud, author of the guidebook on Malaysia Malaisie - Modernité et Traditions en Asie du Sud-Est.

*Update: Here is the final cover   

*Update, the 20th anniversary of Lovers and Strangers Revisited

**Update: Book orders for Trois autres Malaisie.    E-book orders.  Or recommend it to your friends, especially those who would like to know more about Malaysia or have an interest in Southeast Asia.

  

Here's a link to the intro and excerpts, and to four reviews of Trois Autres Malaisie in eurasie.net, Malaisie.org, easyvoyage.com, and Petit Futé mag.

***Here’s an update to the French blog about Trois autres Malaisie and my meeting the French translator Jerome Bouchaud in Kuching, and my involvement in a French documentary for Arte (June 2017) on The Sensual Malaysia of Somerset Maugham.

Here's the full cover for Lovers and Strangers Revisited  I was glad they removed that photo, which took away from the cover more than it added anything to it!  Looking forward to seeing the book in French. Already got two requests for it in Kuching, one by a French woman who loved LSR and another by a reporter who reviewed the Silverfish version of LSR in the Borneo Post nearly four years ago and is now studying French!

Tropical Affairs: Indochine -- racing boat scene

On the set of racing boat scene in Indochine.  Robert Raymer at left with Siggi and friend on the footbridge that the French built.

Robert Raymer with actress Linh Dan Pham

Linh Dan Pham took this black and white photo of Siggi and me and sent me the photo from the Netherlands

In Indochine, I had also been in the racing boat scene, which was set in Parit, Perak, a place I knew well, since it was one kilometer from my former mother-in-law’s house.

The French constructed a footbridge, made from solid timber, painted white with three evenly-spaced peaked, blue roofs, linking the town to the islet in the middle of the Perak River. They also constructed a matching gazebo on the islet and a dock for the racing shells. The race was between a French Navy crew led by actor Vincent Perez and a group of Indochinese plantation workers employed by the character portrayed by Catherine Deneuve, who received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

On the day of the filming, the current was swift, and during one of the takes, the eight-oared racing shells (brought to Malaysia from Hong Kong) got too close and collided. For several tense moments, since they had no back¬ups, everyone watched in silence as the various experts and consultants checked out the damage.

In order to take close-ups of the rowers and the race itself, the movie camera had to be mounted onto a pair of sturdy rubber rafts that had been strapped together. Not only did the rafts have to support all of the heavy equipment but also the director, Regis Warnier and several technicians needed to make the shooting a success.

Meanwhile members of Saigon’s high society, portrayed by expats from Kuala Lumpur, Butterworth, and Penang, myself included, were dressed in period costumes from the 1930’s – suspenders, hats, vests, seer¬sucker suits or navy uniforms – watched the race from the bridge, cheering the rowers on to victory.

During the filming I became close friends with the actress Linh Dan Pham, and later we danced together at a Bastille Day party in Ipoh.

-excerpt from “Parit - A French Legacy”, Tropical Affairs: Episodes of an Expat's Life in Malaysia

*Here is a link to another Indochine post about the Christmas Party scene.  In the future, if the interest is there, I'm considering posting both complete articles

**Looks like I have another French connection.  Lovers and Strangers Revisited, my collection of short stories set in Malaysia, has been translated into French by Éditions GOPE!

*Update, the 20th anniversary of Lovers and Strangers Revisited, my collection of short stories set in Malaysia

**Update: Book orders for Trois autres Malaisie.   E-book orders.  Or recommend it to your friends, especially those who would like to know more about Malaysia or have an interest in Southeast Asia.

  

Here's a link to the intro and excerpts, and to four reviews of Trois Autres Malaisie in eurasie.net, Malaisie.org, easyvoyage.com, and Petit Futé mag.

***Here’s an update to the French blog about Trois autres Malaisie and my meeting the French translator Jerome Bouchaud in Kuching, and my involvement in a French documentary for Arte (June 2017) on The Sensual Malaysia of Somerset Maugham.

Here are links to some of my author-to-author interviews of first novelists:

Ivy Ngeow author of Cry of the Flying Rhino, winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.

Golda Mowe author of Iban Dream and Iban Journey.

Preeta Samarasan author of Evening is the Whole Day. 

Chuah Guat Eng,  author of Echoes of Silence and Days of Change. 

Plus:

Five part Maugham and Me series

Beheaded on Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part I 

Tropical Affairs: Indochine

The Tango Dancers.  standing Robert Raymer, Joelle St-Arnoult, Angela and Lee Clark; seated Anni Nordmann, Andre Cluzaud, Laurence, Seibert Kubsch

In Indochine, Joelle and I danced the tango together. Compare this photo with us in our tacky tourist clothes.

When I was asked to dance the tango in the Oscar-award winning French film Indochine I said no. I told them I couldn't dance. Of course I agreed to be in the movie. Who wouldn't want to be in the same scene with the beautiful and legendary Catherine Deneuve, the pride and national treasure of France, and star of such films as Repulsion, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Belle de Jour, The Hunger, and The Last Metro.

At 20 million, Indochine was, at the time, to be the most expensive French movie ever made. It went on to win an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and an Oscar nomination for Catherine Deneuve for Best Actress. Set during the 1930’s in Indochina, the story centered around the lives of two women: Elaine Devries (portrayed by Catherine Deneuve), a proud, elegant Frenchwoman who presides over a vast rubber plantation and Camille (Linh Dan Pham), her willful adopted Indo-Chinese daughter.

Originally I was to portray one of the invited guests at a formal Christmas party at the house of Elaine Devries. In this scene, a pivotal one, Catherine Deneuve danced the tango with her adopted daughter Linh Dan Pham, and then exchanged slaps with her co-star and lover in the film, Vincent Perez – in front of Linh Dan, who had recently fallen in love with the same man.

The Christmas party scene, although six minutes long, would take four days to film. Four days with Catherine Deneuve! The scene also called for eight tango dancers who would later join Deneuve and Linh Dan on the dance floor. As things turned out, one of the tango dancers twisted his ankle playing tennis, so the casting people wanted me to play the part. I agreed. I figured the director, Regis Wargnier, would know how to work around one lousy tango dancer.

-Excerpted from “Four Days with Catherine Deneuve” from Tropical Affairs: Episodes from an Expat’s Life in Malaysia.

* Here are links to The Chistmas Party scene and the Racing Boat scene. 

**Looks like I have another French connection.  Lovers and Strangers Revisited, my collection of short stories set in Malaysia, has been translated into French by Éditions GOPE!

*Update, the 20th anniversary of Lovers and Strangers Revisited, my collection of short stories set in Malaysia

**Update: Book orders for Trois autres Malaisie.   E-book orders.  Or recommend it to your friends, especially those who would like to know more about Malaysia or have an interest in Southeast Asia.

  

Here's a link to the intro and excerpts, and to four reviews of Trois Autres Malaisie in eurasie.net, Malaisie.org, easyvoyage.com, and Petit Futé mag.

***Here’s an update to the French blog about Trois autres Malaisie and my meeting the French translator Jerome Bouchaud in Kuching, and my involvement in a French documentary for Arte (June 2017) on The Sensual Malaysia of Somerset Maugham.

Here are links to some of my author-to-author interviews of first novelists:

Ivy Ngeow author of Cry of the Flying Rhino, winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.

Golda Mowe author of Iban Dream and Iban Journey.

Preeta Samarasan author of Evening is the Whole Day. 

Chuah Guat Eng,  author of Echoes of Silence and Days of Change. 

Plus:

Five part Maugham and Me series

Beheaded on Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part I