Letters Signed from Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa to Master Translator Gregory Rabassa

np, 1967. Very Good. A SIGNIFICANT COLLECTION OF LETTERS FROM 2010 NOBEL LAUREATE MARIO VARGAS LLOSA TO RENOWNED TRANSLATOR GREGORY RABASSA. A significant archive of correspondence between award-winning translator Gregory Rabassa (1922-2016), known for bringing some of the most important literature of the 20th century into English from Spanish and Portuguese, and Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa. For Vargas Llosa, who received the Nobel Prize in 2010, Rabassa translated La casa verde (The Green House, 1968), and Conversacion en la catedral (Conversation in the Cathedral, 1975). The correspondence features – thanks to Rabassa’s meticulously preserved carbons of his own letters – both sides of their lively discussions of Rabassa’s English translation of these works, including active dialogues about words, phrases, and sentences. Rabassa later wrote about these dialogues in his memoir:

Mario looked over my work as I went along and would offer suggestions. Most were appreciated, especially where it had been some jungle peculiarity I had missed. At times, however, he would latch on to what he thought was a mistake and offer a correction. His limited English had simply kept him unaware of the fact that my word was nothing but a synonym for the one he was suggesting. He was wary of the novel’s becoming too exotic in tone and I had to tell him that it would be hard for a North American not to find exotic even the most banal aspects of Amazonian existence... Here was a case of magic realism by definition…

The personal affection between the men is clearer in these letters than it is in Rabassa’s later reflections, as is their mutual professional respect. In these letters, Vargas Llosa admires and is energized by Rabassa’s translations, but writes frequently and openly about his many logistical concerns with editorial processes (not the least of which is Rabassa’s slow turn-around pace). Vargas Llosa’s worries do not affect the warmth of their relationship, however, and he signs all his letters with some version of “a big hug.”

When Vargas Llosa traveled to Peru in 1974, he wrote of the necessity of the trip due to his work and family, and notes the political climate and its negative impact on intellectual freedom. The Llosa-Rabassa correspondence came to an end with the completion of Conversation in the Cathedral, and Rabassa would blame the termination of some of Vargas Llosa’s other literary relationships to his politics:

“As Mario shifted to the Right politically he fell out with former friends who had stayed true to their early positions. This was particularly true of his relationship with Gabriel Garcia Marquez.” [Rabassa, If This Be Treason: Translation and Its Dyscontents pp.79, 81]

In 2001 Gregory Rabassa received the Gregory Kolovakos Award from the PEN American Center for the expansion of Hispanic Literature to an English-language audience. He later received the PEN/Martha Albrand Award in 2006 for his memoir If This Be Treason: Translations and Its Dyscontents a. Los Angeles Times “Favorite Book of the Year.”

Inventory
25 TLS and ALS from Vargas Llosa,1967-1974, details below.
22 carbons of Rabassa’s letters.

A. The Green House
~ from Vargas Llosa, 9 typed and autograph letters signed, 1-2 pages each
~ from Rabassa, 6 typed letter carbons

B. Conversation in the Cathedral
~ from Vargas Llosa, 16 typed and autograph letters signed, 1-2 pages each
~ from Rabassa, 14 typed letter carbons

Full scans available upon request. (Inventory #: 2965)