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| Maciej Słomczyński |
Joe Alex was the pen name of Polish author Maciej Słomczyński
(1922-1998). His most famous accomplishment is that he was the only person in
the world to translate the complete works of William Shakespeare – an accomplishment
I mention because it is relevant to today’s review. Unfortunately, his
translations have been criticized as unclear, unfaithful to the source material,
and lacking “literary value”—whatever that is. Still, the accomplishment itself
is an impressive one, and it is a work of Shakespeare’s – sort of – that lends
his novel Jesteś tylko diabłem (You’re Only a Demon) its title.
I say “sort of” because the text in question is The Birth of Merlin, which although
originally credited as a co-production between Shakespeare and William Rowley,
most scholars nowadays agree that Shakespeare didn’t write any of it. Another
reason I say “sort of” is because the book kicks off with the following quote
of The Birth of Merlin, translated
into Polish… and the lines I have highlighted are all condensed into the phrase
“Jesteś tylko diabłem”.
