The Translation of Dr. Apelles : A Love Story

by David Treuer

Hardcover, 2006

LCC

PS3570 R435 T73 2006

Description

Fiction. Literature. HTML: A daring new novel that "may be David Treuer's best book" (Charles Baxter) He realizes he has discovered a document that could change his life forever. Dr Apelles, Native American translator of Native American texts, lives a diligent existence. He works at a library and, in his free time, works on his translations. Without his realizing it, his world has become small. One day he stumbles across an ancient manuscript only he can translate. What begins as a startling discovery quickly becomes a vital quest�??not only to translate the document but to find love. Through the riddle of Dr Apelles's heart, The Translation of Dr Apelles explores the boundaries of human emotion, charts the power of the language to both imprison and liberate, and maps the true dimensions of the Native American experience. As Dr Apelles's quest nears its surprising conclusion, the novel asks the reader to speculate on whose power is greater: The imaginer or the imagined? The lover or the beloved? In this brilliant mystery of letters in the tradition of Calvino, Borges, and Saramago, David Treuer excavates the persistent myths that belittle the contemporary Native American experience and lays bare the terrible power of the imagination.… (more)

Publication

Saint Paul, Minn. : Graywolf Press, c2006.

Notes

Dr. Apelles, Native American translator of Native American texts, lives a diligent existence. He works at a library and, in his free time, he works on his translations. One day he stumbles across an ancient manuscript only he can translate and realizes that he has made an unsettling discovery." "In this mystery of letters David Treuer tells two love stories. One takes us deep into the woods of mythology; the other along a labyrinthine archive with infinite corridors of unwanted books. In a novel that charts the progress of much loss against precious gains, Treuer asks to what lengths we will go to experience the "terrible pleasure" of love.--Jacket.

Awards

Society of Midland Authors Award (Nominee — Adult Fiction — 2007)

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