When Ms. Awad explained the songs in English or translated passages, the sentiments tended to sound banal.
The actor Michael Stuhlbarg will read translated passages in English, and the Israeli journalist Amos Elon will provide the introductions and interview Grass after the reading.
Zanganeh's fascination with Nabokov dates back to her childhood, when her mother would read her translated passages of his autobiography, Speak, Memory.
When Nabokov was working on a study of Gogol, he complained, "I have lost a week already translating passages I need in 'The Inspector General' as I can do nothing with Constance Garnett's dry shit".
Like the De'ot ha-Filosofim, most of the commentary is pieced together from translated passages from other works, although here in the commentary he allows himself to comment, usually briefly and in his own name, on these passages.
He was not happy in this new position, and he spent much of his time either doodling or translating passages from the Bible into English, French, and German.
Since interviews were not tape recorded and many took place in Spanish followed by our translation into English, many of the quotes are not verbatim, but rather represent closely paraphrased and translated passages that are our best attempt at capturing the idea the interviewee was expressing.
French geographer Barbie du Bocage published a review after the book's publication along with a translated passage.
"They drank some Icelandic beer on their farm trips, and [a bar owner] said they were diligent to taste local species," reads a whimsically translated passage from local media.
(I am following Dupont-Sommer's rendering. Other scholars translate these passages differently. I shall return to this problem later).
