1. The beginning is always innocent. You find out that your book is going to be translated into a foreign language. You start to radiate euphoria. You put down the deposit for a two-seater sports car, invite your friends for dinner, and brag about your international career. You know that there’s someone out there who’s going to be your translator, but you don't worry about that yet. You’re glad you’re going to have another fan of your work, who will be down on her knees before you and your talent. A few months later she gives you a call. She's not a fan. She isn't down on her knees. She has a long list of mistakes you made in your novel. Holes in the plot, dates that are wrong, misspelled names. And another list, of your favourite stylized passages that need to be edited or deleted because no one’s ever going to understand all this Polish blah.
2. What matters in a crime story is its rhythm – it has to have a flow that the readers can follow. There’s a risk that during the translation process some passages might turn into rocks, sticking out of the stream. Things like social or political comments, for instance, that can only be understood in the author's homeland. Or intertextual references to local culture. Or names that are too similar, or too unpronounceable. These elements have to be identified, but can’t just be deleted, because the novel should be comprehensible, while also remaining exotic and noticeably Polish to encourage investigation.
