An ELT specialist, a translator, and a creative writer, Rama Rao has naturally a lot to say about language use. He has put together sixteen of his articles in this book which is in two parts as the title indicates—one on literary translation and the other on language.
The six essays on translation are evidently from someone who enjoys the art and act of translation. In the very first chapter, the author opines that translation is an art and has very little to do with the academic discipline. The chapter also establishes an informal avuncular tone that the author adopts throughout the book. This is a book of advice from someone who has been there, done it, and has thought about it.This means that Rama Rao can contradict himself but then how can you talk about the practice of translation without contradicting yourself? He quotes approvingly C.D. Narasimhaiah’s statement that the translator’s task is ‘not making an idol for promenading (utsav murti) but making and unveiling the manifest deity (udbhav murti)’ to argue that translation is a service to the divine. What he does not address is how to determine the essence. In an example he gives in the chapter, Rama Rao explains how he left out all references to homosexuality in a translation of a Punjabi novel. It would have been worthwhile if he had given us a reading of the novel to show what was its essence and how the references to homosexuality were unnecessary.