i who have never known men jacqueline harpman

True, I am extremely ignorant: apparently, I know even less of these matters than I thought I did. But why translate when it must have been so easy to learn different languages and read anything you wanted directly? These things leave me utterly baffled. Or, they explain why they felt it was appropriate to publish a new translation of Proust, because previous efforts, laudable though they may be, lacked something or other. How strange! It suggests that people were not avid to learn, and that you had to apologize for wanting to convey your knowledge. This surprises me: surely it was more usual in that world than in the one in which I have lived for people to pass on the knowledge they had acquired? They often seem to feel the need to emphasize that they wrote the book not out of vanity, but because someone asked them to, and that they had thought about it long and hard before accepting. The authors talk readily about themselves, explaining their reasons for writing the book. I only recently started taking an interest in the prefaces. Since I barely venture outside these days, I spend a lot of time in one of the armchairs, rereading the books. he recipient of a number of awards, she was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2009 and received the Institute of Translation and Interpreting's John Sykes Memorial Prize for Excellence in 2017.

Schwartz has translated numerous works of fiction and non-fiction from French. Harpman was a Belgian author of over 15 novels, winning numerous prizes, including the Prix Médicis and the Prix Victor-Rossel, among others. The following is excerpted from Jacqueline Harpman's newly-translated novel, I Who Have Never Known Men.

I who have never known men jacqueline harpman