--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Translated books rarely get reviewed in…" description: "\"Translated books rarely get reviewed in the press. Books or poems or works of art that don't seem to have a corresponding style or figure or theme, obv..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f7/elliott-colla-15941_art_translated-books-rarely-get-reviewed-in_2102110.jpg" --- # Translated books rarely get reviewed in the press. Books… ![“Translated books rarely get reviewed in the press. Books or poems or works of art that don't seem to have a corresponding style or figure or theme, obviously they're hard to digest.” quote by Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f7/elliott-colla-15941_art_translated-books-rarely-get-reviewed-in_2102110.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f7/elliott-colla-15941_art_translated-books-rarely-get-reviewed-in_2102110.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f7/elliott-colla-15941_art_translated-books-rarely-get-reviewed-in_2102110.jpg) > “Translated books rarely get reviewed in the press. Books or poems or works of art that don't seem to have a corresponding style or figure or theme, obviously they're hard to digest.” [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Unstyled works lack clear categories, making them hard for critics to discuss. **In simple terms:** Hard-to-classify art is rarely reviewed. Key Takeaway Seek clarity in presentation. Themes art criticism style media Mood analytical contemplative Type critical observational When to use this quote - publishing - gallery shows - film festivals - music releases Key Concepts aesthetics categorization interpretation Questions to Reflect On - How can critics adapt to new forms? - What makes a work “digestible”? A Different Perspective Innovative works can defy useful norms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Books Rarely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books-rarely-1466371/) [Corresponding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corresponding/) [Figures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/figures/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Press Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/press-books-2785369/) [Presses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/presses/) [Rarely Reviewed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rarely-reviewed-3829481/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Style](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/style/) [Theme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theme/) [Translated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/translated/) [Translated Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/translated-books-2563620/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [The stories that confirm that bigger story are brought in and easily digested. But there's another set of stories that are always there, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/the-stories-that-confirm-that-bigger-story-are-brought-in-and-easily/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [I've never translated more than one book by any author. But I'm fascinated by translators who have, like Richard Zenith, who's translated so much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idra-novey/i-ve-never-translated-more-than-one-book-by-any-author-but-i-m/) [Idra Novey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idra-novey/) > [“I press my books against my chest like a bulletproof vest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelia-kahaney/i-press-my-books-against-my-chest-like-a-bulletproof-vest/) [Amelia Kahaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelia-kahaney/) > [If in other lands the press and books and literature of all kinds are censored, we must redouble our efforts here to keep them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt-2/if-in-other-lands-the-press-and-books-and-literature-of-all-kinds-are/) [Franklin D Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt-2/) > [You know how some people are upwardly mobile? I'm sort of downwardly mobile in the publishing world, because of my sales figures and also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-tillman/you-know-how-some-people-are-upwardly-mobile-i-m-sort-of-downwardly/) [Lynne Tillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-tillman/) > [In the last 1,000 years, the Arabs have translated as many books as Spain translates in just one year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-elder/in-the-last-1-000-years-the-arabs-have-translated-as-many-books-as/) [Larry Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-elder/) > [Regardless of whether the authors I've translated have been "dead and canonized," or "living and established," or even simply "emerging," I must put myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-naffis-sahely/regardless-of-whether-the-authors-i-ve-translated-have-been-dead-and/) [Andre Naffis-Sahely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-naffis-sahely/) > [“It holds my essential stuff, including a book—for true contentment, one must carry a book at all times, and great books so rarely fit,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/it-holds-my-essential-stuff-including-a-book-for-true-contentment-one/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [“It is surely significant that the adults who feature in children's books are rarely, if ever, Regional Sales Managers or Building Services Engineers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/it-is-surely-significant-that-the-adults-who-feature-in-children-s/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [“Books ... rarely, if ever, talk about what children can make of themselves, about the powers that from the day or moment of birth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holt/books-rarely-if-ever-talk-about-what-children-can-make-of-themselves/) [John Holt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-holt/) > [When we talk about books, we rarely talk about the economic side of writing, especially of writing literary works, and that, at base, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olga-tokarczuk/when-we-talk-about-books-we-rarely-talk-about-the-economic-side-of/) [Olga Tokarczuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olga-tokarczuk/) > [My game from college has translated into the pros.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-brogdon/my-game-from-college-has-translated-into-the-pros/) [Malcolm Brogdon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-brogdon/) > [“A Spanish poet, Antonio Machado, once said: ‘Dijiste media verdad. Dirán que mientes dos veces si dices la otra mitad.’” “Translated means…” “You told…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olga-n-ez-miret/a-spanish-poet-antonio-machado-once-said-dijiste-media-verdad-dir-n/) [Olga Núñez Miret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olga-n-ez-miret/) > [If economic progress is not translated into better quality of life and respect for citizens' rights, we will witness more Tahrir Squares in Africa.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-ibrahim/if-economic-progress-is-not-translated-into-better-quality-of-life/) [Mo Ibrahim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-ibrahim/) > [“If i live on longer, shall i again, i wonder, yearn for these days ? The world that i once saw as bitter, now,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pictures-of-the-heart-fujiwara-no-kiyosuke/if-i-live-on-longer-shall-i-again-i-wonder-yearn-for-these-days-the/) [pictures of the heart Fujiwara no Kiyosuke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pictures-of-the-heart-fujiwara-no-kiyosuke/) ## More by Elliott Colla > [In the Green Zone in Iraq you have your radio, you have your food, you have your own electricity, your own toilets. Everything is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/in-the-green-zone-in-iraq-you-have-your-radio-you-have-your-food-you/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [There are certainly times in history where power associates itself closely with fields that we would call the humanities, like rulers surrounding themselves with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/there-are-certainly-times-in-history-where-power-associates-itself/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [A high-ranking Syrian official in DC laughed when he heard I was reading Michel Aflaq and writing this book. He said, "Let me tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/a-high-ranking-syrian-official-in-dc-laughed-when-he-heard-i-was/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Academic writing you have to get right. Fiction you have to get plausible. And there's a world of difference.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/academic-writing-you-have-to-get-right-fiction-you-have-to-get/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Noir is where the clarity of moral divisions break down, the black and whites turn into grays.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/noir-is-where-the-clarity-of-moral-divisions-break-down-the-black-and/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [In translation studies we talk about domestication - translation styles that make something familiar - or estrangement - translation styles that make something radically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/in-translation-studies-we-talk-about-domestication-translation-styles/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [You always have regime-friendly poets like Muhammad Mahdi al-Jawahiri, whose career basically spans the twentieth century. He's an anti-imperialist, friendly with the Communists, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/you-always-have-regime-friendly-poets-like-muhammad-mahdi-al-jawahiri/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Take Ezra Pound's translations of poetry from Chinese. He doesn't really know Chinese, and the very strange results that he comes up with aren't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/take-ezra-pound-s-translations-of-poetry-from-chinese-he-doesn-t/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Arabs don't do crime fiction. I read crime fiction and I read Arabic literature, and I wish this was a novel I could have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/arabs-don-t-do-crime-fiction-i-read-crime-fiction-and-i-read-arabic/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Michel Aflaq - is bad poetry wrapped in the guise of utopian politics, or great poetry wrapped in the guise of horrible politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/michel-aflaq-is-bad-poetry-wrapped-in-the-guise-of-utopian-politics/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Each discipline has the capacity to be interested in politics, and each would ask different questions of what politics is, what constitutes power, how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/each-discipline-has-the-capacity-to-be-interested-in-politics-and/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [The more I've reflected on that and asked Iraqi friends, the more I realize that the corruption in Iraq has nothing to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/the-more-i-ve-reflected-on-that-and-asked-iraqi-friends-the-more-i/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Culture is invited to the table usually only as raw material that needs no analysis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/culture-is-invited-to-the-table-usually-only-as-raw-material-that/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [Palestinian society is filled with poetry, but not experimental poetry. The Palestinian poetry that people know is not the modernist experimentations, it's certain kinds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/palestinian-society-is-filled-with-poetry-but-not-experimental-poetry/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) > [There's actually a lot of information on a lot of people and that is a major achievement of a police state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-colla/there-s-actually-a-lot-of-information-on-a-lot-of-people-and-that-is/) [Elliott Colla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) [Explore all 41 Elliott Colla quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-colla/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) [Taf Teh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taf-teh/) > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Translated books rarely get reviewed in the press. 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