{"product_id":"if-this-be-magic-daniel-hahn-9780593801666","title":"If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation","description":"\u003cb\u003eHow does Shakespeare remain \u003ci\u003eShakespeare \u003c\/i\u003ewhen every word is changed? What do global audiences of the Bard's plays experience today? And, principally, how did those experiences come into being?\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis lively and gloriously written book will change the way we see the Bard. Surveying Shakespeare's work with a translator's eye, and translation with an eye to Shakespeare, Daniel Hahn draws us into the fiery forge out of which the great playwright is reinvented and yet sounds, somehow, like himself--in Chinese, Arabic, Portuguese, and over a hundred languages. Shakespeare may have lived and breathed the air of sixteenth-century England, but today, all the world is his stage, his home. Every year, millions of people, from Bogotá to Brussels, read \u003ci\u003eHamlet \u003c\/i\u003efor the first time. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe story is remarkable because Shakespeare is one of the toughest anglophone writers to tackle. Translation is a process of constant choice, and translators must question what every line is meant to be or not to be. A universe of intention lurks behind every line: word order, word play, breath, punctuation, rhythm, metaphor, voice, rhyme, song--all this and more. How should\u003ci\u003e Romeo and Juliet'\u003c\/i\u003es first meeting unfold if they can't mention pilgrims? What does \u003ci\u003eThe Taming of the Shrew \u003c\/i\u003esound like in a language where every noun has a gender? How do you reconstruct a 400-year-old topical joke in a new culture and without any of the same words? Why might \u003ci\u003eHamlet \u003c\/i\u003ebe \u003ci\u003eeven longer \u003c\/i\u003ein Japanese? And why are Lady Macbeth's pronouns such a problem? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDaniel Hahn is a generous and winning guide. Traveling the world, he speaks to writers engaging with Shakespeare's work and shares stories of his own.\u003ci\u003e If This Be Magic\u003c\/i\u003e does not require knowledge of any other language or more than a passing acquaintance with the Bard's canon, but draws out surprising and fascinating insights on both. As nerdy as they come (there is an unapologetic chapter on commas), supremely readable, and often funny, this is a book for everyone and a fitting tribute to the Globe's Bard. \"My language! Heavens!\" Shakespeare once wrote, \"Were I but where 'tis spoken.\" The afterlife of translation means 'tis now spoken everywhere.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Daniel Hahn\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0593801660\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780593801666\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Knopf Publishing Group\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/21\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 416\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.98lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.25h x 5.50w x 0.88d","brand":"Daniel Hahn","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":47305735536895,"sku":"9780593801666","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_cc406c6d-0689-4981-b501-4c2a440809ad.jpg?v=1758831649","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/if-this-be-magic-daniel-hahn-9780593801666","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}