The German translation of SW, titled Kleine Wunderwerke, translated by Sebastian Vogel, is out. I received a few copies of it by mail the other day. One goes straight to the “vanity shelf”, of course, but what should I do with the rest of them?

It’s a nice little format, with an attractive cover, and they’ve even added an index, which makes it look rather respectable. Actually, the whole thing looks much more respectable to me, since I don’t know German and therefore cannot tell the silly bits from the serious ones.  And these long, long words are everywhere.

It’s a curious feeling, reading something you yourself have written but cannot understand. It’s like, say, one percent of an out-of-body experience.  Also, I wonder what the German reader will make of the cricket references.