After months today of all days International translation day has arrived a once in the lifetime event really well once every few year. One of those epic novels from around the world that has yet to reach us in English has been translated and this is Bottoms dream a huge novel about one day in a true Joyceian homage the expermential German writer Arno schimdt did a work about some friends visiting a translator who is working on the works of Poe . The book is formes of three verse prose that follow three different paths on the same timeline .

This is similar in style to parts of Finnegians wake by Joyce as I show here from my old copy of the Wake.

So how big is this book well I decide to compare it to a number of huge novels from my shelves .

SO that is it next to Parallel Stories by Peter Nadas, Zibaldone (which is actually longer on page count ) , Wart and Peace , life and fate, USA  by John Dos Passos , infinite jest and the man without qualities. Even my late grandfathes dictionary is dwarfed by this epic book. As to reading it well I have to say it will be a year or so read I think maybe a few pages a day not sure yet but I will think of a way to savour this epic once in a lifetime (well unless Het Bereau or Kelidar get translated !!!!!)