The leading character of Jeff
Kinney's hugely popular "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" has been
transformed into a Neapolitan street urchin for "'O Diario 'e nu
Maccarone".
The book, entirely in the Neapolitan dialect, was given a
preview on Monday at the Bologna Children's Book Fair on the
opening day of the fair's 55th edition.
The translation, which will be in bookshops from May 10 as
part of the Turin Book Fair, was the focus of a special event in
the presence of Kinney, translator Francesco Durante and Michael
Jacobs, chairman and CEO of the American publishing house
Abrams, which convinced the writer to put 'Greg's story' into a
children's book.
Kinney told ANSA in an interview that he was surprised by the
experience - which he said he was learning a great deal from -
and that he hadn't even known of the existence of the Neapolitan
dialect before, despite being familiar with the Naples region.
He added that he was "discovering the world through and
thanks to" his book and that he had been exposed to many
situations and places that he would never have been to had he
not written the book.
He said he hoped that "Diary of a Wimpy Kid", which has thus
far sold 200 million copies in 65 editions, would thus help him
improve his cultural knowledge.
Published by Il Castoro with an original cover designed by
Kinney, the edition marks the 56th language in which it has been
translated.
Kinney said that initially he had thought of doing cartoon
strips for newspapers and that he had received many rejections,
since hw was able to draw only like a child and not like an
adult.
He then spent 8 years working on what would become "Diary of
Wimpy Kid" and after 13 he met with Michael Jacobs.
Kinney added that he was "lucky" in the end and that he liked
the philosophy of Abrams, "which treats the book like a work of
art".
The book, translator Durante said, "has the power of the
classics. It was written before children began spending three
fourths of their lives looking at smartphones. This translation,
which started off as a game and then became a nightmare because
the Neapolitan language is a complex one, even as concerns the
spelling. You are constantly having second thoughts because you
do not always have the words you need."
He added that it had proved, in the end, to be "the discovery
of a new world", adding that the oral aspect is very important
when dealing with dialects and that it would make an excellent
audiobook.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
