This is a real gem of a book - especially if you're a translator. Eco does a great job of exploring the complexities of the translation process and the problems faced by literary translators in particular. Translation is not just "typing in a foreign language"; translators are forced to continually analyze, interpret, evaluate and - as Eco puts it - negotiate with a text in order to craft a translation that conveys not just the "meaning" but the intent of the original. As both a translator and a "translatee", Eco has a unique insight into translation, and he provides numerous intriguing anecdotes relating to how the trickier passages in his own books and the books of others have been dealt with successfully - and sometimes less successfully - by translators. Being a translator myself, I couldn't help but nod and smile in agreement all through this book.

Right after reading Mouse or Rat, I read another Eco book called Experiences in Translation, which covers a lot of the same ground as Mouse or Rat. Though Experiences in Translation was enjoyable, I didn't find it quite as engaging as the earlier book, perhaps because he uses many of the same examples (though he approaches them from a somewhat different angle). But Mouse or Rat was terrific. If you're at all interested in the art of literary translation in particular, I highly recommend it.

Further reading…