Martyn Bedford - Writer

A hefty parcel arrived yesterday, full of hot-off-the-press copies of the German edition of Flip. Published by Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, based in Munich, the novel has been translated into German by Katharina Orgass and Gerald Jung. Trying to explain some of the nuances and jargon of cricket to Gerald, in reply to his somewhat perplexed email, was a definite highlight of the translation process. I’m sure it’s a very good translation but it’s nearly forty years since I studied (and failed) German O-level, so how would I know?! Curiously, though, the German edition is about 60 pages longer than the English one. As you you can see, it’s a striking cover which relies on text rather than images – unlike all of the other foreign and UK designs – and also gives the book a completely different title, which translates as Crash into the Wrong Life. I guess “flip” doesn’t mean much to Germans . . . or perhaps it means something rude?