Aldo wrote:
> Translation is a tricky art, especially if you aren't fluent in
> the language you're translating. The new translation computer
> programs help, but aren't quite the tool they need to be.
Notwithstanding the Italian name, Aldo is not Italian, nor even from Italian stock. This makes his translation work truly incredible. When I read his Giro 49 writings, I do come across the occasional literal translation of a saying that perhaps doesn't do full justice to the original, but by and large, I could not do any better myself. Since I consider myself fluent in Italian (I may be American born, but I haven't lived here all that long. I in fact have spent twice as much time residing in Italy!) this is high praise. I think that the translation goes to show that the Giro in those years of the Coppi/Bartali rivalry transcended the sports world to become idiomatic of post-war life. To get a literary star willing and anxious to write a sports column on a daily basis will likely never happen again. This is cycling at its zenith in my eyes. This period also marks the true international start of many names that are now considered cycling's quasi deities: Campagnolo, Cinelli, Masi.
Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ