Another Big Book: HORCYNUS ORCA

Recently, we announced a massive project spearheaded by the seemingly fearless Max Lawton. As if Michael Lentz’s SCHATTENFROH, Antonio Moresco’s GAMES OF ETERNITY trilogy, and Miquel de Palol’s TROIACORD were not a sufficiently ambitious slate of texts, we have a new addition to announce as part of this initial congregation of “extreme” titles:

Lawton’s translation of the Italian classic HORCYNUS ORCA by Stefano D’Arrigo is set to be published by Deep Vellum in 2029. This is the only Italian work of fiction from the 20th century that is equal to the complexity of Moresco’s trilogy. What would happen if one were to combine ULYSSES and MOBY DICK and have the resulting text take place in WWII Sicily? Something like HORCYNUS ORCA––a bizarre, oneiric Odyssey through a linguistically manic nautical netherworld characterized by Sicilian neologisms, dolphin meat, interpersonal encounters driven by the ineffable logic of myth, and a 200-page section of metaphysical stasis that has been known to drive readers mad. The great critic George Steiner described the novel as “the only European response to Moby Dick,” adding that “D’Arrigo not only competes with Melville, but is worthy of him.”

Like the other recently announced books, Max came to this book through the blog The Untranslated, run by the mysterious Andrei, to whom Deep Vellum owes an eternal debt of gratitude. Andrei himself writes that “D’Arrigo’s book is as unwieldy, awe-inspiring, intimidating, and mysterious as the giant killer whale whose modified Latin name was adopted as the title. The reader might spend some time pondering whether the 1,257-page life’s work of a little-known Messinese author has proved to be a slow-burning success or an ambitious failure before realizing that such categories are irrelevant. Whether we want it or not, HORCYNUS ORCA has become a part of our civilization. It’s there for us, either to admire, or to hate, or to incite us to reconsider our habitual ways of approaching a work of art. Combining the local and the universal, this story, which unfolds over just four days and which is mostly limited to the region of the Strait of Messina, is at the same time a comprehensive narrative summarizing the millennia of asking the eternal questions about life, death, and humanity’s place in the complicated world it happens to inhabit.”

As with the Moresco titles, Max’s translation from Italian will be edited by the great writer and translator Francesco Pacifico.

Antonio Werli and Monique Baccelli’s translation of HORCYNUS ORCA into French was published to great acclaim last year. In his review for Le Monde, François Angelier writes that, “HORCYNUS ORCA is one of those very rare attempts to descend into the original abysses of language. [...] This is the experience and the challenge of HORCYNUS ORCA, whose translation, through its insane extremity and complete commitment, will be a landmark in French literary history.” Moshe Kahn’s translation of the novel into German was previously published by Fischer in 2015.

We can hardly wait for this voyage to the rotten, but still sun-kissed Sicily of HORCYNUS ORCA. In the meantime, please reach out to publicity@deepvellum.org with any questions or media requests.