In the Editor's Laboratory. The Living and Dead Word

This collection includes two books about the Russian language, whose significance and uniqueness remain unparalleled even decades after their publication. "In the Editor's Laboratory" (1960) is one of the main books dedicated to the purity and richness of the Russian language. In her book, the outstanding writer, critic, and literary scholar Lydia Chukovskaya shares her experience working in the legendary Detgiz editorial board. According to the author, "this book is not a textbook on editing. I do not set educational tasks for myself, and hardly any textbook can serve in mastering the art to any extent. The task of the book is different: I simply wanted to understand the experience I have accumulated and the experiences of my closest colleagues, to gather and summarize it, and to introduce the reader to the circle of thoughts, concerns, and questions that I have encountered over three decades of literary work." Nora Gal, an outstanding translator of English and French literature, whose works (such as "The Little Prince" by Saint-Exupéry, "The Stranger" by Camus, "To Kill a Mockingbird..." by Harper Lee, and many others) have long become part of the treasury of domestic literature. Her main theoretical work, "The Living and Dead Word," is dedicated to literary translation and represents the quintessence of the author's experience as an editor and translator. The author brilliantly and humorously plays with the rich material gathered over more than half a century of working with texts, defending and preserving one of the most important treasures of our culture— the purity of the Russian language.