Megan links to the now almost famous Not Reading post and recalls a conversation we had:
Me: I’ve never read Camus in English. Alex: That’s brilliant! I’m going to use that. Me: “I’ve never read Camus in English?” Alex: No, like this: “I’ve never read Camus in English” . . . That way I don’t have to tell them I’ve never read Camus in French, either.
Grand stuff. My recollection, however, is subtly different:
Megan: I’ve never read Camus in English. Alex: That’s brilliant! I’m going to use that. Megan: “I’ve never read Camus in English?” Alex: No, like this: saying “I’ve never read Camus in English” carries the implication that you have read Camus in French.
This is, you’ll understand, classic One-upmanship. It can be adjusted, naturally, to other languages – eg, “In my experience Lampedusa/Rilke/Turgenev loses too much in translation to be worth reading outside the original language.” Due care and attention should of course be taken not to risk such a gambit in conversation with native speakers of said languages, who might be in a position to call your otherwise impeccable bluff.
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