The new book "The Challenges of Literary Translation: A Five-Language Comparative Reading of The Catcher in the Rye," by Emeritus Professor Dionysios Sp. Bonikos, is an original and highly enlightening comparative study.

It is aimed at both professional translators and translation scholars as well as the non-specialist literature lover who wants to delve into the secrets of the translation process. Through a comparative analytical commentary on four translations, in Greek, French, German, and Spanish, of J. D. Salinger's masterpiece The Catcher in the Rye, the work aims to highlight the challenges that quality literary translation of the apt and groundbreaking discourse poses to the translator.

The study is structured in two parts. The first discusses fundamental and thorny issues of translation practice and theory based on the latest developments in the field of translation studies, while the second presents rich examples in five languages from the 26 chapters of J. D. Salinger's emblematic book.

The book focuses on the ideal relationship between fidelity and literariness and the limits of literary liberties, attempts a comparison of the translation process with other corresponding decision-making processes, and positions itself around the contentious question of whether juicy and bold creative translation is, ultimately, an art or a science.

Emeritus Professor of the University of Patras Dionysios Sp. Bonikos studied Medicine at the University of Athens and did postgraduate studies in the USA. His works include: Informatics in Medical Education and Health Systems (1990), Biomedical Technology: Political Dimension and Social Extensions (1993), The Future of the University (1998), Biopolitics and Biopriorities in the Health System (2000), Quality in Health Service Provision (2006), Quality in Medical Education (2006), Service in the Rough (2017).

Contents: Foreword, ix Part A Introduction, 3 Whoever messes with texts gets eaten by the words, 47 Yale University New Haven Hospital, Room 206, 55 Translating The Catcher, 65 Lessons, observations, and debts, 99 Part B Comparative translation, 115 The Catcher in the Rye in English, Greek, French, German, and Spanish, 115 Bibliography, 297