A website dedicated to the new translation of the epic novel by Mukhtar Auezov “Abai’s Path” has been presented lately. The focal book of the whole Kazakh culture describes the life of Abai Kunanbayev, the great Kazakh humanist, writer and translator who lived in 1845-1904.

The novel had been written in Kazakh language in 1952-54 and was one of the most significant books in the history of Kazakh literature, while its author, M. Auezov, in spite of all reversals of fortune in his life (he had been facing false charges in the Stalin’s repressions period, and even served a sentence in camps) is the key figure of the Kazakh cultural legacy.

The earlier, first translation of the novel into Russian has been encountering criticism of the intelligentsia since 1970s. They noted serious failures caused mainly by the fact that the book had been translated in a brigade regime - by a team of five men. In result, literature experts say that the book has lost its compositional and spiritual integrity and continuity, and acquired stylistic mistakes.

According to culture academic Murat Auezov, the son of the classicist, translation into French made by Antoine Vitese with the involvement of Turk culture scholars is believed to be the most successful translation of the book. The new version – in spite of the fact that it has been done on the basis of interlinear translation (this has caused skepticism of the Kazakh literati) – received praiseful evaluation of Murat Auezov:

“It is a 4-volume book about the nation and for the nation, emotional and spiritual, with proper attention to stylistic clarity of the text. The translator has got access to the novel and leads it – proudly and soundly – to the world of great Russian literature”.

The translator is Anatoly Kim, 68. He is a well-known Russian prosaic and dramatist, an ethnic Korean with strong Kazakh roots – he was born in the southern Kazakhstani Shymkent region and even knows Kazakh language himself.