Ο κύριος Ιδιότροπος (Mr Fussy) by Roger Hargreaves

A challenging 1970s English comedy noir. Our πολύτροπος protagonist, Ο κύριος Ιδιότροπος (we never learn his first name), tends serenely to his home and garden until a dangerous and unwelcome relation arrives unannounced, sewing discord and havoc upon his heretofore tranquil and orderly existence. Short at only 18 pages (plus beautiful illustrations), I found it a difficult yet rewarding read. A NOTE ON THE TRANSLATION It has taken me longer to translate this work than it took me to read the great gatsby last week. I knew or could guess about two thirds of the Greek words - particularly the small ones - but I found many of adjectives and verbs beyond my ken. For example I knew that βαλίτσα is a suitcase, but not the adjective στραπατσαρισμένη (battered). Still, with the help of a dictionary and a friendly Greek who helped explain some phrases and some colloquialisms I made it through. Discovered a mistake in the translation too! Mr Clumsy in the cartoon is described as looking…