I agree with Rebekah on this. It sounds forced. I have been noticing this in other translations from French lately. I am beginning to suspect French and Spanish don't lend themselves easily to translation into English because there is the temptation to take the closest word when it does not really work. I am not sure that is the problem here, but something is off.
Reading an experimental (in a wide sense) novel like what you describe becomes very dependent on language. It does not seem like this would make me a happy bunny.
Reading an experimental (in a wide sense) novel like what you describe becomes very dependent on language. It does not seem like this would make me a happy bunny.
It may be a matter of me becoming so used to the rhythm that I was more forgiving of this passage than I otherwise would be. But I do agree that it is deceptively difficult to translate from a Romance language into English. When I do translations from Spanish or Portuguese into English, I start by trying to approximate the word choices, but when I edit, I tend to convert them into more "English" expressions. I'll give you an example of an intermediate step by posting my translation of a short passage from Vargas Llosa's latest in a moment. It was one I did in a few minutes, so there will be a roughness to it, naturally.
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie
Je suis méchant.
Je suis méchant.
Christine Montalbetti, Western
- 07/11/2010 07:09:32 PM
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It might just be the translation, but I really don't like the style of writing in that quote.
- 08/11/2010 11:21:13 PM
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while the sapphire hue gradually becomes dominant
- 09/11/2010 12:35:07 AM
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As I said in response above
- 09/11/2010 12:57:10 AM
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I agree with Rebekah and Camilla. There's something really unsettling about French-to-English.
- 09/11/2010 02:46:12 AM
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It's supposed to sound detached here
- 09/11/2010 10:59:30 AM
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Perhaps, but it applies equally to virtually all translations I've read.
- 09/11/2010 06:51:57 PM
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