Ammanas Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 (edited) So I am not sure if anyone else will post on this topic, but I wanted to create a place where if you feel really strongly about a particular translation of a book you could post it here and say why. Readers are often presented with many different translations of a book and it can make a HUGE difference on how much one enjoys the book. I have 2 I feel strongly about. War and Peace translated by Briggs. This is one of my all time favorite books. Most people will recommend the Volkhonsky Pevear translation, but it is just a awkward translation for me. They are too literal with the Russian and it does not flow well. Briggs does a great job finding that balance. Count of Monte Cristo by Buss. I think it is the only modern unabridged translation out there. I have read parts of other translations and Buss stands heads and shoulders above in my opinion. Edited May 22, 2017 by Ammanas 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sovereign Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 When I lived in China during part of my time in college I read a Chinese translation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, it was tragic. Due to Communist Party banned topics they had to translate many things as technology that plain and simply didn't work in context. For a specific example; Immortality is a subject that is not banned but is on the "we're monitoring this" list so they translated it basically as taking medicine for an illness which takes a lot of the luster out the who premise of the Philosopher's Stone. With that said, I'd actually like to read a Chinese copy of the Prisoner of Azkaban as time travel IS on the banned list so I'm very curious how they addressed the Timeturner. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ammanas Posted May 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 @The SovereignIf you are into Chinese science fiction. Ken Liu (editor) just released a collection of modern chinese science fiction short stories called Invisible Planets. It was really interesting and it seems like the government is opening up a bit...I know that some chinese reviewers were shocked that some of them were allowed to be published. It might be worth a look; you could look at the content listing and see if you can find them in the original language. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sovereign Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 12 hours ago, Ammanas said: @The SovereignIf you are into Chinese science fiction. Ken Liu (editor) just released a collection of modern chinese science fiction short stories called Invisible Planets. It was really interesting and it seems like the government is opening up a bit...I know that some chinese reviewers were shocked that some of them were allowed to be published. It might be worth a look; you could look at the content listing and see if you can find them in the original language. I loved The Paper Menagerie, excellent suggestion, I didn't know Ken Liu had released anything new. Is it a compilation of his short stories or are they actually new? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ammanas Posted May 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 7 minutes ago, The Sovereign said: I loved The Paper Menagerie, excellent suggestion, I didn't know Ken Liu had released anything new. Is it a compilation of his short stories or are they actually new? It is a compilation of modern chinese sci fi from many authors. He is just the translator. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sovereign Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 Just now, Ammanas said: It is a compilation of modern chinese sci fi from many authors. He is just the translator. Ah! That makes sense. He also does his own sci-fi writing. I'll have to check out his translations. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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