Books you're reading (7 Viewers)

Jan 7, 2004
29,704
so you are saying that he is also weak and conveniently chose the group he was born into?

That's a lot of assumptions there. How do you know he didn't research other religions? you 2 don't know anything about him, yet both of you conveniently make generalizations about him.

I'd say both of you are the weak ones for needing to to constantly attack him by targeting his religion. That screams weakness, lack of character and insecurity to me.

grow up you two and get back to doing what you two do best.....


...bullying people who actually deserve it.

fred started it, how dare he insult my opinion of "the corporation"
 
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mikhail

mikhail

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2003
9,576
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  • Thread Starter #1,290
    I'm deep into Smoke and Mirrors, Neil Gaiman's first collection of short stories. I haven't been blown away with his novels (I've read three, and they were all good, but overhyped), but his short stories are great.
     

    Lion

    King of Tuz
    Jan 24, 2007
    31,784
    oh yeah? well I'll look at that.

    I read his novel American gods and thought it was good, but not a book that makes a lasting impression.
     
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    mikhail

    mikhail

    Senior Member
    Jan 24, 2003
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    Yeah, that was my take on American Gods too (and Neverwhere), which was disappointing for a book that won half a dozen major awards.
     

    Guardian

    Junior Member
    Dec 28, 2005
    281
    Neverwhere was one of my fav fantasy books when I was schoolboy. I loved the idea of Floating market and the creatures there. American Gods is pile of shit though, I find it a bit offensive. I haven't read fantasy book for years though
     

    Elvin

    Senior Member
    Nov 25, 2005
    36,829
    There's something I've been curious about. A lot of you mentioned Russian writers. Do you guys think their work loses anything in translation? What do you think of translated art works in general? Do you feel they're able to "translate" the writers brilliance from his original tongue?
     
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    mikhail

    mikhail

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    Jan 24, 2003
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    Eℓvin;1938738 said:
    There's something I've been curious about. A lot of you mentioned Russian writers. Do you guys think their work loses anything in translation? What do you think of translated art works in general? Do you feel they're able to "translate" the writers brilliance from his original tongue?
    It depends a lot on where the author's brilliance lies. If it's in plot, characters, pacing, etc. then it translates well. If it's in his or her use of language, it's much, much harder.

    It depends on the languages involved too - I've read that the translations of The Art of War vary wildly, which I suspect is partly because it's written in something very unlike English. Russian should translate better (though I've found translations from Russian to be a bit clunky).
     

    Henry

    Senior Member
    Sep 30, 2003
    5,517
    Eℓvin;1938738 said:
    There's something I've been curious about. A lot of you mentioned Russian writers. Do you guys think their work loses anything in translation? What do you think of translated art works in general? Do you feel they're able to "translate" the writers brilliance from his original tongue?

    I agree with Mikhail that it depends on the author. One who's brilliance lies mainly in their use of language, then it's very, very difficult. I've been hearing about a husband and wife team that's been doing a lot of russian translations, one is a poet, and the other is russian. Certainly it's next to impossible to fully analyse how an author uses language, and the different shades of meaning in particular sentences when the work isn't in the original tongue.
     

    Joaco

    the cronopio
    Dec 11, 2005
    5,213
    It depends a lot on where the author's brilliance lies. If it's in plot, characters, pacing, etc. then it translates well. If it's in his or her use of language, it's much, much harder.

    It depends on the languages involved too - I've read that the translations of The Art of War vary wildly, which I suspect is partly because it's written in something very unlike English. Russian should translate better (though I've found translations from Russian to be a bit clunky).
    I agree with Mikhail that it depends on the author. One who's brilliance lies mainly in their use of language, then it's very, very difficult. I've been hearing about a husband and wife team that's been doing a lot of russian translations, one is a poet, and the other is russian. Certainly it's next to impossible to fully analyze how an author uses language, and the different shades of meaning in particular sentences when the work isn't in the original tongue.
    I'm agree with both of you. But I think it depends a lot from the translator; he is like a second writer and he must try to find the rights words to give the right pace. Sometimes one word can change a lot the meaning of a phrase. For example: a lot of writers say that Cortazar short-story are perfect because if you erase just one word it lose its sense. Another good example is the Catcher in the rye: translated to spanish is awful, really really really awful.
     

    Seven

    In bocca al lupo, Fabio.
    Jun 25, 2003
    38,190
    It depends a lot on where the author's brilliance lies. If it's in plot, characters, pacing, etc. then it translates well. If it's in his or her use of language, it's much, much harder.

    It depends on the languages involved too - I've read that the translations of The Art of War vary wildly, which I suspect is partly because it's written in something very unlike English. Russian should translate better (though I've found translations from Russian to be a bit clunky).
    Agreed, although I'd say that any translation of any book takes away something from the original. Which is a damn shame because I only speak four languages, so very often I have to make use of translations. I mean, Tolstoj's great and all, but I'm not learning Russian.
     

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