h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Following on from the Umberto Eco discussion on the What Book are you readng now? thread...

(oh, that sounds... er, odd)

anyway.

What do you think about reading books in translation?

Now it's very easy for me to get books in their original (English) version (via the internet) I am loving it. It's my native language and it used to bug me no end to have to read a translation, because... well, what's the point? (If I want to improve my German there are plenty of books out there written in that language)

but when it comes to something written in a language other than English or German I have to turn to a translation (in which case I try to get the English version,but not always)

but how good are they?

Anyone read Eco in the original and the translation? What about anyone who has read something like Kafka in English and German?

I remember reading Pushkin's The Bronze Horseman for my Russian A-level, first in Russian and then as a parallel text. Then I was in a good position to see that the translation was excellent.

How much care is taken to mirror the style of the original?

>>How much care is taken to mirror the style of the original<<

I'd say it depends on the translator. I have read a few books in the original language and the translated version, and mostly, the translation is good, but sometimes, it's only ok, or even rather bad. Puns are generally untranslatable, as are a few other things ( that's when you often find the footnote of the editor, giving further explanation to something). I don't know about books translated into English, though, just about books translated from English.

fancy meeting you here!

I'm currently reading (on and off because I keep getting distracted by other things) Die Verwandlung. I think I'll read it in English afterwards to see how it is.

I'd never even try to read a Kafka in English - I'm sure I wouldn't understand a word

and thus you demonstrate the reason why I keep picking up the book and then doing the reading equivalent of "ohhh look a "

But your English is more than excellent enough to cope. But, apart from checking out the quality of the translation, there is absolutely no reason at all I can think of for you to read Kafka in English.

I have Tin Drum (ah... Die Blechtrommel - is it die? I'm terrible with articles) lined up also. I've only had it 10 years

We watched the movie when it was released then, but I've never read the book. I don't think I've ever read any Grass, come to think of it
Oh, and what you say about my English - - but your German is just as well, don't try to tell me otherwise.

well, my grammar is ropey, but I can jabber away and sound as though I almost know what I'm saying
(and my accent is ok, now I'm not sounding Dutch)

Hence my reading books in German. Slowly.

Don't you think it's weird that h2 is so quiet ? I bet you'd have had more feedback if you had written this as a journal entry
Oh, and the more you read in German, the less time it will take, you'll just get used to it.

I nearly slapped a guy yesterday. At work. He's German and frankly I'm shocked at how bad his English is (he is about 7 or 8 years younger than me)

I was talking to one of our Koreans, who now have 2 German lessons a week and he was saying "die Tasse" but then didn't know about Kaffee. so I said "Das Kaffee..." then tried to correct myself, but Know-it-All-Guy said "oh, what a mistake, can't you speak German?"

When I pointed out that I studied French, Latin and Russian at school (and beyond for one of those) but that I picked up German by ear, he just grunted.

That only shows that many Germans have no idea of just how difficult our language is, especially for somebody whose language only has one article for everything, and more or less lacks the nominativ/genitiv/dativ/akkusativ differentiation, too. And his behaviour shows that a bad education and bad manners unfortunately get more and more common

well, he now knows that my reputaion for having a sharp tongue is more than deserved!

He should be grateful that you didn't give him the punch he would have deserved. Did you tell him how bad his English is ? Probably not, eh ? Sharp tongue, pah

oh I do
I know I'm a lot more fluffy and nice on here than in RL

pity RL doesn't have a preview button, isn't it?

*looks around hoping the off-topic-police are off-duty*

you know, this is the second conversation in 'ask' within two days where I am the only one to asnwer ( ok, one other person posted a reply in the other thread), and I'm starting to wonder if it's the 'fault' of the subject line. Tje other thread required a German translation, and this one again, has the word 'translation' in it

well a few of us already talked about Umberto Eco on the reading thread. I confidently expect a few people to show up over the next few days.

Unfortunately I'll be offline by then...

So far, I've only read 'Im Namen der Rose' -took me several attempts to get past the first pages.'Das Foucaultsche Pendel' I started to listen to -hmmm

you have to persevere with Focault's Pendulum and try to read big chunks at a time. it's worth it.

Well, maybe i should readit, not listen to the audio book. I'll think about it

I'll investigate what the library in town has in stock regarding Umberto Eco next week.

For me The Name of the Rose was the most accessible, but that was probably because I'd seen the film.