Thursday, September 29, 2005

I did it!

Last night I managed to finish book five of Harry Potter (fushicho no kishidan). As ther is sadly no Japanese translation of the sixth one yet, I have nothing left but to read it in English. Dave CC has kindly lent me his copy, and it is within reason that I could be finished tomorrow before the Tachibana festival. Reading in English is about three times faster than reading in Japanese.

Now that I am about 180 pages through the sixth, I'm not sure which language I prefer. I liked Snape and Dumbledore WAY better in Japanese because of how they talk, but I laugh more at the English. One of the benefits of the Japanese is that reading slow gave me more time to use my imagination, and the characters now feel a little bit more flat as I read in English. Less stopping and thinking about everything they say and just how they would be saying it, I guess.

Reading the Japanese was definitely a rewarding experience, and if I ever had doubts about whether a translation could be as good as the origional, they have been quashed. Languages being different, each language version will be different from the origional in one way or another, but they can have their own personality if the target language is used well enough. Again, very pleased with the Japanese translations. Makes me wonder about trying it in French some day, if I ever get my level up.

Mat

posted by Fletcher @ 9:30 p.m.

3 Comments:

At 9:36 a.m. PDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Geoffrey Grigson Born 1905

Before a fall.

And what was the big room he walked in?
The big room he walked in, over the smooth floor, under the sky light, was his own brain.

And what was it he admired there?
He admired there the oval mirror.

And what was it the oval mirror showed him there?
It showed him the roots Through the ceiling, The gross armchair, the bookcase, shuttered with glass, The Hymns bound in velvet. The porcelain oven, The giant egg cups, The hairy needles, And the silence -

And the smell of smouldering dung Hung between the walls (which were yellow as dandelion).

And how did he leave?
On the smooth floor
His neat feet jarred
And his teeth grew down
To his heart, and he slipped
On the white stairhead -

Which ended?
Which ended in coldness
And darkness,
Through which he fell
(so they tell)
With little hope, and slowly.

 
At 9:37 a.m. PDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

:-0

 
At 4:37 p.m. PDT, Blogger Fletcher said...

So was that a real person or a comment-bot trolling my page?

 

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