LoT Book CLub - Book 2 - Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

[Ghoulish Delight]

Oh hell, I left it at home. I've been absolutely devouring it.

[Gemini Cricket]

I've been a total traitor to the LoT Book CLub. I saw the movie of the first one and instead of reading the second one, I'm reading 'The Stand' (Unabridged) for the third time.

[Alex]

Quick question about Murakami. I'm now reading After the Quake and in the About the Author section it lists both him and Jay Rubin, the translator.

It mentions that Murakami has translated F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Irving, Truman Capote and Raymond Carver to Japanese so he must be fluent in English. Is there any particular reason he doesn't do the English translation of his own work?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Perhaps he just doesn't like/isn't good at translating the other way. I know that even when I was still close to fluent in Spanish, it would have been easier for me to translate something from Spanish into English than vice versa. Or it may be that he just doesn't want to do it for his own work. I found this quote from him:

"Sometimes a book appeals to me because I want to introduce it to Japanese readers. That's one reason. Another reason is that I want to learn something from this book, and translation is the best way. You can read every detail, every page, every word. You can learn so much. It's my teacher. I want to try many different styles. Translation is a kind of vehicle. One time you can write F. Scott Fitzgerald and one time Raymond Chandler. It's a transformation."

Seems to indicate the latter reason.

[Alex]

Yeah, I figured it was most likely something along the lines of just not wanting to do it.

But I can see being an author and being ok with someone else writing your words in another language but it would be a weird anguish to be able to read it fluently. I'd be constantly second guessing the translator in word choice and sentence construction.

But on the off chance it was something more interesting I figured I'd ask.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Alex Stroup

But I can see being an author and being ok with someone else writing your words in another language but it would be a weird anguish to be able to read it fluently. I'd be constantly second guessing the translator in word choice and sentence construction.

I wouldn't be surprised if Murakami was consulted on the project.

[Alex]

Neither would I. I was just curious if there was a more interesting reason than the obvious one.

Of course, once I write something I almost never read it again so maybe he is the same way and therefore won't be annoyed by such things. But if I were consulted it would probably quickly turn into a "you sit there and right it down the way I say" dictation session.

[Not Afraid]

If you haven't already visited his website, take a look. It's a very nice site.

Plus, there are cats roaming about.

[Alex]

That's a very bad site. You tricked me.

[Eliza Hodgkins 1812]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

I wouldn't be surprised if Murakami was consulted on the project.

I think Japanese may be an incredibly hard language to translate into English, because I almost always find the writing somewhat frustrating. I imagine a lot gets lost in translation, and as I read the English I find myself wishing the English itself was *better*.

It doesn't, on the whole, effect how much I enjoy or dislike the overall story, but I've such a love of individual sentences and phrases, and those are - for me - a bit few and far between in this book. I had to keep reminding myself that it's a translation, and the fault really lies with my own inability to read in other languages. Ah, well.