Rule # 1 about translation of a novel: don't assume that big publishing houses have the best or most perfect translations.
This rule came to mind when I spent the weekend reading THE SNOWMAN by my contemporary Jo Nesbø.
The translation refers to cell phones as "mobile phones". While that is a proper translation in England and Europe, it's not part of the general public's lexicon in the U.S. market.
There's also a section in Chapter 6 about Harry Hole running or jogging near the Ekeberg restaurant. The translation by Random House states that the restaurant has aged into a "peeling shack".
At first I thought it was a strip bar. Then I thought the phrase made reference to some sort of hunting or fishing shack. Finally I wondered if it was an oblique reference to a "love shack" where lovers stripped to consummate their passions. A friend later told me that "peeling shack" just refers to the peeling paint or a building's heavily weathered exterior.
Don't get me wrong. Don Bartlett does 100% superb translations. But he is British and not from the bigger U.S. market. Random House should at least pay for him to spend several months living in 5 or 6 major American cities (NY, LA, Houston, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta) to get a feeling for general American word usage.
A good translator is sooooo important! Some of the translations of K. Fossum's works have so clunky as to render them virtually unreadable.
ReplyDelete