Not That Shitty
One way to start a lively conversation on a trolleybus is to say "Довели народ!" -- many will readily jump on the opportunity to express themselves.
Is there a similar phrase for translator/interpreter community? Sure! Just say: "Contemporary book translations are so shitty!" Some people will gladly pick up the line and tell how they've been to a bookstore recently, and every translation they picked was shitty, and the paper, and the fonts, and the covers were shitty, and the bookstore was shitty, and everything was shitty -- even the skies, even Allah himself.
Indeed, as we have seen in one of the recent surveys, Ukrainian publishers are mainly concerned with selling more books, and cannot really connect the dots between the quality of translations and their financial bottom line.
However, Iet me be a little bit of an edgelord here and suggest that some of those shitty translations are less shitty than others. For instance, some readers say my own ones are not bad 😄
To advertise the paperback edition of my Stardust (ok, it's Neil Gaiman's Stardust, but you know what I mean), the publishing house lets you read the entire Chapter 2 free of charge. I've just re-read it and encourage you to follow suit. Sure, there is a misprint or two, but overall -- please take your time to read it and think for yourself. Constructive criticism is always welcome.
One way to start a lively conversation on a trolleybus is to say "Довели народ!" -- many will readily jump on the opportunity to express themselves.
Is there a similar phrase for translator/interpreter community? Sure! Just say: "Contemporary book translations are so shitty!" Some people will gladly pick up the line and tell how they've been to a bookstore recently, and every translation they picked was shitty, and the paper, and the fonts, and the covers were shitty, and the bookstore was shitty, and everything was shitty -- even the skies, even Allah himself.
Indeed, as we have seen in one of the recent surveys, Ukrainian publishers are mainly concerned with selling more books, and cannot really connect the dots between the quality of translations and their financial bottom line.
However, Iet me be a little bit of an edgelord here and suggest that some of those shitty translations are less shitty than others. For instance, some readers say my own ones are not bad 😄
To advertise the paperback edition of my Stardust (ok, it's Neil Gaiman's Stardust, but you know what I mean), the publishing house lets you read the entire Chapter 2 free of charge. I've just re-read it and encourage you to follow suit. Sure, there is a misprint or two, but overall -- please take your time to read it and think for yourself. Constructive criticism is always welcome.