/lit/ - Literature

>>18435023

>he hasn't learned arcane ancient Japanese to fully appreciate the original rendering

ngmi

https://literature.stackexchange.com/questions/15056/which-english-translation-of-the-tale-of-genji-is-the-most-accurate-yet-readable

>>18435154
>no translator could be completely faithful both to the original and to the English language
So nothing? Thanks a lot, I guess.

>>18435126
life's too short

bump

>>18435126
It was serialized romance garbage for idle women. Like that shit you see at the supermarket. No one should learn a language for the purpose of reading that.

>>18436274
tell me how i know you haven't read any of either

>>18435023
my copy's translated by some fool named dennis washburn. can't tell if it's 'best' one or not, but i'd highly suspect that there are some errors in the exact inculcation. either that, or it's just not very good (and yes, i'm aware of the gravity of it and all its significance).. maybe the exact diction the stories are translated to doesn't really matter too much. it's a very simple book in terms of communication.

>>18436333
why are you reading an english translation as an esl?

>>18436296

>>18436347
rent-free

>>18436343
my english sat was perfect, so suck my massive fucking cock dick bitch nigger

>>18435023
I WANNA BE GENJI

>>18436363
for some reason i doubt that

>>18436373
and yet for some reason you're the one paying notice, hmm...

>>18436343
translations from Japanese are expensive, bro. but way less expensive in English.

>>18436353

>>18436416
>(((Saul)))

>>18436416
actually obsessed

>>18436274
The book is about a series of perfect men raping more or less every woman to cross their paths and developing ennui because the women are soulless or demonic in some way. Murasaki wasn't retarded but you probably are

>>18436368
Is the G a hard G?

>>18436497
yes

>>18435697

Now you understand why /lit/'s preening about reading the original is void. This was the point that I was actually making.

>>18435023
Tyler Royall, afaik

>>18435023
>Tyler's translation is very reddit
what the fuck does this even mean? why is this place infested with braindead amoebae?

>>18436343
Because english is the lingua franca you fukcing moron.

>>18435023
I doubt there exists a single anon here that can read ancient japanese and has also read every single translation of a 1000+ page book

>>18438317
>le summer

helloooooo reddit

>>18438524
>filename
>that post
pretty excellent bait, i must say

>>18435023
A translated book is a death body... get over it

>>18438981
what did he mean by this?

First Sentence

Arthur Waley: ”At the Court of an Emperor (he lived it matters not when) there was among the many gentlewomen of the Wardrobe and Chamber one, who though she was not of very high rank was favored far beyond all the rest.”

Edward Seidensticker: ”In a certain reign there was a lady not of the first rank whom the emperor loved more than any of the others.”

Royall Tyler: ”In a certain reign (whose can it have been?) someone of no very great rank, among all His Majesty’s Consorts and Intimates, enjoyed exceptional favor.”

>>18439327

I like the third one.

>>18439327
Second one for me. It has that little something that all great first lines have.

>>18439327
Tyler as always

Suematsu's is secretly the superior version.
First sentence:
>In the reign of a certain Emperor, whose name is unknown to us, there was, among the Nyougo and Koui of the Imperial Court, one who, though she was not of high birth, enjoyed the full tide of Royal favor.

>>18439312
A translated book will never be the same as the original and therefore should be taken as the remains of something that is great in its original form, like a dead body.