/lit/ - Literature

If the intro has different authorship than the rest of the book it's only worth entertaining on a second read.

>>20913425
read a bit about the biographical/historical/literary context and maybe some broad overview of meaning and themes, skip anything about the plot and come back to it after I finish the book

Translator introduction about translation problems and how previous translators sucks is often interesting for me

>>20913492
That reminds me, didn't /lit/ have a fit for one of the translator translating a book and shit talking the previous translator? I don't recall the name of the book but I do remember it was done by a woman.

>>20913492
>how previous translators sucks
This its always good gain insight on a translators methods amd biases in their own words. Sometimes you also get funny shit like a translator talking shit about previous translations while delivering dog shit themselves.

>>20913492
>>20913507

>>20913492
Same. I got addicted to translator drama back during the golden age of anime fansubs. It's fascinating.

>>20913503
Her name is Emily Wilson I think? She's one of the most recent translators of The Odyssey (and I think she's working on The Iliad next). Her translation is mediocre from what I understand. I don't think /lit/ had a fit about it so much as we were just shit-talking her back and having the usual discussion of Homer translations (at least in the threads I was in).

>>20913510
Goddammit that's sad.

>>20913425
Intros are ONLY for the second read-through.

Depends. No hard rule. Usually I read it when I’m done, if I read it at all. For stuff like Dickens I might read it first because the historical context helps. This board trash talks introductions all the time but I’ve found some nice author recommendations from intros.

>>20913515
> I got addicted to translator drama back during the golden age of anime fansubs.
Funny you say that because there's always drama in hentai/doujin circles on how accurate translations are. And they are incredibly heated, spanning multiple paragraphs.

>>20913425
I don't even open the book and ask /lit/ what I'm in for instead, duh.

>>20913425
Depends, if it's something I'm wholly unfamiliar with I tend to not skip the introduction, or if it's a book by an author from somewhere I don't know much about. If it's about autistic shit like >>20913492 I skip it almost always.

>>20913510
Teaching women to read was a mistake.

>>20913425
yes

I usually skip it at first because I’ve been burned too many times by plot spoilers. There’s literally no reason why they shouldn’t warn readers ahead of time, so agitating.

If I’m still interested after reading, I’ll then go back to it.

>>20913510
I'm actually struggling to believe that this is real. what the fuck lmao

SIEMPRE LEO LOS PRELIMINARES, COMO NORMA; ESCASAS EXCEPCIONES; UNA RECIENTE QUE RECUERDO ES LA INTRODUCCIÓN A LA EDICIÓN POR VICTORIANO RONCERO LÓPEZ DE «ESPAÑA DEFENDIDA», POR FRANCISCO DE QUEVEDO, LA CUAL LEÍ POR FRAGMENTOS, POR PLEONÁSTICA, Y POR SU SESGO EUROPEÍSTICO Y HUMANÍSTICO; LOS PRELIMINARES SON EL ANTE A EL PLATILLO PRINCIPAL QUE ES LA OBRA.

>>20913599
As well there should be. Some faggots think DeepL is good enough and they're wrong and they need to be educated how wrong they are. Death to MTL.

>>20913425
Never. I always skip to the novel itself. However, if it's a used book, which 95% of lib are, then I read the publisher notice to figure out that exactly I'm looking at as far as editing and edition stuff goes.

>>20913425
>SIEMPRE LEO LOS PRELIMINARES, COMO NORMA; ESCASAS EXCEPCIONES;

It is the inverse for me.

>>20915574
>SIEMPRE LEO LOS PRELIMINARES, COMO NORMA; ESCASAS EXCEPCIONES;

It is the inverse for me.

>>20916043


AS A READER, DID YOU BEGIN WITH FICTION, OR WITH NONFICTION?

>>20913503
Might've been Quixote. The foreword of my version had something similar

skip the intro although sometimes I’ll read it after I finished the book if I really enjoyed it

>>20916050


Fiction.

>>20913510
>el alma
>feminine
Now I'm no genius but isn't el for masculine words regardless of ending?

>>20916070


THAT IS PROBABLY WHY YOU DO NOT LIKE READING PRELIMINARIES.

>>20916071


WHEN A NOUN BEGINS WITH TONIC «A», THE MASCULINE DEFINITE ARTICLE IS USED, FOR EUPHONY.

>>20916076


Not really; I am patient with books.

It depends on how integral the preliminary is to the actual work; it depends on the author; if I intuit that I will not stand to learn, or gain, anything from reading the preliminary, and/or will comprehend its message from reading the actual work, I will skip it.

Time is too short.

I go straight to the book mostly

>>20915676
DeepL is good enough. It's an incredible tool. And unlike Google Translate, DeepL manages to capture the actual essence of a text or a phrase. The translations are idiomatic and feel natural.