English version of Shana novel has bad English
Japanese blog Dekadenbiyori has written a review of the English translated version of the Shakugan no Shana novel and comments that the standard of English used in the book was very poor and that the book does not convey the qualities of the story nor does it make use of the qualities of the English language.
The blog goes on to quote Yuji Sakai from the start of the novel, showing how Yuji Sakai is only able to say “Ugh” or “What?!” or some other form of exclamation, and concludes that he will not be touching the 2nd volume of the novel.
I thought it was funny to have such bad writing in an English publication that it is getting bashed by a Japanese site. I wonder how the novel was accepted in English communities…
August 20th, 2007 at 10:30 am
I didn’t think it was that bad, but there’s so little of this stuff published in English that I don’t tend to be picky about things (not to mention not having read the book in Japanese). I think the couple of missing images (the more risque ones) was of more concern to some, and I’ve heard it suggested that they’ve toned some stuff down in the text. Generally, though, the distribution of the book has been so awful that a lot of people who’ve wanted it haven’t been able to find it until recently, if at all.
I’m more curious as to what he thought of Kino - Andrew Cunninghams work is generally good, and he seemed to be positive regarding his work on Boogiepop. Of course, Tokyopop did some odd things with Kino once it was out of his hands (re-ordering chapters and shrinking art). Lord knows what they’d make of Tokyopops Crest of the Star translation (or, rather, versioning) as well…
August 20th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Wait, there’s an English version of the first Shana novel?! DiGiKerot, I must agree with you… It’s impossible to find, and I consider myself the kind of person who knows his local bookstores upside down.
August 20th, 2007 at 11:20 am
It’s a Viz Media book, so unless the bookstore has an extensive manga section I wouldn’t expect them to stock it. Books like these usually need to be ordered at a comic shop or a large chain like Borders, unless you’d rather take the easy route and order it from an online book site. It’s ridiculously easy to find on Amazon, so no, I don’t consider it hard to find at all.
Though after reading this, I’m not sure I want to. I’ve kept away from English translated novels from comic companies since I made the mistake of reading Tokyopop’s Slayers adaptation.
August 20th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
I remember reading the introduction translated as well as in Japanese and didn’t think highly of either. Andrew Cunningham is a super-cool guy, so I’ll stick to stuff he translates.
August 20th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
“book does not convey the qualities of the story nor does it make use of the qualities of the English language.”
The ironic thing, if I’m parsing this correctly, is that the complaint arises from the translation being too literal, i.e. rigid, which is what American fans nowadays demand because they feel that is more “accurate.” (At least that’s the impression I’m getting, having never looked at the novel…)
August 20th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
Well, I’m the blog writer.
As Simmon pointed out I’ve never read Japanese version and don’t know whether the peculiar style is due to original or by translation. After all I might have had same impression even if reading the book written in Japanese. Just as a individual english book it didn’t impress me personally.
August 21st, 2007 at 9:01 am
Hmm, I was meaning to pick this up, actually. I think I’ll go order it today, just so I can see if it’s really that shitty.
August 21st, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Andrew Cunningham’s work is deeply overrated. Just for the record.
August 21st, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Any specific complaints there, Anonymous?
I read the Shana novel in Japanese, and the author’s writing style is unbelievably horrible. It was virtually unreadable. It is entirely possible that what the blogger objected to was in the original as well.
August 28th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Hey, a fellow PBwiki owner with a surprise appearance in a blog topic about him! Nice timing.
May 13th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=986105&postcount=117
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1199184&postcount=249
http://forums.animesuki.com/showpost.php?p=1224249&postcount=279
These seem relevant.