19 Ways of Looking at Wang Wei

Nov 12, 2009 Marc Weidenbaum added it

Especially given that this slim volume is barely 50 pages long, I unhesitatingly recommend it to just about anyone who is even vaguely conscious about what they read, especially if they regularly read anything in translation.

On its surface, and a gossamer-thin surface it is, this book is a comparative-literature exercise, with its laser focus on a single, four-line Chinese poem by Wang Wei, dated from about 1200 years ago. Per the title, there are 19 translations investigated by Eliot Weinberge...more

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May 26, 2009 Lothe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: china, poetry

Eliot Weinberger’s 19 Ways of Looking at Wang Wei (subtitled “How a Chinese Poem is Translated”) presents Wang Wei’s famous “Deer Park” poem in 19 versions: Chinese, transliterated Chinese (Pinyin), and a word-by-word rendering, then in 16 (or so) translations with Weinberger’s comments. (The translations are primarily into English, although a Spanish version and two French versions are also included.)

From the title, which appears to be inspired by Wallace Stevens’s “Thirteen Ways of Looking at...more Eliot Weinberger’s 19 Ways of Looking at Wang Wei (subtitled “How a Chinese Poem is Translated”) presents Wang Wei’s famous “Deer Park” poem in 19 versions: Chinese, transliterated Chinese (Pinyin), and a word-by-word rendering, then in 16 (or so) translations with Weinberger’s comments. (The translations are primarily into English, although a Spanish version and two French versions are also included.)

From the title, which appears to be inspired by Wallace Stevens’s “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” I expected something a little more contemplative. I found Weinberger’s comments, on the whole, to be unnecessarily vicious and judgmental. It’s as if every section of Stevens’s poem ended with the line “But this way of looking at a blackbird is wrong.” Weinberger never does offer a translation of his own, although he appears to have some kind of ideal in mind of which every translation he profiles somehow falls short.

This would not in itself be a bad thing--for we must recognize that every translation does, in some way, depart from the original. But Weinberger seems to feel that any change to the poem, especially any expansion, is due to the translator’s special hatred for the poet and contempt for his readers’ intelligence. In section 8 he states that additions to a translation are “the product of a translator’s unspoken contempt for the foreign poet” (p. 17). He goes on to suggest that the translators of the version on which he is commenting were too dense to realize that Wang Wei could have written X (as in the translation) but chose to write Y. While I think his point is well-taken, it could easily have been made without the caustic innuendo. Reading some of the translations, you do wonder what these guys were thinking--but I don’t believe that assuming they’re stupid oafs at best or malicious tinkerers at worst is really the right way to approach things.

I found the brief essays by Octavio Paz to be more what I expected: commentary on the poem itself, as well as a balanced and interesting exploration of the issues involved in translating it. He explains calmly why he made the choices he did in his Spanish version (also present in the book), and why he made certain (and significant) changes from his original draft.

While it is interesting and perhaps even enlightening to have such a varied collection of translations side-by-side, any real insights as to what the comparison says about “How a Chinese Poem is Translated” will have to be deduced by the reader alone, as Weinberger’s jeering comments are rarely much help in this direction. The concept is a solid one, but I wish the presentation were a little more balanced.

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Nov 15, 2010 Jim Coughenour rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: chinesepoetry

I came across this book almost by chance – I thought I might like it, but I didn't expect to be chuckling most of the way through. Weinberger has taken a classic poem by Wang Wei (the 8th century Tang poet) and pursued it through 75 years of translation. A few versions are excellent; a few are awful. Weinberger is good at annotating the excellence, but even funnier elucidating the inept.

I read the book in less than an hour and enjoyed every minute. Well, maybe not the last few. The "Further Comm...more

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Jul 25, 2012 Mike Puma rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: they know who they are

Shelves: poetry, lit-crit, 2012

After reading Weinberger’s An Elemental Thing, I knew that, sooner or later, I’d have to have more of Weinberger’s work under my belt. After biding my time, watching for an inexpensive used copy and to make up a minimum order that qualified for free shipping, I finally ordered and received this one. Good for me.

I’d read the GR description of 19 Ways, but somehow I’d decided it would be ‘about’ Wang Wei’s short poem in the same way that An Elemental Thing is ~~about whatever-the-hell-it’s-about~~ co

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After reading Weinberger’s An Elemental Thing, I knew that, sooner or later, I’d have to have more of Weinberger’s work under my belt. After biding my time, watching for an inexpensive used copy and to make up a minimum order that qualified for free shipping, I finally ordered and received this one. Good for me.

I’d read the GR description of 19 Ways, but somehow I’d decided it would be ‘about’ Wang Wei’s short poem in the same way that An Elemental Thing is ~~about whatever-the-hell-it’s-about~~ comprised of incredible writing on various topics presented in prose, sorta, and poetry, sorta. (I’d encourage any fans of writing to give AET a fair shot.)

But the fact is, the description of this one is exactly as it says—EW provides 19 translations and elaborates on their successes and failures, often with humor, always with insight. Versions by Kenneth Rexroth, Gary Snyder, and Octavio Paz (the three most recognizable names to American readers) are among those considered; Snyder’s seems to fare the best.

Poetry is that which is worth translating.

So says the first line of this very brief and precise volume. Kind of a slap in the face for someone like myself whose impatience with poetry I’ve documented in other reviews. The statement is something I’d like to believe, but I have my experience to contend with. This book is a reminder that poetry must be interpreted (s-h-u-d-d-e-r) before it can be claimed as our own. In the Further Comments by Octavio Paz—at times a tribute to the translation of Cathay by Ezra Pound, at other times a description of his own (Paz’s) considerations while translating and retranslating the poem—is this aside on Pound’s translation: Nothing could be more remote from the prose chopped into short lines that today passes for free verse. I like that, even with the repeated kicks to the shins which Bolaño’s ghost delivers under my desk.

Most readers will likely prefer An Elemental Thing, and for good reason; most poets should read both.

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May 30, 2012 Bennievermeer added it

Just four lines long, the ancient Chinese poem 'Deer Park', by Buddhist poet Wang Wei, has inspired poets and translators through the ages. Eliot Weinberger's '19 Ways of Looking at Wang Wei' collects nineteen different translations in English, Spanish and French, along with commentary by Weinberger and Octavio Paz. Reading so many variatons of one text, without being able to access the original directly, has a curiously meditative effect, at once enlightening and humbling, as the 'real' meaning...more

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Jan 04, 2011 Dan rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: poetry snobs, students of Chinese

This both was and was not what I was expecting. It's a treatise both on the perils of attempting to translate poetry from another language and also on criticism of poetry. That the author more or less hated the vast majority of the "ways" made the read a little depressing, but the few translations that passed muster were quite beautiful. Incidentally, the author's assertion that one cannot "translate poetry out of one's native language" struck me as interesting and is something I will take away...more

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Jan 28, 2012 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry

This a very unusual book that I’ve gone back to time and time again over the years, fascinating for anyone interested in poetry, language, the mysteries of translation. It’s quite short and can be read in 30 minutes, or savored over a lifetime.
The subject of the book is a brief poem of four lines written in the 8th century by Wang Wei, a Chinese Buddhist poet, painter and calligrapher. On each pair of facing pages, the author presents a version or translation of the poem, and commentary on tha...more This a very unusual book that I’ve gone back to time and time again over the years, fascinating for anyone interested in poetry, language, the mysteries of translation. It’s quite short and can be read in 30 minutes, or savored over a lifetime.
The subject of the book is a brief poem of four lines written in the 8th century by Wang Wei, a Chinese Buddhist poet, painter and calligrapher. On each pair of facing pages, the author presents a version or translation of the poem, and commentary on that particular rendition. The first three versions are the original text in Chinese characters, a transliteration into modern Chinese (pinyin system), and a literal character-by-character translation into English. Through these opening pages, the reader is introduced to the fascinating world of Chinese language and poetry, and the resulting challenges for translators.
From there, we are treated to 16 different translations of the poem by various poets from throughout the 20th century. Most are in English, but there are Spanish and French translations as well (compounding the problem of translating a Spanish/French version of a Chinese poem into English).
The commentary analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the translators’ efforts, all the while keeping in mind the formidable challenges of translating poetry. The original Chinese poem, consisting of 20 characters in four lines, can be appreciated on many levels and interpreted in various ways depending on the perspective and choices made by the translator.
Completely aside from its fascinating look at language and the challenges of translation, the most wonderful thing about this book is this: even after reading so many translations of Wang Wei’s poem, its language and meaning are within grasp but ultimately unreachable for modern readers. It remains a mystery half-solved, a secret half-told. The magic of this 1200+ year old, four-line poem is that it can yield so many interpretations to so many people. Rather than a puzzle to be solved, it is a many-faceted experience that never grows old.
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Jan 10, 2010 kasia rated it 2 of 5 stars

It is of course interesting to read 19 different translations of the same poem. What is less interesting is Weinberger's commentary, which to me came across as obnoxious, pedantic, and occasionally quite contentious. Though, to be fair, SOME of his observations are interesting (he notes, for instance, the number of words they use - a seemingly obvious point, but one that I didn't really think about). Still, overall, I found him more grating than anything else.

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Mar 20, 2009 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry

I love the premise of this book: it shows the Chinese characters of one of Wang Wei's poems, then the transliteration, then the literal translation, then 16 published translations in chronological order. It's the kind of thing I'd like to see done with lots of different poems, though that might get impractical. It's a great way to start thinking about translation and how one's own priorities and ideas about it fit into what's already going on.

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Mar 15, 2013 Meredi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Eliot Weinberger is a hoot and this is a great little primer on the translation of Chinese poetry. I took this to read at tennis and I was chuckling in parts, actually chuckling.

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Mar 26, 2013 Poupeh rated it 4 of 5 stars

a detailed look at different translations of an ancient Chinese poem, this book offers a short but amazing study of the practice of translation and all its complexities.

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Feb 03, 2010 Tom rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: china, poetry, theory-philosophy-etc

A good introduction to the general reader on the difficulties of translating classical Chinese poetry. Shows the evolution of translation styles.

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Feb 07, 2010 Jil rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: translators, Chinese poetry-lovers

Recommended to Jil by: Forrest Gander

Shelves: school

Weinberger's dismissive tone is delightful, his analyses surprisingly readable, his brevity deeply appreciated.

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Dec 12, 2012 Allie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: in-translation, poetry

I read this for poetry class last year and revisited it recently. Eliot Weinberger is cool; even though he was n00b at Chinese at the time that he wrote this book, he is pro with language & its nuances and shares a lot of precise insights into both the art of translation and poetry itself, often with a sense of humor. I like the way he reads. I also definitely enjoyed Octavio Paz's commentary and approach to translating. He is wonderful too.

Overall, great poets and an interesting focused dis...more

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Feb 21, 2012 Farren rated it 3 of 5 stars

Super-fascinating and exhaustively investigated, but Weinberger's attitude is so snotty and judgy that I just resist the hell out of his ideas and I kind of want to flick his ear.

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Mar 30, 2009 George rated it 5 of 5 stars

Gorgeous and enlightening. The art of translation at its best.

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Oct 06, 2010 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry, on-literature, translation-studies

Sometimes I like casual criticism that wears its personal bias on its sleeve. Refreshing, no?

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Oct 12, 2010 Acacia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sassy.

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Jun 11, 2008 Kadiatu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Highly interesting to read different interpretations of the original Chinese poem by Wei. I especially loved reading the French translation, since it became a completely different poem in a sense. One thing you will learn about Chinese poetry is that it is best when it is simple. Less is more. One word can have a variety of meanings, so just imagine what a sentence can do.

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Apr 05, 2012 Liz rated it 4 of 5 stars

I wish they had one of these for every poem I've read in translation.

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May 06, 2013 Ian marked it as to-read

Apr 18, 2013 Madison rated it 4 of 5 stars

Mar 28, 2013 Bill Strickland rated it 4 of 5 stars

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Mar 22, 2013 Leslie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mar 21, 2013 Alan rated it 5 of 5 stars

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Mar 05, 2013 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: theory, awesome-nonfiction

Mar 05, 2013 Ashley Mcphee rated it 1 of 5 stars

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