Mark’s answer to “The Spanish translator changed "Prince of Thorns" into "Prince of Evil" and "The Broken Empire Tril…” > Likes and Comments
27 likes · Like
I second that! It's much the same with german translations of Robin Hobb's books; they just don't make any sense. Ridiculous, really, and the reason I only read original versions.
I third that! :) It's been a few years since I read translated books and I can't say I miss it one bit.
Yeah, I think it's part of the reason the book sales were poor and the discontinuation of the series in Spain. Unfortunately between this and the bad treatment of spanish publishers splitting books in two or overpricing them the situation in Spain for Fantasy/Scifi readers is getting worse if you don't speak english.
They changed the three titles accordingly: El príncipe del mal, el rey del mal y el emperador del mal. I read the first one in spanish, and since the other two weren't available in chilean libraries, I bought the english ebook and forgot about the poor translations from then on.
In french, it's something like "The Skinned Prince".
I think Prince of Thorns doesn't sound as epic in its direct translation in Spanish... if we were to translate it word by word it would be "El príncipe/infante de las espinas." And the direct translation of "The Broken Empire" would be "El imperio roto." Translation is an art form, not a precise science and you have to take into account the cultural context attached to certain words or symbols. Thorns are a symbol strongly attached to Christianity in the Hispanic world, as in "a crown of thorns" worn by Christ, especially when attached to a royal title. Since Jorg's character is exactly the opposite to Christ, I see why the translator did not go for that one. That being said, "Príncipe del mal" is just lazy... he could have gone with so many other things. I don't find Jorg "evil" more "ruthless" and "callow." Also, there will always be things lost in translation.
back to top
date
newest »
newest »
I second that! It's much the same with german translations of Robin Hobb's books; they just don't make any sense. Ridiculous, really, and the reason I only read original versions.
I third that! :) It's been a few years since I read translated books and I can't say I miss it one bit.
Yeah, I think it's part of the reason the book sales were poor and the discontinuation of the series in Spain. Unfortunately between this and the bad treatment of spanish publishers splitting books in two or overpricing them the situation in Spain for Fantasy/Scifi readers is getting worse if you don't speak english.
They changed the three titles accordingly: El príncipe del mal, el rey del mal y el emperador del mal. I read the first one in spanish, and since the other two weren't available in chilean libraries, I bought the english ebook and forgot about the poor translations from then on.
In french, it's something like "The Skinned Prince".
I think Prince of Thorns doesn't sound as epic in its direct translation in Spanish... if we were to translate it word by word it would be "El príncipe/infante de las espinas." And the direct translation of "The Broken Empire" would be "El imperio roto." Translation is an art form, not a precise science and you have to take into account the cultural context attached to certain words or symbols. Thorns are a symbol strongly attached to Christianity in the Hispanic world, as in "a crown of thorns" worn by Christ, especially when attached to a royal title. Since Jorg's character is exactly the opposite to Christ, I see why the translator did not go for that one. That being said, "Príncipe del mal" is just lazy... he could have gone with so many other things. I don't find Jorg "evil" more "ruthless" and "callow." Also, there will always be things lost in translation.
Michael J. Sullivan's "The Crown Conspiracy", too, would translate back to "The throne of Melengar", and "Wintertide" is "The festival of Aquesta".
Sometimes titles are even the polar opposite of the original.
As a reader of the originals, it always pisses me off to see this arbitrary, nonsensical changes. They do not help to make the work memorable, only generic. They make me worry that the translation is poor and taking too many liberties, which will result in a worse experience for people who I recommend said books to.
As far as I am concerned, translations should be as close to the original as possible while still being coherent in the target language. Arbitrary localization efforts are more often than not wasted and missing the point.
This is one of the big few reasons why I have moved on from buying german books altogether and simply buy the english originals. Not only do I get a better product, as it was intended, but it is also out right away, in a standardized format, and often cheaper than translated copies.