Vicky’s Comments (group member since Nov 12, 2021)

Vicky’s comments from the Language Learners and Polyglots group.

Many thanks, Berengaria, for organising this group! My own contribution has been minimal but it's been really nice to know that the group existed and read some of the posts from time to time! Happy new year to you and all the group members and may you long continue with your language adventures!🤗❤

Iamthesword wrote: "The difficult thing is that the French title can be read in two way: Paul described the first way perfectly in message 7. But there is also a more violent meaning hidden there. It can also be trans..."

Great point, I agree!

Also good, Paul, thanks! It even occurred to me "TO HELL WITH EDDY B."!

Berengaria, Paul, thank you both for replying!

Berengaria: glad you agree that the English title is not altogether successful. Here's some context: Eddy is a gay teenager growing up in an extremely poor and conservative French town. His father is sexist, racist and votes for the FN. Despite his poor background, Eddy manages to get admitted to the Ecole Normale Superieure. This book is his autobiography. It became famous in France bc it portrayed in vivid detail the abject poverty some families experience.

When he leaves his home town, Eddy changes his name as if to symbolically sever ties with his past. "Being done with Eddy B." sounds much better to me than the official English title. Paul's suggestion also sounds good. I'm wondering whether the poorly-chosen title played a role in the book's relative lack of success in the English-speaking world...

Dear Francophone speakers, how would you translate the title of Édouard Louis' book (born Eddy Bellegueule) "En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule"? The English translator has rendered "The End of Eddy". I find this translation unsatisfactory for two reasons: first, because "The End" suggests a completed action. This, in my view, does not capture the tenor of the original, which, if I'm right, denotes process. The second reason is that the English title lacks interest and intrigue. There is some alliteration there (which the English love) but otherwise I find it stale and static. Any thoughts?

Sportyrod wrote: "Great aim and selection. I’m glad you enjoyed it."

Thanks, Sportyrod! I can see you're reading in Swedish and Bahasa Indonesia! I'm super-awed!

Hi all,

A new aim for myself: Calligraphy Lesson: The Collected Stories by Mikhail Shishkin. Completed short story Клякса Набокова also available online. Review here.

Hi Berengaria and everyone else! For my challenge I've decided on the following:

--Russian: Mayakovski, Poems Владимир Маяковский. Стихи и поэмы
--German: for this challenge I plan to plough through the Erich Salomon archive of letters, etc. on the Berlinische Gallerie website. This follows on from an earlier project focused on his photographic work.

Good luck to everyone here!

I look forward to it but not without some trepidation!

Hi Berengaria and thanks for the invite! I wouldn't have considered it, but on second thoughts, why not? I'm going to try and read a book in German and a book in Russian (although they may be children's books or easy readers...). And, who knows, I may even try to write the review in the book's language (with a little help from Google translate... he he...). So, yes, an excellent idea, and thanks for suggesting it!☺☺