Georgia
asked:
Reading the English version... I am curious as to how this book has been translated. How much has been changed in the translation from the German? For example, in the original; Is Lottie English? Or is she still German Is the poem that is her dream door's protection still a German poem? Is it still set in London?
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Dream a Little Dream,
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Senny
I noticed that some things have been "censored" in the English version, like when Liv reads Secrecy's blog for the first time, the bit where she says "She revealed clandestine relationships and knew who was splitting up from whom and why. Her articles were pitiless and malicious. And admittedly, also very entertaining." also had a "she outed gay schoolmates before they could do it themselves".
I don't know why it was censored, and if there are other similar censorships, but there's that. I personally think that to judge a book you need to read the whole book, and form your own opinion based on the whole thing, negative and positive stuff all together.
edit: Ok, apparently, in the Tittle Tattle blog entries they totally censored the bits where a certain Alex Pritchard is called bulldozer because she's fat and gets made fun of, in more than one blog post. I'm comparing the english and italian version of this book and the english version is missing the most "controversial" bits, let's call them that. I dunno, this feels like unnecessary censorship to me...
I don't know why it was censored, and if there are other similar censorships, but there's that. I personally think that to judge a book you need to read the whole book, and form your own opinion based on the whole thing, negative and positive stuff all together.
edit: Ok, apparently, in the Tittle Tattle blog entries they totally censored the bits where a certain Alex Pritchard is called bulldozer because she's fat and gets made fun of, in more than one blog post. I'm comparing the english and italian version of this book and the english version is missing the most "controversial" bits, let's call them that. I dunno, this feels like unnecessary censorship to me...
Katie
Well, when translating books they don't generally change things like this. The characters always live in the same places and have the same origin. Just like the German version of Harry Potter is still set in Britain and Harry and the Dursleys still live in Surrey. Lottie is obviously still German (Bavarian, to be precise) and therefore, the poem is in German, too. And Liv and her family obviously still live in England, though her father is originally German, which is why their last name is Silber and not Silver. You see, when translating a book the translators are really only... well, translating. They're not supposed to change the story or even write a completely new one. Depending on the book they might change people's or places' names (e.g. A Song of Ice and Fire does that a lot and it even happens in Harry Potter every once in a while) but they would never change the setting or anything like that.
No, David! No!
I read both versions. I think with ANY book that has been translated, it is likely better in the original language (and I believe that about this one for sure). The idioms and jokes just work better in the original authors language. Some of them are translated well, others not as well.
The story is the same, and characters are same. There is some difference when there are specific words (like keeping the name Silber in the German, but changing it to Silver in the English).
The story is the same, and characters are same. There is some difference when there are specific words (like keeping the name Silber in the German, but changing it to Silver in the English).
Kay J
Where can I find the English version?
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