Goodreads Ireland discussion
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What Are You Reading
message 1101:
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Barbara
(new)
Feb 02, 2014 07:46AM
Allan - I am intrigued by the Karl Ove Knausgaard after reading the Lethem article.
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Are there particular Spanish to English translators you think are good Barbara?
There are certain words that I don't think need to be translated...small terms (like those Barbara mentions) that are better left as is and add to the book's flavor. I remember there being some of that with Harry Potter..references they changed in the U.S. editions.
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I recently finished and gave 5 stars to Seamus Heaney's version of Antigone, The Burial at Thebes.
I haven't paid enough attention to the names of translators and probably should. My GR friend Noel who reads in Spanish prefers to read Isabel Allende in the original Spanish because the English translation loses so much of the flavor of Chilean Spanish. She spent much of her childhood in Chile, and of course the original language is so much a part of the actual writing. Based on her comments, I bought La Isla Bajo el Mar. I have read the English but not yet the Spanish. A number of immigrant authors, unlike Allende, do not write in their native languages, but English - Julia Alvarez, Junot Dias, and Edwidge Danticat. They all spent most of their childhood in the US so literacy in English is more comfortable.
There is a lot of British/Irish English that I forget is unfamiliar to Americans. I am reminded of that here on GR Ireland. When writing in this group, I am sometimes tempted to shift to the Irish way of saying something, but stick with American English. Just like I'd like to use the adjective "wicked" a lot more but reserve if for purely Bostonian references. (Translation of wicked = awesome, brilliant (Irish English).
Yep wicked is definitely more of a British word than irish, 'that's wicked, innit'.
@Sarah, my newspaper's book section today had recommendations for translated books. From the French, "The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles" by Katherine Pancol and a collection of short stories "The Conductor and Other Tales" by Jean Ferry. There was also one from a Cuban writer, Leonard Padura, called "The Man Who Loved Dogs" about the exile of Leon Trotsky.
I don't think I've ever looked at the translator of any works that I've read, but reading this reminded me of the Jo Nesbo event I was at last year, where Nesbo said that the work they do is critical, the author having to rely on them for so much. His obviously does a good job, judging by sales! Barbara, the Knausgaard books seem to be favourites with authors-as I said in the nominations thread, Zadie Smith has likened the series to crack cocaine, she is craving the next volume so much. I'm looking forward to reading it myself.
Sara, you'll be able to savour Fortress over a longer period if you're reading other things. I hope you enjoy the Neville novel-I was at its official launch at No Alibis in Belfast, when Neville refused even to read from the book-he's an incredibly humble person.
Seraphina wrote: "Yep wicked is definitely more of a British word than irish, 'that's wicked, innit'."Good to know Seraphina. May be where the Bostonians got it or v.v.
Yes, JL - awesome is very dated.
I have read one Leonard Padura and have 4 more of his mysteries on my shelves but not the one Susan mentioned.
Sara - as I read Ratlines in Nov. and then left it with a friend in California, I got it from the library. But instead of rereading it, I am reading another Stuart Neville.
Allan - not to be sectarian, but book club members may ask - is Neville of the Protestant persuasion(adapting Joyce's terminology from The Dead)? Just basing it on his name...never having heard of St. Stuart (I am chuckling) but then again the House of Stewart in Scotland which became Stuart was made up of Catholics - correct? I am terrible at figuring out the British royalty and all that.
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We all adore Allan don't we? First of all, it was Declan who says Allan is always right and now we call him our expert on names. We must be so good for his ego. I wonder if the kids in his class like him as much as we do? I bet they do.
Barbara / Sara-I honestly have no idea what 'persuasion' Neville is of, but you're probably right when saying his name suggests that he was born into the Protestant tradition. It'll be interesting to see whether anyone does bring this up at your meeting, as the question has never occurred to me before!Susan, lol again-if there's any group that would ever think that I'm always right, it'd be the kids in my class. I suppose it's ok to be deluded at age 11! :)
My son is 10 and I always find it amusing that he takes everything his teacher tells him as gospel lol. I could tell him the pronunciation of some Irish words but unless his teacher says it it's not right. She can do no wrong as I'm sure is the same with you Alan ;)Neville is a French name so he could be of either religion. Not that it matters.
Allan - I think I have mentioned before that there are too many Irish Americans don't think of Northern Ireland as Ireland, and expect everyone to be Catholic with names like Sean and Sinead. Actually, I am exaggerating slightly and I think folks are becoming a bit more broad minded. So Sara and I can say, if anyone asks about Stuart Neville, that we don't actually know. I only recently learned that Bobby Sands came from a religiously mixed family. Seraphina - as a teacher and now university professor, I make my share of mistakes and am usually grateful when corrected. Because I teach using my 4th language (American Sign Language), I am frequently corrected by students. I make extra effort to remember those corrections.
I'm very thankful that he has had some great teachers so far. Touch wood. Mistakes are something I don't take too seriously cause everyone is fallible. Myself included.
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I hope you both enjoy the reading, Sara-I've never been to one of his, but I've seen him interviewed on tv and he's always very entertaining! :)
Enjoy the reading, Sara. He usually gives a good show. Let us know how you found it. :)
That sounds like a lot of fun, Sara. Hope you and Barbara enjoy the reading.
@ Gerry - The Van was also a brilliant book and film, also The World According to Garp brilliant cast.Kate
Gerry wrote: "I'm not sure if this has ever been discussed on here but Sara mentioning the Commitments has made me think of it... has anyone ever enjoyed a film version more than they have the book of the same f..."Yes agreed. The Commitments really came to life on the screen:
I have noted a few others over the years:
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Silence of the Lambs
No Country for Old Men
Bladerunner
Jackie Brown
Jaws
Fight Club
One Flew over the Cuckoos nest
Stephen King has a lot of books that didn't translate well, but the ones that did were fantastic:
The Shining
Shawshank Redemption
Carrie
Misery
Stand by me
I noted with interest that in Irvine Welsh's prequel to Trainspotting, Skagboys, he went to great pains to mention their physical descriptions. It was clearly a prequel to the book, not the movie.
One of the books Allan really likes, The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin is on sale today at Amazon for Kindle $1.99. I just downloaded it. It appears to be a short book-209 pages.
Good spot, Susan! Yup, that's Vlautin's first book, the one that's recently been made into a movie. It is a short read, and one I hope you enjoy! :)
I was so excited when I saw it on the sale list.
I suppose they're maybe looking to drum up interest in his new novel. I hope it works! :)
Gerry wrote: "I'm not sure if this has ever been discussed on here but Sara mentioning the Commitments has made me think of it... has anyone ever enjoyed a film version more than they have the book of the same f..."Thanks, Gerry, now I understand why the film seemed so much better. Felt almost the same about The Snapper.
On a different tack, have just finished an older title, Fear Of Flying
.Much ado about nothing. By the time she'd gotten it published the sexual revolution and Haight Ashbury culture made her adventures look very tame. And arguably, all that generation and the next one got for their troubles (exertions) was STDs. One of the reviews has more insight than her novel --- which is more about name dropping and mentioning New York addresses than anything else. Meow.
I never read the book, Gerry, but the movie was electric, thanks to the band and the blues classics.
I'll think more about enjoying a book more than the movie. My initial brainstorm isn't coming up with any.
I'll think more about enjoying a book more than the movie. My initial brainstorm isn't coming up with any.
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Susan wrote: "One of the books Allan really likes, The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin is on sale today at Amazon for Kindle $1.99. I just downloaded it. It appears to be a short book-2..."My copy of The Motel just arrived from Paperback Swap - I didn't see it on Amazon for sale.
Roddy Doyle was absolutely great! One of the best author talks I've been to in a while. I'd highly recommend seeing him in person. Often my least favorite parts of author appearances are the questions because they seem to be very much the same ones, over and over. There were a few questions that demonstrated American stereotypes about Irish writing and writers. One man commented that the pub culture contributed to a supportive atmosphere where writers were able to be more productive and had the change in that culture and Ireland impacted that. Doyle shot down the whole notion saying the pub culture simply contributed to the alcoholism and early deaths of some of the writers we see on tea towels, giving Brendon Behan as one example. Another question from someone I know was a variant on this person's perennial question - why is Irish literature so depressing. Last night she phrased differently - why do Irish novels never have any sense of hope (hopefulness) at their conclusions. Doyle also shot this one down giving his own novels as examples. The Snapper being one - where the teenage daughter gets pregnant and at the end keeps the baby and the whole family supports her. Perhaps this woman hasn't read any of Doyle's novels. Being a Dubliner, one could expect responses that were sharper, but he did temper them, instead saying in his experience he had never seen A, B or C. I am not even entirely sure that the questioners realized the he had disagreed with them and their characterizations of Irish writing.
He also mentioned he volunteers with immigrant teens in Dublin - Polish mostly but also Eastern European and African. He asserted that they are Irish. They were born in Ireland. I recall last trip to Dublin I met a barman who spoke with a strong Dublin accent who was Polish!
The US version of The Committments DVD is $65!! on Amazon. Time to buy a multi-region DVD player.
Your experience of Doyle's appearance sounds typical of what I've seen of him being interviewed on tv, Barbara. There was a programme from the Hay Literary Festival on a couple of years ago with him being interviewed by Glenn Patterson, and he was extremely enjoyable to listen to. Having only read three or four of his books, I can't really comment on his work, but I'll definitely go to see him in the flesh if he comes up here to promote his novel.
The Patterson interview of Doyle must have been fascinating and probably a real hoot (funny).Several years back when there was a 4 month long celebration of Northern Ireland here in Washington DC. There was a wonderful evening where Chris Agee, an American who has lived in Belfast for around 20 years, and is editor of the Irish Pages, interviewed Glenn Patterson and Nick Laird, about being Northern Irish writers. Laird commented that he is often referred to as a British writer, but an Irish poet.
@Barbara. I'm glad you liked Doyle. He's always very good and he does have quite a good way of dealing with awkward questions and their askers.
I remember at a talk I attended someone asked him about comparisons that were being made about his Barrytown trilogy and Brendan O'Carroll's Agnes Browne trilogy, and what he thought of O'Carroll's penchant for happy endings. I'm surprised he didn't mentioned that as he defended O'Carroll saying that he thought he genuinely believed in happy endings and that his books made for enjoyable reading.
I remember at a talk I attended someone asked him about comparisons that were being made about his Barrytown trilogy and Brendan O'Carroll's Agnes Browne trilogy, and what he thought of O'Carroll's penchant for happy endings. I'm surprised he didn't mentioned that as he defended O'Carroll saying that he thought he genuinely believed in happy endings and that his books made for enjoyable reading.
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Every time I come to Goodreads Ireland and see the title of this thread, it always reminds me of the Bill Hicks story "What are you reading FOR?"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwkdGr...
Half way through the cowboy and the Cossack and I'm really enjoying it. Didn't know what to expect from it because I don't generally read westerns but it's a real feel good book so far.
@Sara. I saved that link to my bookmarks bar. I have so many things to watch that I keep losing track, but doyle is always worth a watch.
@John. Thanks for that. That last time I watched any Bill Hicks I was still at school. It's a long time ago, but I really enjoyed the reminder.
@Seraphina. I have that added to my to-read list. Everyone seems to love that book. I'm looking forward to starting it.
@John. Thanks for that. That last time I watched any Bill Hicks I was still at school. It's a long time ago, but I really enjoyed the reminder.
@Seraphina. I have that added to my to-read list. Everyone seems to love that book. I'm looking forward to starting it.
John - have no idea who Bill Hicks is but that gave me a chuckle.I've started The Guts by Roddy Doyle - a really good read so far.
I watched the Roddy Doyle talk at P&P. I really enjoyed it, I have to say.
I'm glad you're enjoying it, Barbara. I bought it with my xmas tokens, and I'm dying to get started with it.
I'm glad you're enjoying it, Barbara. I bought it with my xmas tokens, and I'm dying to get started with it.
Does anyone else ever find that the page numbers in books in good reads isn't accurate? The book I'm currently reading is 354 pages but goodreads has it down as 300.. Strange
It's all down to the edition you're reading. Seraphina. Quite often the US version will have a different page total to the UK version, due to differences in formatting / page size etc. Even within the same country, paperback editions of the same book will often have different page totals to hardback editions. As long as the content is the same, I'll always be happy enough! :)
Ok,not that effects what I'm reading. Was just curious about the differences
You can get find you own edition by entering the ISBN into the search bar, Seraphina. I always add the edition I'm reading. A couple of times I had to add it myself to the GR library.
Susan wrote: "One of the books Allan really likes, The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin is on sale today at Amazon for Kindle $1.99. I just downloaded it. It appears to be a short book-2..."Just back from a Willy Vlautin reading in San Francisco. He read from his new novel The Free and played a few songs. A very mellow affair at Green Apple Books...
I was at his event in Belfast, Eddie. I hope that this book sees his profile as a writer raising a little-he deserves the recognition!
I came across a book at the bookstore a few days ago.The cover looked like it should non fiction but it wasn't.The novel
It looked interesting so I looked it up on goodreads and it has a rating of 1 star but it is only 1 review...so I was wondering if anyone has read it or any thing by this author?(Dermot McEvoy)
As Jamielynn says, it's very new, Colleen, and suffering from a lack of reviews as a result.
I did find this though:
"Anyone who's ever doubted the truth of William Faulkner's famous assertion that "the past is never dead--it's not even past" should read Dermot McEvoy's "The 13th Apostle". McEvoy gives us the story of the Irish War for Independence in all its vivid, intimate, squalid, intricate, heroic, and tragic immediacy. The dust and cobwebs are dispelled. Sepia turns technicolor. In McEvoy's hands, the past lives, breathes and walks among us. This is historical fiction of a rare and wonderful sort."--Peter Quinn, author of "Banished Children of Eve" on "The 13th Apostle"""The 13th Apostle" is a compelling blow-by-blow account of the efforts Michael Collins led to bring independence to Ireland." --"Publishers Weekly"
I did find this though:
"Anyone who's ever doubted the truth of William Faulkner's famous assertion that "the past is never dead--it's not even past" should read Dermot McEvoy's "The 13th Apostle". McEvoy gives us the story of the Irish War for Independence in all its vivid, intimate, squalid, intricate, heroic, and tragic immediacy. The dust and cobwebs are dispelled. Sepia turns technicolor. In McEvoy's hands, the past lives, breathes and walks among us. This is historical fiction of a rare and wonderful sort."--Peter Quinn, author of "Banished Children of Eve" on "The 13th Apostle"""The 13th Apostle" is a compelling blow-by-blow account of the efforts Michael Collins led to bring independence to Ireland." --"Publishers Weekly"
Allan wrote: "I was at his event in Belfast, Eddie. I hope that this book sees his profile as a writer raising a little-he deserves the recognition!"Allan, I hope so too. He works very hard, doing at least ten drafts of a book before showing it to anyone, even his editor! I really like his style. We've become mates over the last few years after he came across a book of mine in Ireland.
Declan wrote: "As Jamielynn says, it's very new, Colleen, and suffering from a lack of reviews as a result.I did find this though:
"Anyone who's ever doubted the truth of William Faulkner's famous assertion th..."
I'd take Peter Quinn's word for it...
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