![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
larryhammerWhat I've recently finished since my last post:
The House Without a Key by Earl Derr Biggers -- not a bad mystery, with a nicely complicated mess of clues, though the resolution was one of the more banal permutations thereof. Satisfying regardless. Chan's fractured English evened out later in the book, but still remained inconsistant with himself and my experience. I'm not sure whether it's better or worse that his flagging as an anti-racist token also disappears in the second half. I may test the waters of the sequel. Someday.
1/2 Prince volume 4 by Yu Wo, having finally gotten back to it, and then volumes 5-6. It would be interesting (and possibly even constructive) to compare this series with Sword Art Online, as both deal with multiplayer fantasy RPGs and the nature of consciousness in, um, entirely different ways.
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikô volume 7 by Hitoshi Ashinano. I'd forgotten how startling the typhoon is -- part of it is that for several chapters, even less had been happening than usual and then WHAM. The wanderjahr this provokes will be good not just for Alpha but for the story.
Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaô volume 3 by Shôtarô Mizuki. A beach episode. The whole volume is a freakin' beach episode. I'm not sure whether I'm more annoyed at the author for pulling that off or me for finishing it.
Li Po and Tu Fu by Arthur Cooper, who's yet another translator who handles Li Bo better than Du Fu. I want more A.C. Grahams in the word, pls.
Not a book, but all the translations available online at http://chinese-poems.com/, being a selection of largely-Tang poems done by Mark Alexander (you have to dig to find the name -- he's even worse than I am about self-promotion). Surprisingly, he's at his best with Du Fu, which might explain why his book, which awaits me at the post office, is just those.
What I'm reading now:
1/2 Prince volume 7 by Wo Yu -- heading for what I assume will be an only apparent climactic confrontation, one that will send things spiraling in another direction. One more volume of main story after this.
Du Fu's Laments from the South by David R. McCraw, being translations and analyses of 115 lushi poems from the last decade of Du Fu's life. The preface claims that one reason Du Fu doesn't get the respect he deserves as one of the world's great poets is that he hasn't been effectively translated, and correctly admits that this book will not change that -- these renderings aim for compressed and end up crabbed, with recondite vocabulary and rebarbative punctuation. (Some frequently used words, like "alcedine," are in no dictionary at my disposal -- my best guess there is "kingfisherlike.") The explications, OTOH, are tasty and useful. Also, book designer? -- when your author uses extra space to indicate a mid-line pause, do not repeat not justify the lines. Srsly!
Song 29 of Poly-Olbion -- having gotten through the saintly catalog by brute force (and, heh, Drayton makes its in-universe audience find it as tedious as the reader does). Also, I finally got that patch of fenny goodness in Lincolnshire -- possibly I could have predicted that with better acquaintance with English geography. Derbyshire (consistently spelled Dar-) got rather short shrift, I'm afraid -- apparently there's nothing of interest in the whole county but The Peake. Am in the final stretch, heading for the Border (apparently without ballads).
Collected Haiku of Yosa Buson translated by W.S. Merwin and Takako Lento. This is the entirety of a collection published by his students a year after his death, 800-odd poems arranged by seasonal progression. Generally accurate, going by the romanized Japanese (old-fashioned haiku language is, heh, easier than archaic waka language), and Merwin is an old master at modern poetry, but I sometimes disagree with the emphasis of interpretations -- in particular, often when Buson describes one small thing then reveals the setting as a surprise, in English that last will be given first as scene-setting. Also, glosses incorporated into the text do pad things out when the form is that terse. With the caveat that I haven't finished spring and so less than a quarter of the way in, cautiously recommended.
The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder by Edgar Wallace, a collection of Golden Age mystery short stories. Clever, but the catch-phrase cum gimmick gets old quickly, and I have my doubts that it could work satisfyingly on a novel-sized situation without turning into more of a thriller.
All of which took the backseats once I acquired and opened the covers of Cold Fire, Spiritwalker volume 2, by Kate Elliott. Nom nom nom alt-hist fantasy with female POC protagonists NOM!. Am very amused at the nature of the binding placed on Cat and how it is used to further characterization in several directions at once.
What I might read next:
More Du Fu would be a good guess. As would the conclusion 1/2 Prince. When I finish Poly-Olbion, I'll need another long poem project, and am considering returning to either The Earthly Paradise or Orlando Furioso, both paused around 2/3 through.
The House Without a Key by Earl Derr Biggers -- not a bad mystery, with a nicely complicated mess of clues, though the resolution was one of the more banal permutations thereof. Satisfying regardless. Chan's fractured English evened out later in the book, but still remained inconsistant with himself and my experience. I'm not sure whether it's better or worse that his flagging as an anti-racist token also disappears in the second half. I may test the waters of the sequel. Someday.
1/2 Prince volume 4 by Yu Wo, having finally gotten back to it, and then volumes 5-6. It would be interesting (and possibly even constructive) to compare this series with Sword Art Online, as both deal with multiplayer fantasy RPGs and the nature of consciousness in, um, entirely different ways.
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikô volume 7 by Hitoshi Ashinano. I'd forgotten how startling the typhoon is -- part of it is that for several chapters, even less had been happening than usual and then WHAM. The wanderjahr this provokes will be good not just for Alpha but for the story.
Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaô volume 3 by Shôtarô Mizuki. A beach episode. The whole volume is a freakin' beach episode. I'm not sure whether I'm more annoyed at the author for pulling that off or me for finishing it.
Li Po and Tu Fu by Arthur Cooper, who's yet another translator who handles Li Bo better than Du Fu. I want more A.C. Grahams in the word, pls.
Not a book, but all the translations available online at http://chinese-poems.com/, being a selection of largely-Tang poems done by Mark Alexander (you have to dig to find the name -- he's even worse than I am about self-promotion). Surprisingly, he's at his best with Du Fu, which might explain why his book, which awaits me at the post office, is just those.
What I'm reading now:
1/2 Prince volume 7 by Wo Yu -- heading for what I assume will be an only apparent climactic confrontation, one that will send things spiraling in another direction. One more volume of main story after this.
Du Fu's Laments from the South by David R. McCraw, being translations and analyses of 115 lushi poems from the last decade of Du Fu's life. The preface claims that one reason Du Fu doesn't get the respect he deserves as one of the world's great poets is that he hasn't been effectively translated, and correctly admits that this book will not change that -- these renderings aim for compressed and end up crabbed, with recondite vocabulary and rebarbative punctuation. (Some frequently used words, like "alcedine," are in no dictionary at my disposal -- my best guess there is "kingfisherlike.") The explications, OTOH, are tasty and useful. Also, book designer? -- when your author uses extra space to indicate a mid-line pause, do not repeat not justify the lines. Srsly!
Song 29 of Poly-Olbion -- having gotten through the saintly catalog by brute force (and, heh, Drayton makes its in-universe audience find it as tedious as the reader does). Also, I finally got that patch of fenny goodness in Lincolnshire -- possibly I could have predicted that with better acquaintance with English geography. Derbyshire (consistently spelled Dar-) got rather short shrift, I'm afraid -- apparently there's nothing of interest in the whole county but The Peake. Am in the final stretch, heading for the Border (apparently without ballads).
Collected Haiku of Yosa Buson translated by W.S. Merwin and Takako Lento. This is the entirety of a collection published by his students a year after his death, 800-odd poems arranged by seasonal progression. Generally accurate, going by the romanized Japanese (old-fashioned haiku language is, heh, easier than archaic waka language), and Merwin is an old master at modern poetry, but I sometimes disagree with the emphasis of interpretations -- in particular, often when Buson describes one small thing then reveals the setting as a surprise, in English that last will be given first as scene-setting. Also, glosses incorporated into the text do pad things out when the form is that terse. With the caveat that I haven't finished spring and so less than a quarter of the way in, cautiously recommended.
The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder by Edgar Wallace, a collection of Golden Age mystery short stories. Clever, but the catch-phrase cum gimmick gets old quickly, and I have my doubts that it could work satisfyingly on a novel-sized situation without turning into more of a thriller.
All of which took the backseats once I acquired and opened the covers of Cold Fire, Spiritwalker volume 2, by Kate Elliott. Nom nom nom alt-hist fantasy with female POC protagonists NOM!. Am very amused at the nature of the binding placed on Cat and how it is used to further characterization in several directions at once.
What I might read next:
More Du Fu would be a good guess. As would the conclusion 1/2 Prince. When I finish Poly-Olbion, I'll need another long poem project, and am considering returning to either The Earthly Paradise or Orlando Furioso, both paused around 2/3 through.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 26 June 2013 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 26 June 2013 03:41 pm (UTC)ETA: And, indeed, the very next story ran smack into the trope. DNF it is.
---L.
no subject
Date: 27 June 2013 06:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 27 June 2013 02:34 pm (UTC)---L.
no subject
Date: 27 June 2013 07:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 27 June 2013 02:34 pm (UTC)---L.
no subject
Date: 28 June 2013 02:47 am (UTC)"Among the many Chinese color-terms crying for simple and effective rendering is the adjective TS'UI [...] 'vivid green-blue-purple-black', originally descriptive of the glossy iridescent plumage of the kingfisher [...]. 'Kingfisher-green' (-blue, -black, -brown) is an awkward polysyllabic way to translate TS'UI which may describe women's penciled eyebrows as well as foliage. With due regard to the fact that kingfishers in Chinese literature were probably both Halcyoninae and Alcedininae, is there any reason why we should not use the term ALCEDINE (from L. alcedo, 'kingfisher') to designate exactly what TS'UI connoted to the Chinese? ALCEDINE is a handsomely tailored word, sonorous and precise, yet broad enough to be safely applicable as a color-epithet to a variety of things."
To be fair, renderings like "her kingfisher-colored eyebrows," while not entirely devoid of charm and utility, are unlikely to convey much elegance or beauty to the uninitiated reader. On the other hand, sonorous as "alcedine" is, one possible reason why we should not use it is because no-one knows the Latin for "kingfisher" any more (except birdwatchers).
I wonder if all usages of "alcedine" can be traced back to Boodberg -- as in, it's a word that he invented, which people interested in Chinese encounter while reading translations and then use themselves in the mistaken belief that it has widespread currency.
I love Cooper's book, incidentally, it's one of the very first books about East Asian culture I ever read, but even now that I've read many more it still holds up okay. (The covers of my copy haven't, though.)
--Matt
no subject
Date: 2 July 2013 03:25 pm (UTC)And I am not yet convinced that alcedine is either legit or useful.
---L.