A Dream of Red Mansions II
Sep. 21st, 2006 06:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranSame novel, but a different translation and abridgement (this time by Huang Xinqu).
This time it's an example of how not to do omni. Huang Xinqu has made a different set of choices from Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang in terms of what to leave in and out and, in general, he's included more plot and left out more character. Events happen at a faster pace, but the resulting read seems less exciting. His version reads a bit like an outline of the larger novel and the deft touch with control of viewpoint is missing. Whereas Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang choose incidents that introduce the main characters at a distance first, Huang Xinqu tends to dive in and show the key characters from the inside faster. The result is a good deal less compelling and the characters appear a lot blander. It's interesting that the latter approach seems the most intuitive but turns out to be the least effective.
On the plus side, this version comes with a much-needed chart of the key characters and their relationships, but, perversely, it doesn't include all the characters. Huang Xinqu has also decided to use English translations for more of the names, which makes the characters easier to keep track of, but also loses a lot of the original resonance. It's hard to take characters named "Aroma" and "Hairpin" seriously and some of the puns and hidden meanings of the Chinese names are lost. (This probably wouldn't matter for readers who don't have an interest in the Chinese language - this is, after all, an abridgement.) On the other hand, he does use pinyin rather than Wade-Giles transliteration, which is rather more useful these days.
It's also interesting the way Hsien-yi and Gladys leave certain terms untranslated. Kang for example, a kind of low couch bed, appears throughout their version without any explanation and it doesn't need one - the reader can deduce its attributes and function just from the way the characters interacct with it. Huang Xinqu, on the other hand, speaks directly to a western reader, with things like "in accordance with Chinese customs" and translates just about every term, even when the English term doesn't quite convey the same image.
This time it's an example of how not to do omni. Huang Xinqu has made a different set of choices from Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang in terms of what to leave in and out and, in general, he's included more plot and left out more character. Events happen at a faster pace, but the resulting read seems less exciting. His version reads a bit like an outline of the larger novel and the deft touch with control of viewpoint is missing. Whereas Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang choose incidents that introduce the main characters at a distance first, Huang Xinqu tends to dive in and show the key characters from the inside faster. The result is a good deal less compelling and the characters appear a lot blander. It's interesting that the latter approach seems the most intuitive but turns out to be the least effective.
On the plus side, this version comes with a much-needed chart of the key characters and their relationships, but, perversely, it doesn't include all the characters. Huang Xinqu has also decided to use English translations for more of the names, which makes the characters easier to keep track of, but also loses a lot of the original resonance. It's hard to take characters named "Aroma" and "Hairpin" seriously and some of the puns and hidden meanings of the Chinese names are lost. (This probably wouldn't matter for readers who don't have an interest in the Chinese language - this is, after all, an abridgement.) On the other hand, he does use pinyin rather than Wade-Giles transliteration, which is rather more useful these days.
It's also interesting the way Hsien-yi and Gladys leave certain terms untranslated. Kang for example, a kind of low couch bed, appears throughout their version without any explanation and it doesn't need one - the reader can deduce its attributes and function just from the way the characters interacct with it. Huang Xinqu, on the other hand, speaks directly to a western reader, with things like "in accordance with Chinese customs" and translates just about every term, even when the English term doesn't quite convey the same image.
