The state of the english translations.

[Vincentdante]

The state of the english translations.

Hey guys so since December I have been reading through Sapkowski's books when I was able to get my hands on them. I have bought and read the Last Wish, I have read the fan translation for Sword of Destiny and I have bought and nearly finished Blood of Elves with Time of Contempt next to it already waiting for me.

I have really enjoyed them all so far and am very engrossed into the world. I also lurk these forums, occasionally posting in threads if you have seen me around? When I go into a thread about the books though I see a common criticism come up, the english translations are garbage. I can understand the possibility that it was translated by an amateur but I'm not fully understanding the disdain?

I only speak English so I have no chance to reference the original polish version, or the other European languages that get praise. So I have wanted to ask for a while now really, what's wrong with them? Simply, like I said I really like them but I always have this nagging sensation since I started reading those threads that I'm buying into something substandard. I guess an analogy would be 'I feel like someone who really likes Dragon Age 2 and wonders why everyone else hates it' (Disclaimer: I don't much care for Dragon Age 2 />).

 

[BatJak94]

I just started reading the Last Wish for the first time myself and I'm almost halfway through. I'm not sure how the dialog could possibly be any better. I love it when Geralt acts like a smart a** in conversation. Very rarely does a book ever make me lol for real. I too have the fan translation of Sword of Destiny on my PC and at the ready when I'm done with the Last Wish. I hate having to read it like that when I am more than willing to dish out the cash for it. That book really needs a true english book release because of how vital I've heard that it is to Blood Elves in having it make sense. Gonna seem weird having that blank spot when I eventually have the whole series on my shelf.

 

[Geralt_and_Ciri]

I have the Spanish version, because Spanish is my native language, and the trasladation is really but really good, very profesional, even people like Milva have his own way of say things, people like Regis got a high level of words,the details and the high variations of words for describe places, etc

 

[Garrison72]

Unless one is bilingual, it's hard to get technical with this. I put it this way: I've read the official version of Last Wish and Blood of Elves, and I came away thinking CDPR was trumping Sapkowski in every area. Then I read the fan translation of Sword of Destiny, and I realized Sapkowski was truly leading the show here. I saw nuance in the dialog and his careful plotting, his humor came across much better. I began to see how CDPR built on what this guy created. The English translations aren't crap, but they aren't good.

 

[Vincentdante]

I just started reading the Last Wish for the first time myself and I'm almost halfway through. I'm not sure how the dialog could possibly be any better. I love it when Geralt acts like a smart a** in conversation. Very rarely does a book ever make me lol for real. I too have the fan translation of Sword of Destiny on my PC and at the ready when I'm done with the Last Wish. I hate having to read it like that when I am more than willing to dish out the cash for it. That book really needs a true english book release because of how vital I've heard that it is to Blood Elves in having it make sense. Gonna seem weird having that blank spot when I eventually have the whole series on my shelf.

Yes the fact that Sword of Destiny has not and may not get a translation really bugs me. The empty spot on my shelf as you said, the fact that it introduces some characters that have returned in Blood of Elves and I must admit I am not the biggest fan of reading PDFs for long periods of time.

Unless one is bilingual, it's hard to get technical with this. I put it this way: I've read the official version of Last Wish and Blood of Elves, and I came away thinking CDPR was trumping Sapkowski in every area. Then I read the fan translation of Sword of Destiny, and I realized Sapkowski was truly leading the show here. I saw nuance in the dialog and his careful plotting, his humor came across much better. I began to see how CDPR built on what this guy created. The English translations aren't crap, but they aren't good.

Yes I can understand how this is a difficult question to answer. I must admit I didn't get much more out of the fan translation for Sword of Destiny than I did the official releases however. But that might be more my hate for reading from my computer screen more than anything.

 

[volsung]

The official English translations are dry and uninspired, without the strong characterization and subtle humor. All characters sound the same, flow is broken by words and phrases that just seem forced or out of place, etc. You can tell they are translations, and the sporadic hints of creativity seem buried underneath a heap of bland wording.

I had to force myself to finish Blood of Elves, and my wife simply didn't bother and put it down. The Last Wish is lot more readable but not memorable by any means. The excerpts I've read from Times of Contempt are dreadful.

I recently started rereading in Spanish and the difference is unbelievable. We're talking about an excellent piece of literature that masterfully plays around with words, well worth your time. Can't say the same about the English versions, which sound (was it Guy N'wah who said this?) like school essays. As I understand the Spanish translations are (among) the best there are. The translator is an experienced historian who works closely with the author.

 

[Vincentdante]

The official English translations are dry and uninspired, without the strong characterization and subtle humor. All characters sound the same, flow is broken by words and phrases that just seem forced or out of place, etc. You can tell they are translations, and the sporadic hints of creativity seem buried underneath a heap of bland wording.

I had to force myself to finish Blood of Elves, and my wife simply didn't bother and put it down. The Last Wish is lot more readable but not memorable by any means. The excerpts I've read from Times of Contempt are dreadful.

I recently started rereading in Spanish and the difference is unbelievable. We're talking about an excellent piece of literature that masterfully plays around with words, well worth your time. Can't say the same for the English versions. As I understand the Spanish translations are (among) the best. The translator is an experienced historian who works closely with the author.

Like someone (Guy N'wah?) said the English versions sound like school essays.

Makes me wish I understood Spanish so I could try them out. I can't say that I'm bored by the English translations but maybe I am a simple creature to keep entertained. But are the fan translations really so much better? If so I might just pay to have Sword of Destiny printed out to give it another look because I must admit I didn't catch anything I thought made it "better" than the Last Wish.

 

[volsung]

Haven't read the community translations, but after comparing a few paragraphs between the official and the community versions of Times of Contempt I'd rather read the latter.

If you like the English translations then that's fine. Enjoy them. I am a picky reader and I like a bunch of ancient and classic literature, and the modern fiction I read is mostly from very gifted writers. This means that, sadly, I can't just read and enjoy any book even if the premise is fun, since I'm used to a certain level of writing.

It's like being used to good quality stout. You don't want to get anywhere near Bud Light.

 

[BatJak94]

Makes me wish I understood Spanish so I could try them out. I can't say that I'm bored by the English translations but maybe I am a simple creature to keep entertained />. But are the fan translations really so much better? If so I might just pay to have Sword of Destiny printed out to give it another look because I must admit I didn't catch anything I thought made it "better" than the Last Wish.

I must admit I'm not bored either. So far the english translation has done a good enough job to keep me interested and entertained. I find a lot of the dialog very entertaining. As long as this holds up through the rest of the series I'll be happy. Guess I'm a simple creature as well

I thought about printing SoD but it wouldn't feel right trying to fumble through a sloppy mess of paper. I could have the works done on it. Printed on pages front and back and put inside a binder and print of cover page I just dont want to waste paper and ink. I hope one day somebody out there decides to make an offical english translation happen.

I normally paint an image in my head myself, so even when adjectives are vague I can throw in my own imagination on the scene

 

[Vincentdante]

Haven't read the community translations, but after comparing a few paragraphs between the official and the community versions of Times of Contempt I'd rather read the latter.

If you like the English translations then that's fine. Enjoy them. I am a picky reader and I like a bunch of ancient and classic literature, and the modern fiction I read is mostly from very gifted writers. This means that, sadly, I can't just read and enjoy any book even if the premise is fun, since I'm used to a certain level of writing.

It's like being used to good quality stout. You don't want to get anywhere near Bud Light.

Ah that analogy helps to make a lot more sense of this for me, thanks!

Yeah my hobby is primarily video games. This is how I got into the Witcher universe. I read the occasional book I am interested in such as the first two Dragon Age books (before I abandoned that series) but it has never expanded into classical literature or anything anyone has ever called "good" so maybe I feel handicapped in that regard.

Thanks for helping me make sense of it.

 

[Kassandrian]

I am fluent in Czech, English and German (as well as French, but that does not come into play here).

I started reading the Witcher in German, the short stories. In hindsight, the translation is ok, but far from good at any level. Then came the fan translations in English, which showed me that the Characters are much more diverse in their own way.
Then came my relization, that i should try the Czech alternative. Polish is much closer to Czech, and the Witcher books are all translated - generally Czech translators do a great job, at least where Fantasy is concerned.
And the Czech translation actually is really good - the way Sapkowski characterizes is based on a lot of nuances concerning Dialogue, small hints of the persons approaches, etc instead of simply bluntly putting it on the table. So the books are not that easy to translate, I guess

Currently I am highly enjoying reading the Books once more, even if it feels as if I was reading a completely new book

 

[addar]

like i said once sapkowski is master of polish language , he plays with words, plays a lot , so many styles, archaisms, reference to our culture and etc its very hard to translate it with all flavours... i started read eng and it was..correct, thats it, no superb feelinns, dry and blunt

 

[blackgriffin]

what it the state of The Season of Storms book translation is it close to being done?

 

[Vincentdante]

In a way I'm envious of everyone because I'm missing out on this. But short of learning a new language for these books alone there isn't a lot I can do to change it unfortunately. But the english releases are still good enough for me.

 

[addar]

now when im thinking about it i would be so happy if Borys Pugacz Muraszkiewicz start translating sapkowski's books into eng, he did so great work in translating witcher game from polish to english, he would be just perfect !

 

[volsung]

l don't know much about this Borys but I think they key to an excellent translation is first and foremost *native* fluency in the target language, of course on a literary level (writing technical documentation or individual paragraphs is not enough). Second, a deep, native-like understanding of the original language and its nuances, subtleties, references and historical and cultural context. And lastly a deep understanding of the text's context and direction. Preferably the translator should work together with the original author, or should have studied him/her and their motivations.

As you see it IS very difficult to properly translate art. The translator should also be an artist.

 

[GuyNwah]

Even a translator who meets all those qualifications may stumble, because yes, translation is that difficult.

There aren't many translators at all who can do Polish to English, and Danusia Stok is one of the best. She has the fluency and understanding; I just think she missed the tone of the Witcher stories she translated. What came out was too exact, too perfect, with diction that doesn't suit a storyteller and dialogue that doesn't suit the lower-class characters.

 

[Blothulfur]

I'd agree with what Guy N'wah said, that's the feeling I got in my latest read through of Last Wish, good but slightly stilted.

 

[Vincentdante]

I'm anxious to see how Time of Contempt holds up in comparison to the other releases at least. I heard they swapped translators for that book. Wonder what happened to Stok?

 

[GuyNwah]

I'm anxious to see how Time of Contempt holds up in comparison to the other releases at least. I heard they swapped translators for that book. Wonder what happened to Stok?

Don't know. She may have been too busy. She is also the translator for Marek Krajewski (Death in Breslau) and has several of his books due this year.