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landofnowhereJonathan Strange et Mr. Norrell, Susanna Clarke, translated into French by Isabelle Delord-Philippe. Finished with this! I'm not likely to read this French translation again (more likely to read the original to savor the English prose style), but it was An Experience. The dénouement to that book is really well-constructed. I'm glad Stephen Black gets to be awesome, but I also hope he gets to be happy?
The Award for Most Intriguing/Mystifying Translator's goes to a footnote to Childermass's speech where he talks about how in the North, John Uskglass is everywhere, and the little blue flowers found everywhere in the spring are called "John's Farthings". The translation leaves "John's Farthings" untranslated, and says "Petit pieces d'argents frappées par Jean sans Terre (1180-1210)."
So Jean sans Terre = John Lackland = King John of England (of course the French call him that!), who I hadn't thought of with respect to this book, but obviously should have, especially now that I've read Shakespeare's King John, which is all about the creepy raven omens. He would be a contemporary of John Uskglass (one of many, since Uskglass lived unnaturally long); I forget which English monarchs get mentioned in the footnotes, but not him. I can has Shakespeare's King John / JS&MN crossover fanfic?
But also, what's up with the translator thinking that "John's Farthings" is a specific reference to farthings minted by King John, and what's with the time period 1180-1210, which isn't John's reign? Googling for "John's Farthings" is just giving me the quote from JS&MN -- and searching for farthings minted by King John mainly gives me this link to The Irish Coinage of King John, which does have the correct time period, but it's still weird, because that website doesn't single out the farthings, and mentions that they mostly circulated in Irelnad.
So I'd love to know what the translator's source for the "John's Farthings" business is, or if she just made it up / confirmed it with the Irish coinage page.
The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan. Just started re-reading this, generally readable, will have more to say later.
The Award for Most Intriguing/Mystifying Translator's goes to a footnote to Childermass's speech where he talks about how in the North, John Uskglass is everywhere, and the little blue flowers found everywhere in the spring are called "John's Farthings". The translation leaves "John's Farthings" untranslated, and says "Petit pieces d'argents frappées par Jean sans Terre (1180-1210)."
So Jean sans Terre = John Lackland = King John of England (of course the French call him that!), who I hadn't thought of with respect to this book, but obviously should have, especially now that I've read Shakespeare's King John, which is all about the creepy raven omens. He would be a contemporary of John Uskglass (one of many, since Uskglass lived unnaturally long); I forget which English monarchs get mentioned in the footnotes, but not him. I can has Shakespeare's King John / JS&MN crossover fanfic?
But also, what's up with the translator thinking that "John's Farthings" is a specific reference to farthings minted by King John, and what's with the time period 1180-1210, which isn't John's reign? Googling for "John's Farthings" is just giving me the quote from JS&MN -- and searching for farthings minted by King John mainly gives me this link to The Irish Coinage of King John, which does have the correct time period, but it's still weird, because that website doesn't single out the farthings, and mentions that they mostly circulated in Irelnad.
So I'd love to know what the translator's source for the "John's Farthings" business is, or if she just made it up / confirmed it with the Irish coinage page.
The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan. Just started re-reading this, generally readable, will have more to say later.