(Untitled)

[helle_d]

I have Internet in my room! Life is good, though already my productivity has slid riiiight down. Currently translation a scene from the film La Haine, which is fun - How many times do I get to translate dialogue like this into idiomatic English

Comments

[frith_in_thorns]

Internet, woo!

[helle_d]

SO HAPPY.

(I have download ep1 of Eternal Law and it is mostly your fault. Haven't had time to watch more than the first 10mins yet, but I can see that I will become obsessed, and then it will be ALL your fault.)

[frith_in_thorns]

YESSS YOU ARE WATCHING ETERNAL LOLS. Tagline: Zak Gist is a Serious Lawyer who Conducts Himself Professionally.

Come play in our little fandom when you're caught up! http://mountjoys.dreamwidth.org/ We have reaction posts with much capslocking, and a meme :D

[littlered2]

Translating idiomatic French sounds deeply hard if you can't do the right sort of idiomatic English (god knows I can't). But still, no more Proust! 200 words is much too long for a sentence. If you can't express your thoughts concisely, Marcel, maybe you need to adapt them.

[helle_d]

Ah, but it's a ~stylistic choice~ because Marcel is special and needs eight thick volumes to express his thoughts concisely. (To be fair, I do have a total love/hate thing with Proust. But when I am translating him, it is entirely hate.)

This is (half of) one of the sentences I did:

At the time when I would go downstairs to find out the evening’s menu, the dinner was already underway, and Françoise, commanding the forces of nature that had become her allies, as in the fantasies where giants are taken on as cooks, would stoke the fire, put the potatoes on to steam, and put the culinary masterpieces back on the heat to cook to perfection - prepared earlier in artisanal receptacles which would go from great basins, cooking pots, cauldrons and fish-kettles; into game terrines, pastry dishes and small jars of cream, via a full collection of pots and pans of all shapes and sizes.

[littlered2]

Nobody needs that many clauses! I like convoluted sentences myself, but there is a limit.

[helle_d]

And that was only half the original sentence!