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The City Trilogy ( https://www.amazon.com/Trilogy-Modern-Chinese-Literature-Taiwan/dp/0231128525 https://www.amazon.com/Trilogy-Modern-Chinese-Literature-Tai...

The City Trilogy ( https://www.amazon.com/Trilogy-Modern-Chinese-Literature-Taiwan/dp/0231128525 https://www.amazon.com/Trilogy-Modern-Chinese-Literature-Tai... ) is my personal favorite Chinese/Taiwanese SF story. Some people I've recommended it to pass on it because of some of the translation issues[0], but if you read Romance of the Three Kingdoms and you've read a decent amount of translated work already[1], The City Trilogy is a work on that can be enjoyed on levels like Star Wars or Dune. (and I make that broad comparison intentionally) [0]A couple of key word choices, most prominently galaxies instead of what should really be systems or planets. the translator made can really pop literal minded people out of the story, and I think that you have to have the mindset that the composition of language is better and more evocative in the original than the translation. [1] I've found, totally anecdotally, that a few of my Christian friends who have spent a good chunk of their reading time reading translations are able to enjoy translated works better than those who have not. I've also found, again anecdotally, that few people like the first few translated works they read, and enjoy the later ones better.

chadgeidel 10y ago
Your point 0 is one of the reasons I struggle with reading foreign (currently - Russian) SF [0]. I feel like the original author's intent isn't coming through. I still enjoy "non-western" SF for the perspective it brings. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Red-Star-Tales-Century-Russian/dp/188010038X https://www.amazon.com/Red-Star-Tales-Century-Russian/dp/188...
- jobigoud 10y ago
  Imagine the epiphany striking us non-native English speakers when we realize at some point during teenagehood that almost all the Sci-Fi we've been reading thus far wasn't the author's actual words.
JadeNB 10y ago
> [1] I've found, totally anecdotally, that a few of my Christian friends who have spent a good chunk of their reading time reading translations are able to enjoy translated works better than those who have not. I don't mean to be overly PC or anything, but the word 'Christian' seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the sentence. Is it just a true characterisation that has no effect on their enjoyment, or do Christians somehow have more (or less) difficulty with translated works than non-Christians? (Or was it maybe a typo?)
- russnewcomer 10y ago
  Not a typo, just a poorly expressed thought. I'll attempt to re-express it here. My thought is that reading translations is a skill that takes time to develop, and my Christian friends have spent a lot more time developing that skill, even if it's not a conscious development. When I've talked to people about books they have enjoyed, I've found that my Christian friends seem to find more enjoyment reading the translated works than my non-Christian friends do. Maybe that makes more sense? Totally anecdotal.
  - JadeNB 10y ago
    > Maybe that makes more sense? Totally anecdotal. It does, and I appreciate the clarification. Do you know why your Christian friends have spent more time reading translations? Is it related to dmreedy (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12847680 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12847680 )'s hypothesis about reading the Bible in translation?
    - russnewcomer 10y ago
      Exactly. I do not personally know of anyone that fluently speaks the original languages (I know people that have taken classes in the languages, but even they rarely read the originals, sticking to translations).
- dmreedy 10y ago
  I believe this was an allusion to most Christians' experiences with the Bible being compiled through several translations of Hebrew, Koine Greek, and Latin, depending on the version and books.
  - JadeNB 10y ago
    Thank you. That was the context I was missing.
JadeNB 10y ago
I know that it was one of my great delights in reading Borges when I realised that I trusted Andrew Hurley, and could feel confident reading anything that he had translated. (I've never read the original Spanish, so the best that I can say is that, if Hurley isn't faithfully representing the original, then at least I enjoy his representation.) Do you know any 'reliable', in this sense, translators of Chinese science fiction?
- russnewcomer 10y ago
  People say Ken Liu, who translated the 3 Body Problem into English, is very good because he is also an SF author, speaks Chinese natively, and works with the authors. I've been out of reading short SF or discovering new SF for about 5 years, so I don't have any other good recommendations. John Balcom, who translated the City Trilogy, has translated other literature, but very little SF, from what I have seen.
- bsidb 10y ago
  Ken Liu does an excellent job in translating. Not only he successfully convey the intention of the author but also makes the whole writing more beautiful and poetic.

chadgeidel 10y ago

Your point 0 is one of the reasons I struggle with reading foreign (currently - Russian) SF [0]. I feel like the original author's intent isn't coming through. I still enjoy "non-western" SF for the perspective it brings. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Red-Star-Tales-Century-Russian/dp/188010038X https://www.amazon.com/Red-Star-Tales-Century-Russian/dp/188...

jobigoud 10y ago
Imagine the epiphany striking us non-native English speakers when we realize at some point during teenagehood that almost all the Sci-Fi we've been reading thus far wasn't the author's actual words.

JadeNB 10y ago

> [1] I've found, totally anecdotally, that a few of my Christian friends who have spent a good chunk of their reading time reading translations are able to enjoy translated works better than those who have not. I don't mean to be overly PC or anything, but the word 'Christian' seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the sentence. Is it just a true characterisation that has no effect on their enjoyment, or do Christians somehow have more (or less) difficulty with translated works than non-Christians? (Or was it maybe a typo?)

russnewcomer 10y ago
Not a typo, just a poorly expressed thought. I'll attempt to re-express it here. My thought is that reading translations is a skill that takes time to develop, and my Christian friends have spent a lot more time developing that skill, even if it's not a conscious development. When I've talked to people about books they have enjoyed, I've found that my Christian friends seem to find more enjoyment reading the translated works than my non-Christian friends do. Maybe that makes more sense? Totally anecdotal.
- JadeNB 10y ago
  > Maybe that makes more sense? Totally anecdotal. It does, and I appreciate the clarification. Do you know why your Christian friends have spent more time reading translations? Is it related to dmreedy (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12847680 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12847680 )'s hypothesis about reading the Bible in translation?
  - russnewcomer 10y ago
    Exactly. I do not personally know of anyone that fluently speaks the original languages (I know people that have taken classes in the languages, but even they rarely read the originals, sticking to translations).
dmreedy 10y ago
I believe this was an allusion to most Christians' experiences with the Bible being compiled through several translations of Hebrew, Koine Greek, and Latin, depending on the version and books.
- JadeNB 10y ago
  Thank you. That was the context I was missing.

JadeNB 10y ago

I know that it was one of my great delights in reading Borges when I realised that I trusted Andrew Hurley, and could feel confident reading anything that he had translated. (I've never read the original Spanish, so the best that I can say is that, if Hurley isn't faithfully representing the original, then at least I enjoy his representation.) Do you know any 'reliable', in this sense, translators of Chinese science fiction?

russnewcomer 10y ago
People say Ken Liu, who translated the 3 Body Problem into English, is very good because he is also an SF author, speaks Chinese natively, and works with the authors. I've been out of reading short SF or discovering new SF for about 5 years, so I don't have any other good recommendations. John Balcom, who translated the City Trilogy, has translated other literature, but very little SF, from what I have seen.
bsidb 10y ago
Ken Liu does an excellent job in translating. Not only he successfully convey the intention of the author but also makes the whole writing more beautiful and poetic.