Off-Topic » Books, books and more books! » 20-1-2017 07:28:04 |
Repartee wrote:
Don't want to stir up trouble (unless I do in my inner demonic mind), but I notice you and Uwe are saying different things : he is keeping a distinction between the artistic part of the genre and "mere comics" or "superhero yarns", whereas you are more inclusive. I have a few comics bought as an adult - some issues of "Submarine Attack" which reflect my interest in subs rather than comics - but I have never cracked the covers. Not only will I read them now but proudly, because I am reading art!
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There are good superhero comics as well, but most of them just aren´t. They´re mass produced, hastily thrown on the streets to "cover the demand". A demand for poor material, I wonder?
This is something I keep arguing with a friend who is a big fan of superhero comics. He puts it like this: What whould you prefer? Having one good story each year or having 12 stories which aren´t as good, but keep you entertained?
I´ll stick to the former. Besides, there are enough good comics out there to spend a thousand lives reading them. No need to get a new Iron Man copycat each month. First they had Iron Man, then they had to add War Machine (which is the same but in black), and now they´ve made an Iron Woman, impersonated by a 15 year old crossing between Leonardo da Vinci and Rhianna. Come on, is that what you call good comics?!
That kind of stuff is what makes poeple think all comics are worthless. But take 1602, some of the best stuff Marvel has blurted out. Or Sandman, if you prefer DC. Or if you´re into manga, get Akira. Or... way too many things to list them all. There´s not enough time to enjoy everything!
Type Talk » Typing at work » 20-1-2017 07:13:10 |
Yesterday I used an Olivetti Valentine S to make an order list for the pharmacy I work at.
Thing is I use typewriters if I have enough time and a long enough assignment, a fountain pen for quick notes and a pinwheel calculator instead of the dull one in my cell phone.
People usually freak out. The postman with the fountain pen, many people say "they have one just like that at home" referring to the 3-bank Senta I have at the counter, but what really takes the cake is the calculator. People find it funny, and always ask if that coffee mill doesn´t make mistakes.
Off-Topic » Books, books and more books! » 19-1-2017 14:34:22 |
Uwe wrote:
Javi wrote:
From Hell is a comic about a deranged guy killing and dismembering women.
Alan Moore is a fantastic writer, and it would be selling his work short to describe From Hell as a mere comic. Those unfamiliar with the medium of graphic novels would probably never pick one up if they thought the quality of the writing was on par with some superhero yarn. This particular graphic novel, which inspired the film that starred Johnny Depp and Ian Holm, was well researched and it's actually about Jack the Ripper.
Bullseye! Comics are far more than mere mass produced superheroes. From Hell is the first Graphic novel I read, probably ten years ago or so. I bumped into it at the local library, started skimming over it and when I came back to the Earth a few hours had passed. I couldn't put it down, and it's guilty of infecting me with the comic disease. Not only Alan Moore wrote a masterpiece, but also Eddie Campbell's drawing matches perfectly. The chapter about Druitt is just... Wow. And it has to be read more than once. In fact, I'd say comics can be read as many times as you want, just for the aesthetic pleasure. And of course, sucessive readings dig up more and more little details.
The don't call comic the Ninth Art just because it sounds good. Comics are art, as cinema is.
Off-Topic » Books, books and more books! » 19-1-2017 10:00:35 |
Repartee wrote:
... but meanwhile, returning to the original topic... If in some alternate universe I were fluent in Spanish and been given the task to translate into English a book with strong regional dialects which would have been understood as such by a Spanish reader, I'm wondering how I might render such a thing?
The only good answer I can come up with is to invent some dialect or accent in English which embodied some characteristics of the Spanish dialect and did not sound too much like any English dialect. If the Spanish dialect broadened all the vowels then my English equivalent might do the same, but at the same time should not sound like a recognizable English language accent which might imply, for example, that they were speaking Spanish with a Scottish accent, for example (hair raising thought!).
Translating is hard enough without pouring accents in the mix! Your suggestion is a good attempt at preserving the essence of the original, but it´s really complex. We have a saying which goes like this: traducción es traición (translation is betrayal), meaning that it´s impossible to convey everything from the source to the target. You´re bound to make changes, both forced and accidental. In many cases you just have to reach a middle point between fidelity to the original and naturaily in the target language. For example, bad translations reek of the original language, and many times we see how English speaking actors talk like idiots when dubbed in Spanish, because the translation they use is absolutely unnatural.
From Hell (masterpiece by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell) is a great example of what to do. Many characters sport a really thick accent, and in the translation it´s reflected as a Spanish low-culture, very "poor" accent. It respects the essence, but not the form. As they speak, curse and make extensive use of profanity, they use pure Spanish ways, portraying the environment all these people have the disgrace to live in. But
Standard Typewriters » Help needed - old Remington typewriter » 18-1-2017 14:05:55 |
Fleetwing wrote:
I was about to say "I'll take it!" when I saw you're in the NL. Can't imagine the shipping cost of a typewriter weighing +/- 18 kg to the USA, including the necessary packaging.
$150, at least...
Off-Topic » Books, books and more books! » 18-1-2017 13:16:32 |
Several things to address here... But first of all, maybe I wasn´t accurate enough with some points. I apologize if I have offended you in some manner, it´s never been my intention to offend or to mean anything bad for women.
KatLondon wrote:
Er... talk about missing the point! The novel is about the awful and enervating effect that Victorian sensibilities and morés had on women - and thus, we being connected, on men as well. If she's a monster it's because society has MADE her a monster by giving her very little education, respect, legal autonomy or real choice. Her husband is a doctor, the pinnacle of respectability, and the book is about how respectability can't save you. It was a seismic book - considered very shocking at the time it was published because no one had even shown these things before - and opened the way for Ibsen, Strindberg, Tolstoy, Chekhov, and indeed feminist literature.
I think this is a matter of different views... I don´t think mme. Bovary is a monster because the world made her to be it. She is a strong woman, so strong that she goes against the stupid morale of her time. She doesn´t need anyone to push her in that direction, and the impression I got is that everything she did, it was because she wanted it that way. Is that bad?
Of course the world she lives in is against her, and that´s a reason why I have Victorian times (and by extension I don´t like Victorian literature), but I don´t feel inclined to praise her. Monsierur Bovary was chosen by her, not the other way round. In fact, he only wanted the best for her and there´s a point where he would lend her a helping hand, but at the last moment he recoils "because that would bother her". And that hurts him more than anything, not being able to help! That little scene summarizes the relationship between mme. Bovary and her husband: it´s the other way round compared to "normal" marriages in Victorian times. She´s not abusive, but the strongest part. Is that bad?
Off-Topic » Books, books and more books! » 16-1-2017 10:10:52 |
The Spanish translation was hideous. All these details are simply lost in translation, ignored by the translator. Sadly, bad translations are a plague in every language... One of the worst translations I´ve ever seen was the first Spanish version of Ulysses. The edition is so bad the chapters are in the wrong order! Apart from that tiny little issue, it makes no sense. True, the original Ulysses doesn´t make any sense in the first place, but the translated version is even worse. I tried it because I thought I wasn´t going to be able to read it in English, but that was a mistake. After all, I totally agree with one of my teachers back at the university: Ulysses are the ramblings of a drunkard called James Joyce.
And maybe I´ve opened the can of worms with this one
Type Talk » The World's Most Expensive Typewriter Ever » 16-1-2017 09:55:26 |
TypewriterKing wrote:
By the way, I forgot the most important part: This machine, this unassuming looking little portable sold for $254,500 @ auction.
Don´t say it too loud! Maybe some... overconfident seller could get the impression all the Lettera 32´s are worth at least several thousand euros / dollars / whatever. If that one reached 254K, why should I sell it at 20 € like the rest of the world? I´m smarter than da rest, I got... entrerprising cultchor or somezing.
But... If I follow that rule I have over a million € in Lettera 32´s at home. I´m awfully rich!
Type Talk » Typewriter Armorers » 14-1-2017 13:40:30 |
M.A.P, If I'm not mistaken. I've seen it somewhere, but I can't remember where exactly.
That French brand made artillery pieces as well as typewriters. Put a typewriter in your office and an 110mm round one in your competitor's!
Here in Spain Patrias (and Amayas and Sedics ans Köningers) were made in Eibar, a city known for the artillery factories. In fact, the local soccer team are nicknamed "los artilleros". (The gunners). I don't think the typewriter company had anything to do with weaponry makers, but I can't tell for sure.
Off-Topic » Books, books and more books! » 14-1-2017 07:29:38 |
Repartee wrote:
Despite your assertion Wikipedia claims the book indeed has a plot, skimming which I see everybody dies in the end, heartbroken, despairing and destitute! Ah, no thank you - where was my C.S. Lewis again...? It is perhaps an anti-novel, wherein instead of ending in a marriage it gets those out of the way early and proceeds through the slow disintegration of a marriage. Frightfully witty.
Well, it´s a bit of an exaggeration by me saying it doesn´t have a plot. But it´s pretty much like the kind films I hate with strong determination: those in which nothing happens. Those which are just like pointing the camera at nothing in special or just looking out to the street in front of your window and see what happens. There´s a HORRID Spanish film which is about nothing in particular and in split screen format for its entire running time, and that´s the perfect example of a story without plot. Why bother weaving a good story when you can just talk about how booooring daily life can get? This film (La Soledad, in case anyone wishes to torture themselves) is praised as a masterpiece, and IMHO it´s just pretentious. And boring.
Madame Bovary, though, stands as an extremely well done work of art, and achieving that without a plot is even more dificult. It has a plot, yes, but it´s so weak yoou can forget about it. You can summarize it as a woman who´s never satisfied, unable to find satisfaction in anything. The characters keep going forward, and it´s the hand of the writer what manages to hold it together.
Repartee wrote:
Never read Wuthering Heights but on your recommendation will fix that.
Give it a try! I had a hard time dealing with the servants´ thick accent. I made a bet with my mother: see who could finish it first. She read it in Spanish and I did it in English. I lost.
Repartee wrote:
Trying to kiss a boar to death sounds right up this Sporty character's alley, since if you tried it not only would you fail to kill the b
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