The beauty of the Internets these days is that, as many drawbacks as it has, it puts an amazing amount of information at your fingertips that would never get to you in a lifetime b4 web 2.0.
Apparently I massively insulted Johanna Sinisalo, whose works I have read translated into English whenever I could find them and tried my best to describe as freaking brilliant, deeply layered, and wickedly incisive in a review I got asked to do on the fly and got paid a massive $5 for.
My writing can be opaque and obscure. It often gets misread. For my lack of skill in using words to convey what I mean, "Olen pahoillani."
Thanks to FinnishPod101.com for their great language videos.
If the translation of Sinisalo's books is truly distorting, that's sad, but they still come across as freaking brilliant, deeply layered, and wickedly incisive. I find it hard to believe that the translation is highly problematic because they're such a great read, even in the translation to English.
In French too. I had to see, since a diligent search revealed a preference for that translation and that I can confirm with my piece meal polyglot skills despite no solid Finnish friends that would appreciate a perceptive deconstruction of their Finnish masculinity. Really not that different, from what I can tell, except the French title, Oiseau dr Malheur might be a huge compliment, alluding to Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal. That book that made 13 bearable for this teen queer, that magnifique ode to the Imp of Perversity. Or not- it's what popped into my head on seeing the title, thoughts formed by the French canon gleaned through the tutelage of a African American French teacher who studied at the Sorbonne, one of the best teachers I've ever had on all schools of life- professionalism, translation, exactitude in writing, fairness, collegiality, comportment- hands down. Madame, I hope I do you no wrong here, but yes, I've let my translation skills become shamefully rusty.
In the British to American translation, Birdbrain comes off as deeply feminist and brave as truth-telling. And Troll: A Love Story/ Not Before Sunset comes off as incredibly queer and witty, even if that was not the intention or effect in the original, in its American English translation. Seriously, anything I might have done to make anyone *not* read these books or the amazing short story "Dollface" despite all the awards they've won is a heinous disservice, cos this writer is one of the best feminist and SFF writers out there right now, no mistake. Read her. Can I be more clear?
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