Three-Body Problem - Dialogue

Submitted by demilitarizdsm t3_10owfg1 in books

I get the appeal of sci-fi books and how its not the best place to look for real human dialogue. And I am glued to this book for the story and the drama, every turn is enjoyable. And then in the depths where answers really get deep, the moments characters talk to each other instead of telling a backstory... is just like those ridiculous dubbed anime scenes. I mean, there is so little love for English in these critical moments. I know this was translated from Chinese so my guess is only that the translator just was very direct and simple in the approach, and didn't want to lay on anything flowery or emotional. Or is this an editor's issue for consideration of page length? I'll probably still read the whole series but anyone have the same issue or can shed light on what I'm seeing?

18

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

jhharvest t1_j6h9jds wrote

Have you read much other fiction translated from Chinese? That's a feature of the language and the culture. Or would you have wanted the translator to add extra dialogue to make it more English?

Probably compounded further in Three Body Problem because the writer doesn't really care much about (individual) humans. The whole book series is just an extended allegory. The characters are essentially placeholders for specific virtues or failings in humanity. Dunno, maybe this is too much of a hot take but that's how it appeared to me and based on some interviews I've read of the author.

32

tnfrs t1_j6hqrt0 wrote

that was my take too, the characters are mostly symbolic theres not a ton of arc there except a few instances that kinda made me laugh (the whole Im a mom thing)

10

somebranches t1_j6hgeda wrote

Ken Liu wrote about this in his translator’s postscript. The challenge of translating in terms of giving the reader something that feels organic but not losing the “flavor” of the original. Said something about how a translation should still feel like it came from another language. I don’t have any particular experience with Chinese culture, so I can’t speak to the extent to which he retained it, but I have read a lot of translations and thought this one was pretty well done.

13

tofu-weenie t1_j6hhcsb wrote

I've read several of Ken Liu's own books written originally in english and imo he is an excellent writer who does dialogue well. If the dialogue in three body feels clunky I assume that it's a purposeful decision on his part to retain the original flavour of the text.

I do often find that dialogue translated from very different languages doesn't always feel natural in English. I guess that's just part of reading in translation.

10

Who_GNU t1_j6heyfu wrote

There's more to translations than language. Our culture is different than the authors', so what would be a normal conversation in an author's culture may be full of useless repetition and formalities or may seem gruff and full of assumptions, depending on the differences in culture.

12

Luna_3000 t1_j6ik8oq wrote

God I loved these books so much.

4

honestlyicba t1_j6i1mpv wrote

I have read both the Chinese version (back when it was the only version) and then a few years later the English translation.

It felt like a lot of a nuance was gone, and some of it really feels impossible to translate for some reason. I definitely think the translator could have done a better job.

I wouldn’t have enjoyed the story as much if I started off with the English version. It’s a shame because it is such a great epic story.

2

owensum t1_j6ids3a wrote

Liu is a very literal translator.

1

laowildin t1_j6lqwtv wrote

I'm a huge scifi nut, and your first line has me in stitches!

1