Friday, February 6, 2015

New Translation - Round 2

It didn't take me long to realize I had looked at a novel some time ago but didn't do much with it.  Since it was still staring at me from my archive I thought, why not give it a try?  Something in the past pushed me make a file for it, so why not?

I am now looking at Great Ruler  [大主宰] written by potato [土豆] who is one of the top vegetable writers of the online novel writing scene in China.  What is a vegetable writer you say?  Apparently it is some Chinese meme where online novel writers decided to use vegetable names as their username.  The ones I know of are "I Eat Tomatoes", "Potato", "Banana",  and "Peas".  Two from that list are on the top 5 list of successful writers, so either it is a coincidence, or there is power in the vegetable!

One more note to close this post with.  I am not satisfied with my rendition of the novel title yet.  It leaves much to be desired.  The characters 主宰 cab mean to dominate, to dictate, to rule or simply master.  I have the feeling that the title of the book should convey a sense of oppression, however I am not sure how to send that message in English.  Tyrant is the closest I can come, but that sends a message of evil.

Not a good start?  Ah well, maybe my dear readers can offer up a suggestion.

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