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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
informative
slow-paced
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
Witty and informative, a great book on what translation does. Just not that much into translation.
Is That a Fish in Your Ear? is an entertaining introduction to translation and a good overview of the topic. It is not an in-depth book on translation theory, but it raises some interesting points and features many fascinating examples.
I really struggled with getting into this book; I started it in 2013 and picked it up again in 2014 and 2016, but not until this year did I finally get to the point where it managed to catch and hold my attention. Once that was done, it didn't take me long to read the rest.
I would recommend it to anyone with a general interest in the field.
I really struggled with getting into this book; I started it in 2013 and picked it up again in 2014 and 2016, but not until this year did I finally get to the point where it managed to catch and hold my attention. Once that was done, it didn't take me long to read the rest.
I would recommend it to anyone with a general interest in the field.
The last thing I expected whilst starting the book was weighing whether I will mark is as a 1 or 2 star by the time I was done with it. It ended up a 1, if only for the level of frustration it managed to produce in me. My first gripe with it, which managed to already welcome me within the first 50 or so pages, is that the author, at more than one occasion, produces rebuttals against claims which were probably ever uttered by five people at most or are getting blatantly misinterpreted - and here I am staring directly at the chapter on translations as substitutes for originals. Half of this book felt like picking holes in random phrases regarding language or translation, whilst simultaneously using questionable argumentation and thought process. To list the ones which boiled my blood the most for some reason, was the attempt to pinpoint the reason for lectors domineering dubbing in some regions of Europe by claiming them to be "small European countries" (whilst having just presented Poland as one of the examples) which do not have enough talented people in them to produce dubbing efficiently, repeating at least twice that it cannot be deduced why English is so dominant in certain spheres (including that it cannot be due to the colonialism, because "look at Dutch"), repeated usage of a slur for the Inuit people, as well as a joke about almost all women being dreadful.
Very Informative book even though I did skip some pages that I wasn't really interested in
i dont know what’s up with this book but i almost fell asleep reading it, and i *like* the topic of translation
Granted I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but this is by far the most engrossing piece of non-fiction I've ever read, and it's not just because I have a vested in the topic. Bellos is just a great writer with a lot of great stories and ideas.
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
I knew little to nothing about the art and skill of translation. And now I have an inkling of the complexities of the job. That said, I thought this book was going to be about how our brain processes language. No idea where I decided that was the subject matter; apparently I have trouble with reading comprehension.
That said, this book was useful when I was making small talk at a party with a legal translator.
That said, this book was useful when I was making small talk at a party with a legal translator.