Poor Translation of a Great Mystery
358715
This movie was a great disappointment. To begin with it was a poor effort at reducing the six part mini-series to a less than two hour movie. The actors were bland, their parts underacted, their effort very lacking. The chronology of the events was disjointed, the story line weakly developed and the significant events underpinning the plot were lacking. The character Connie was not depicted well, we thought, especially considering the significance of her observations. Nor was the description of Ricky Tarrs' experiences well explicated. These two characters contribution to the story is the foundation of the investigation of the mole.
No, one can not expect to reproduce in two hours what was successfully done in six, but it would have been better to leave this screenplay on the shelf.
If one had not seen the mini-series, one would be lost to the significance of the true story as LeCarre had written it.
1784968
Stupidly translated into some sort of strange archaic English.  Detracts very much from the writing.  Should be translated into modern English.  Unfortunately, de las Casas tends to describe the horrors he heard of and maybe witnessed in the same terms, so one can lose interest in the matter at hand.  Some attempt to identify the various persons involved as historical figures.  The book reads like a strange fairy tale in some ways.  The immense scale of murder and depopulation de las Casas describes did happen.  Maybe my poor opinion is a matter of the bad translation.
3462594
Ok, let me say this, I imagine that something is lost in the translation. I must admit to Americans Artuor Perez-Reverte is probably an acquired taste, as he is with me. If you are a fan you'll end up reading this book. Perez-Reverte in this book spends an awful amount of time on Manuel Coy's background and dissatisfaction with life and himself. All the other characters are very cardboard-like, except when one chapter is written in first person. Perez-Reverte books are usually mysteries, but this one isn't. And his translator is new. But for me, there is something about his books that I like, even the ones that don't fire on all cylinders.
1126900
The translation into English for this book went awry somewhere- terribly, terribly awry. There are many problems with tense, punctuation, and fluidity, and they appear on every single page. Either the book went through Google Translate, or was translated by someone who lacks fluency in both languages. The pictures are lovely, and the quotes good, but the poor use of language is unforgivable.
1319810
Great mystery but the editing leaves a lot to be desired.  Numerous times where a preposition or pronoun is missing or words are repeated.
2588882
I have a hard time believing that this is a Jamey Hecht translation [the $.99 kindle version]. There are so many archaisms that it is at time an annoyance to plow thorough this thoroughly unmelodious translation. I think it is some early 18th century translation, not Hecht's at all. As for this, sometimes even 99 cents seems too much.
1046040
I must express my outrage with the utter lack of accuracy in the translation. I understand that no translation could possibly retain all the literary  elements of the original text (I myself translate, amateurishly)  however, that does not mean that the text must be deliberately mangled. In  other words, this book MUST be read in Russian in order to truly  appreaciate it's brilliance.
635892
A wonderful novel --as his always are-- but the sloppy translation leaves a lot to be desired. Much of the story is based on the interactions of many characters scurrying around, but the translation pays little attention to keeping them straight. Strings of pronouns with no clear references to antecedents. Yuk.
4472842
It may have been the translation but this was too heavy in non-related conversations and made it difficult to stay focused on the mystery!
1786602
I think this is a translation, and maybe that is why the language flow is cumbersome, and hard to read.
It also seemed he went on too long hinting at something awful and lie destroying, eventually making me tired
of the buildup and impatient with the whole book.  I didn't finish it.
2999186
Augustine's Confessions is one of the greatest books ever, but this is a terrible translation.  There are far better versions out there you can find at the same price, or even lower.
3209844
I love mysteries.  I love to travel and learn about other cultures.  So I thought this book would be a perfect choice, especially after reading the many enthusiastic reviews on this site.
Unfortunately, I really had no feel for this book, although I slogged my way through it to the end.  Without revealing anything of the plot, I would say that it was quite difficult to follow, not least due to the confusion (to my American "ears") caused by the plethora of Polish names - of people and places - not to mention the abundant references to current and historical events in that country.  Obviously, this would present no problem to a Polish-speaker, and it certainly shouldn't be a criticism of the author; nonetheless, something is definitely "lost in translation."
The writing is good, with few grammatical errors by the translator.  But the story is convoluted; it is hard to keep track of the characters, and I found the abundant references to the longstanding, and Church-encouraged, antisemitism endemic in Polish society quite depressing - the author's flimsy attempt to counter it notwithstanding.  Finally, and probably worst of all, I couldn't find any reason to care about, much less like, the protagonist, and wasn't emotionally engaged in his struggle to solve the crimes.
4161043
Good story, but laborious. The translation left something to be desired. The book was more about the spy than the damage he caused.
604067
The translation might be what is causing this to drag. It is all the rage lately but the story is slow-moving.
2782715
I am writing about this particular copy of Madame Bovary, not Flaubert's great novel. This Eleanor Marx Aveling(1855-1898) copy was sent to me instead of the Lydia Davis translation that I ordered. Even if I were indifferent to the translation (which is not the case), the book is practically unreadable. The text is in a tiny, 8 point (max) font, single spaced, with no paragraph indentations.
I do highly recommend the novel Madame Bovary, but I do not recommend this edition.
441592
I read one of the reviews that mentioned that the spanish translation was a, "literal translation instead of more commonly used spanish phrases." I went ahead and bought the book anyway hoping this wouldn't be too big of a problem. Well, as it turns out the spanish translation is so literal that it isn't fully correct. The translation mistakes are over such basic things that it's clear that it wasn't a native speaker who had translated the book, but rather a crappy translating program. I was curious to see how google translator would do and it did a far better job than what ever program the publisher used. I will sadly be returning this book. I was really looking forward to having a bilingual version of this classic.
2430197
Anyone purchasing this translation of Rimbaud's work should only do so as a case study in translation faux pas. The translator shows a weak command of the English language, particularly for someone attempting a translation of the works of an author as intricate and complex as Rimbaud. Typically, a translator should translate into their own native tongue, not into a foreign language. There are countless instances in this translation where the French text used would be most clearly understood if directly translated into English, and yet, the translator has unnecessarily chosen to create his own verbiage and syntax. In many instances the original French meaning is totally lost, and the English text carries an entirely different meaning.