Anna’s review of Sympathy Tower Tokyo > Likes and Comments
10 likes · Like
I liked the near-essay-like beginning, discussing the different emotional and historic resonances of written Japanese. It made me wonder though how much of the text needed to be transformed, not translated per se, to get the meanings across to those of us reading the book in English and who only have one alphabet.
Lark wrote: "I liked the near-essay-like beginning..."
I did too, how “foreign” words, changing language, and translation as a site of tension can mutate meaning. But then the conversations between characters turned very meta, making the novella feel like a “case study”. I can respect the ideas, but I had little compulsion to turn the pages. I think Ted Chiang might be a good counterexample.
back to top
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Lark
(new)
Sep 30, 2025 08:02AM
I liked the near-essay-like beginning, discussing the different emotional and historic resonances of written Japanese. It made me wonder though how much of the text needed to be transformed, not translated per se, to get the meanings across to those of us reading the book in English and who only have one alphabet.
reply
|
flag
Lark wrote: "I liked the near-essay-like beginning..."I did too, how “foreign” words, changing language, and translation as a site of tension can mutate meaning. But then the conversations between characters turned very meta, making the novella feel like a “case study”. I can respect the ideas, but I had little compulsion to turn the pages. I think Ted Chiang might be a good counterexample.
