emily’s Reviews > Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature > Status Update
emily
is on page 39 of 288
‘—what matters most—is not whether D. Smith preserved Han Kang’s syntax (she certainly did not), but whether she managed to turn an important work of Korean literature into a novel that was equally powerful in English translation. Translation has the almost magical power to bring foreign viewpoints into monoglot minds and lives. Even in antiquity, people were people—reading ancient literature—remind us of this fact—’
— Jul 29, 2026 11:29AM
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emily’s Previous Updates
emily
is on page 72 of 288
‘Émile Zola’s—Nana (1880) evokes the rise, fall—of a—teenager—She destroys every man who crosses her path before herself—portending the fall of the Second Empire. Nana, although theoretically human, is a destructive—powerful machine—engine of the new civilisation as well as the motor—This is one of the most powerful modern versions of a far more widespread misogynistic trope—beauty is presented as—worthy of blame.’
— Aug 03, 2026 11:33AM
emily
is on page 39 of 288
‘—early Roman writer/translators had complex national and ethnic identities: Naevius spoke Oscan, Greek & Latin; and Ennius, the first great epic poet in Latin, claimed to have ‘three hearts’ for his three languages (Oscan, Latin and Greek), but he was probably also a native speaker of Messapic. The choice to convert Greek literary forms into Latin was a way—to straddle two of their own linguistic identities—’
— Jul 29, 2026 11:39AM
emily
is on page 18 of 288
‘Carson suggests—readers need not worry too much about what Sappho herself originally composed or sang—a poet who lived in a particular time and place—whose experiences of desire—of community, politics, wealth, birth, friendship, music—presumably informed her poetry? Perhaps such questions are not fully answerable—the first surviving female author in the ancient Greek tradition—It is not only men who mutilate texts—’
— Jul 26, 2026 05:54PM
emily
is on page 9 of 288
‘Language is never a neutral tool by which we represent the world: every word and phrase carries with it a tangle of cultural assumptions and connotations, many of which are not paralleled by other languages—Reconstructing Sappho from what remains is still like trying to get a sense of a whole Tyrannosaurus rex from one claw—For (Anne) Carson, Sappho’s gender and sexual orientation are of relatively little interest.’
— Jul 26, 2026 05:15PM
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Zhou wrote: "omg i read something similar today but in a Japanese article"Did the translation take things too far? One distinguished translator told me he felt the context and style were so different that it ..."
Love ! Thanks so much for sharing, Zhou : ) , it's fascinating how translation 'transforms' , it's almost like a kind of alchemy . I wish I have a more (similarly) 'intellectual' response to this, but (admittedly, I don't) my last proper 'experience' in relation to a 'translation' of Han Kang's 'The Vegetarian' came in the form of a 'drink', haha . A friend (who had read it in Korean) made me a 'cocktail' inspired by the drink, and they basically tried to make the strongest drink with what they had at hand, I reckon. And then kept saying 'you can say it tastes terrible', and I did very quickly say that it was truly quite disastrous, haha . Ultimately I wasn't interested in the drink, but more so of what they thought of Han Kang and the writing. But I'm not fluent in Korean, so neither of us could have held that conversation effectively. But it made me realise that we'd very certainly have contrasting views on Han Kang and her work because I wouldn't have thought her 'writing' to be 'overwhelmingly strong'. It's so intensely delicate, and hypersensitive in so many ways that one might 'read' / perceive it as 'strong'?
That’s very interesting. I felt the writing in The Vegetarian to be delicate to the extent of being bland 😭 I guess I’ll never get to find out what it’s like to read it in Korean… maybe that’s the appeal of translated literature, it’s like looking at something through a veil
Zhou wrote: "That’s very interesting. I felt the writing in The Vegetarian to be delicate to the extent of being bland 😭 I guess I’ll never get to find out what it’s like to read it in Korean… maybe that’s the ..."Ahh, I actually feel the exact same way about 'The Vegetarian' specifically. I mean, I left my reading/experience of 'The Vegetarian' with a one star, subjectively (needless to say) . I did five-star her other two though, We Do Not Part , and Light and Thread . Also 회복하는 인간 = Convalescence (which confessedly I read in that big Kyobo bookshop and didn't end up actually buying it) .
I really like Han Kang's style of writing, and I really love what she has to 'say'. I like the way she expresses herself, and I like the way she 'thinks' (or the way I think she thinks, more precisely). But ultimately, I feel like 'The Vegetarian' carried a 'story' that is pretty 'common' for 'women' to relate to and/or understand? But it also felt like - a K-drama (terrible comparison but it's all I've got for now ! ) that addresses social/societal issues but doesn't come up with a solution, or like a sense of 'hope' (or even pushes the characters to 'change' the way 'things' work) - and it's just episodes of like shallow romantic plotlines drenched shame and 'delulu' (and somehow romance 'predictably' / 'magically' solves it all or something). And then nothing 'really' changes, not fictionally, not in 'reality' / socially either. It's a romantic propaganda , almost? It's like how I like to use 'In the Mood for Love' by WKW as a joke/cautionary tale, haha - it's cowardice not 'yearning'.
But also I am reminded of what Tash Aw said in an interview (Lit Hub) : "The truth is that the privileged few and those for whom life is a constant high-wire act of survival are part of the same narrative. Just as it is impossible to separate the two parts of my family—the two parts of me—it is impossible to ignore the people being left behind in a rapidly globalising world. As hard as we might try, they are still there, still surviving, a constant reminder that we are in danger of losing our humanity, as well as the optimism that made all this growth possible in the first place—I can’t accept that fate and fortune should favour some and not others. We’ve spent three decades wondering how to transform ourselves into something better, but I wonder if we’ve lost sight of what being better really means."
Ah! I thought I was the only person who hated The Vegetarian (I gave it 2 stars though I'm a little more lenient HAHA) and people are always so shocked by it. I've tried to steer clear from Han Kang ever since... Maybe I need to give her a second chance.
I love the line about reading translating being like being behind a veil. But also there is some beauty in that too, right. Struggling to make something out behind it, trying to peek around it, just enjoying being veiled?
Daniel wrote: "I love the line about reading translating being like being behind a veil. But also there is some beauty in that too, right. Struggling to make something out behind it, trying to peek around it, jus..."Yes yes. I think it's common consensus that the original is usually better, but perhaps some English translations out there might have unknowingly made improvements on the original? Especially when it comes to classical literature; I'm reading Don Quixote (Edith Grossman translation) now and I keep wondering what it's like to read it in the original Spanish text, does it feel archaic to a modern Spanish reader?
You know how sometimes you grow up thinking the cover of a song is the original... Even after googling for the original you would likely still prefer the cover version because that's how you got to know it. Mad World by Gary Jules/Tears For Fears for example.
Zhou wrote: "Ah! I thought I was the only person who hated The Vegetarian (I gave it 2 stars though I'm a little more lenient HAHA) and people are always so shocked by it. I've tried to steer clear from Han Kan..."I do feel it might have a bit to do with the translation. But to clarify, I really don't think it's done badly, but the style just wasn't for me : ) . I very much hope you'll give her another go . I can, and without any breath of hesitation recommend 'We Do Not Part'. I particularly like that translator(s). It might actually also be my favourite (thinking of it now) of all that I've read of her work : )
"Did the translation take things too far? One distinguished translator told me he felt the context and style were so different that it was more reasonable to speak of Smith’s work as an adaptation, not a translation.”
"To say that my English translation of The Vegetarian is a “completely different book” from the Korean original is, of course, in one sense, entirely correct. Since there is no such thing as a truly literal translation — no two languages’ grammars match, their vocabularies diverge, even punctuation has a different weight — there can be no such thing as a translation that is not “creative.” And while most of us translators think of ourselves as “faithful,” definitions of faithfulness can differ. Because languages function differently, much of translation is about achieving a similar effect by different means; not only are difference, change, and interpretation completely normal, but they are in fact an integral part of faithfulness.