(edit title) Stieg Larsson books Are they any good? Options

[Puffin]

It will be interesting to see if book 4 is ever released

[Kevtravels]

I just bought a used copy of The Girl Who Played With Fire on amazon so can't wait until it arrives within a week.

[Taxalien]

I read the books in Swedish and when you get to some really saucy (racist) descriptions of this or that character I though to myself, how would that be translated into English? So I looked it up in the English version and thought it had been dealt with elegantly: it was just left out.

It makes you think about the "lost in translation" saying and you do wonder about all those translated books you have read ...

So, if you can, read these in Swedish. The language is a lot more colourful and paint a much more disturbed picture than the few passages I found in the English version.

[Kevtravels]

I read the books in Swedish and when you get to some really saucy (racist) descriptions of this or that character I though to myself, how would that be translated into English ... (show full quote)

I read the books in Swedish and when you get to some really saucy (racist) descriptions of this or that character I though to myself, how would that be translated into English? So I looked it up in the English version and thought it had been dealt with elegantly: it was just left out.

It makes you think about the "lost in translation" saying and you do wonder about all those translated books you have read ...

So, if you can, read these in Swedish. The language is a lot more colourful and paint a much more disturbed picture than the few passages I found in the English version. ... (hide full quote)

Can you go into detail?

[Amber Dawn]

Ditto. I have only read them in English!

[Mack]

I have read the first two books. The first book was an American translation and the second book was a UK translation. Without being able to read Swedish to compare, I liked the language in the second book much better. Based on this I plan to pickup the third book on my next trip to Europe.

[Taxalien]

Can you go into detail?

Of course!

First book, chapter two, page 1:

Swedish:

Han kallades ofta araben, trots att han inte hade minsta arabiskt inslag i sin bakgrund. Däremot var han en genetisk gatukorsning av det slag som rasbiologiska stollar med stor sannolikhet skulle beskriva som underlägset humanvirke.

English:

He was often referred to as "The Arab", although he did not have a drop of Arab blood.

As you can see, all of the bold text is gone.

To those who don't know their Swedish, my translation:

>>
He was often referred to as "The Arab", despite having not the slightest hint of arab descent, rather he was the the kind of genetic crossroad that Eugenics experts undoubtably would have described as inferior human mongrel stock.
<<

Or something like that...the last couple of words could probably find a lot more colourful words in English.

As I said, as soon as I read it in Swedish I couldn't resist looking up the English translation because it felt rather typical Swedish culture to describe someone in this way. The fact that it was left out, was in my view quite telling.

I don't know why he would do that, but you would have to ask Steven Murray why he did.

Considering that Sweden founded Eugenics it's how shall we put it, interesting.

I didn't follow up with more checks, it's just that stood out for me.

[Kevtravels]

Of course!First book, chapter two, page 1:Swedish:English:As you can see, all of the bold text is gone.To those who don't know their Swedish, my translation:>>He ... (show full quote)

Of course!

First book, chapter two, page 1:

Swedish:



English:



As you can see, all of the bold text is gone.

To those who don't know their Swedish, my translation:

>>
He was often referred to as "The Arab", despite having not the slightest hint of arab descent, rather he was the the kind of genetic crossroad that Eugenics experts undoubtably would have described as inferior human mongrel stock.
<<

Or something like that...the last couple of words could probably find a lot more colourful words in English.

As I said, as soon as I read it in Swedish I couldn't resist looking up the English translation because it felt rather typical Swedish culture to describe someone in this way. The fact that it was left out, was in my view quite telling.

I don't know why he would do that, but you would have to ask Steven Murray why he did.

Considering that Sweden founded Eugenics it's how shall we put it, interesting.

I didn't follow up with more checks, it's just that stood out for me. ... (hide full quote)

That is very indeed interesting. Thanks for bringing it up.

[cogito]

I have read the first two books. The first book was an American translation and the second book was a UK translation. Without being able to read Swedish to compare, I liked ... (show full quote)

I have read the first two books. The first book was an American translation and the second book was a UK translation. Without being able to read Swedish to compare, I liked the language in the second book much better. Based on this I plan to pickup the third book on my next trip to Europe. ... (hide full quote)

What on earth are you talking about? There is no "American translation." There is only the awful UK translation, which is widely agreed to be lamentable by both reviewers and readers.

Just one of thousands of examples: "She plugged (sic) at university."

Let us hope there will be eventually be American translation to do justice to the writer who made Sweden famous.

[mandym]

Erm...what makes you think an American translation will be any better? After all, they couldn't cope with the title of Harry Potter and the Phillosopher's Stone without dumbing it down...


Have only read English translations so far, as Swedish is still limited, but hope to tackle them in their original form at some point next year...

[cogito]

Emm...And I was under the impression Harry Potter and the P.S. was written in English. There is no American "translation." of H.P. and the P.S. It appears you, like Mack above, do not understand the difference between "translation" and "edition."

As for "dumbing down": The title of the Stieg Larssons's first volume is, in Swedish, literally, Men Who Hate Women," (Män som hatar kvinnor) a title that reflects the trilogy's theme of misogyny.The U.K.publisher prettified it: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."
Now that's dumbing down.

The English translation is so awful that professional translators protested to the publisher requesting the myriad of truly elementary mistakes be addressed and fixed.

See the comments following the article here:
http://www.thelocal.se/26824/20100524/

[Peterj]

Nice try...although not correct of course. Where does it say experts? The word 'stollar' is short for 'tokstollar', i.e. looneys.

To those who don't know their Swedish, my translation:>>He was often referred to as "The Arab", despite having not the slightest hint of arab descent, rath ... (show full quote)

To those who don't know their Swedish, my translation:

>>
He was often referred to as "The Arab", despite having not the slightest hint of arab descent, rather he was the the kind of genetic crossroad that Eugenics experts undoubtably would have described as inferior human mongrel stock.
<<

Or something like that...the last couple of words could probably find a lot more colourful words in English. ... (hide full quote)

[Opalnera]

I bought it today, I feel like the last person on earth to read it I got it for 99kr at Bokus (www.bokus.com).

[Traveler2010]

CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER IS GOING TO PLAY HENRIK VANGER IN THE UPCOMING AMERICAN VERSION OF THE MOVIE! IT WAS JUST ANNOUNCED. I HOPE HE DOES A GOOD JOB!

[swozzie]

And this is so exciting for you that you need to shout it out ?