Hi.
So, as most everyone knows, Minford has a translation of DOMD out. It's (IMO) rather poorly translated, and only book 1 of 3 is actually available. The other 2 books are basically ridiculously overpriced (100 dollars +), and even book 1 is around 50 dollars. This is... basically unacceptable. I'm sure Minford isn't even seeing close to that amount, so I have no idea where the money is going. But 250+ dollars for a single novel is ridiculous.
Book 1 is readily available off Amazon. Buy that to support him. That's more than enough money for the novel (most novels are 10 dollars... 250? no way). Book 2, as far as I can tell, is completely off the radar. I couldn't find a single decent copy (I'm not paying 140 dollars for some used copy). So, I only have Book 3 (which is fine, at least we have a conclusion).
Now, I don't like his translation, not one bit. So here's what I can do, if the mods don't shut it down.
I'll post the translation bit by bit, edited so that it's "readable" by people familiar with Jin Yong and Wuxia. The updates will be regular and speedy. Further, as soon as the book is actually available for purchase, I'm more than willing to take down all the translations. Finally, since I will be making significant edits, I don't really see the problem of posting it.
Complaints/Questions/Etc
Let me know in the next 24 hours or so, and if nobody complains or no mod whispers me, I'll start posting. Otherwise, I'll just read the poorly translated crap by myself. Satrap Wu? Really?
*Sweet
I haven't finished reading through yet, but I THINK I found the Minford book #2.
We have a couple of options now:
1.
Edit (heavily edit, change almost everything) Minford's translation from beginning to end. This will avoid any copyright issues since my revised translation will look almost nothing like his. I'd be aiming for a more "casual" tone in the writing. Jin Yong is not meant to be an academic work (if anything, the language is rather vulgar), but Minford makes reading it a chore. What a bore.
2. Figure out where book #2 starts and do speed edits of book 2 and 3 (maybe 5-10x faster than plan 1). Note, Minford is REALLY REALLY boring. Like... really really really. I'd rather rewrite it myself than read his work. Not saying he isn't a distinguished scholar (he is), but he's a white guy. His tone is just totally wrong.
3. Still can't find book 2 (possible, but I think I have it, the source material is just a pain in the butt to winnow through), just do Book 3 (fastest) (2x faster than plan #2).
Obviously, I don't have any experience editing Chinese translations. However, DOMD is probably the "best" thematically of JY's works, and I want to do it justice. Consequently, any supporting editors to catch my errors (there will be many) would be appreciated. Its summer right now, and I plan to finish at least 1 book by summer's end (at the very least). This may be optimistic, but at least 5-10 pages of typed text should be edited/rewritten per day (it's easy since I don't have to actively translate the Chinese myself unless absolutely necessary).
Ok that was long.