I bought the 1st and 3rd book of Deer and the Cauldron translated and edited by John Minford. 1st book was actually quite cheap, $14 but for some reason the 2nd and 3rd book was 30 someting a piece.
Anyways the problem I had with the Minford's translation was his translation of characters's names. The main character whom we all know and love is no longer refered to as Wei Xiaobao but as 'Trinket'. Xiang'er is knowned as 'Doublet', Ah'ke is known as 'Green', Mao 18 is known as 'Whiskers', Xiao Xuanzi(kang Xi's pet name) is named 'Misty' and the regulars of TianDi Society are given ridiculous english "nicknames" as well('Beaver' is used) . Sometimes I find it hard to know which character is which becuz of this and it gets somewhat annoying seeing the characters that you care and love be butchered with names like those.
2nd problem is that Minford had the term 'karate" to describe certain characters' fighting. 'Karate' Japanese, 'Kungfu' Chinese, kinda ignorant but no biggy. But for other translations, he used the phrase "Tarmardy" and I guess thats what he replaced Xiaobao's "Ni ah ye"(Your granddad) with. "Hot piece a momma", I don't even kno what original phrase that refers to. Just gay. TianDi Hui isn't called Heaven and Earth society but simply "Triads". There are also poems in the book that somehow rhymes in English but obviously can't be the direct translations of the actual poems in the original work. I understand that his book is trying to appeal to the Western audience by trying to bridge the cultural gap, but hi attempt to do so and his choice of words is more lame than engaging.
3rd problem, it could just be me, but I can't help but think that Minford really omitted certain entire scenes of dialogue and action and replaced them with summarizations. Like after reading Noodle's and Lanny Lin's direct translations, it seemed out of place that JinYong would not describe those scenes vividly and in detail like he is so known for and so well in his other novels. And supposedly this was his last novel, so it should be his most refined writing. But like the part when Chen Jinnan intervened to stop Gui Xinshu's wife from comitting suicide, it was very vague. It didn't describe what move Chen used to save her or how he got injured in the process. It simply said 'Helmsman' saved her but was injured and coughing out blood as a result. There are many more scenes like that. Especially in the 3rd book, at the end of it, it was really less dialogue than I expected, just apparently summarizations of what was being said and done by the characters. Xiaobao's wives were apparently mute by the end of the story, other than 'Doublet'. Not much interaction like what I expected from 7 wives, especially from princess Jian Ning. Its like all these characters had their parts cut out. I could just be paranoid since I never read the original Chinese translation but this really bothered me, feeling that I'm being ripped off reading a severely edited work. Can anyone confirm?