Tuesday, September 09, 2003

Bite the wax tadpole
Reuters | No Magic in Rogue Venezuela Version of Harry Potter
A pirate version of the latest Harry Potter blockbuster has hit the streets of Venezuela but the illegal book lacks the magic of the original and the translator apologizes on virtually every page.
The rogue Spanish edition of J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is peppered with notes from a translator who had to leave phrases in English with a Spanish explanation "(Sorry, I didn't understand what this means)."
A similar note on the same page tells readers: "(I didn't really understand what this phrase meant, so I paraphrased)."

"To be, or... something."
"Whoever translated this wanted to beat the market ... but I don't think it quite catches the spirit of Ms. Rowling's original," said Jose Farres of Editorial Oceano, which holds the rights for the book in Latin America.

Quite.

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