Bookstores and libraries are two of my favorite places. One nice thing about many of the independents is that they still welcome you to read stuff without buying it, as long as the book stays in shelf condition. Two places near here even have chairs to make it easy for you.
I spotted lots of familiar friends in those book photos. Obviously Vietnam does have well-stocked libraries, but what I guess I find most surprising is how very many books, from all over the world, have made it into a Vietnamese translation. This may be the best clue that many Vietnamese are avid readers--no one takes the time to translate most books into the languages of cultures not known to be widely literate.
You mentioned poetry translations. Verse is something I have to believe is much more challenging to translate than mere prose, since you need to capture the entire feel of it rather than just the literal meaning of the words. Perhaps the very grammar of the target language may not even support that. Some of the ancient Greek classics, my chief exposure to verse in translation, no doubt suffer from the effort--that is why there are so many versions, I guess.
I'm with what Troy says regarding learning languages. My English is excellent, but I've had schooling in 5 or 6 other languages in bits and pieces throughout my school days, and then later attempts to learn a couple myself--almost all for nought. In my early school days I was not a very serious student, so there's that excuse, I guess, but my later efforts were more dedicated. Despite all of it, however, I am essentially functionally illiterate in all of them, and can only lamely speak at the survival level in Mandarin. I remember Russian well enough to pronounce Cyrillic text, but no longer recall what most of the words mean. Looking back, I'd say (weirdly) that the Latin was actually the most useful for a number of reasons.
I had plenty of curiosity and, I think, incentive to learn them. The big problem lies not in the incentive, but in the opportunity to use them after you start learning them. It's not like riding a bike--you DO forget them if you don't exercise them regularly. My wife's nephew (a Mandarin, Japanese, and English speaker) knows this, which is why he asked me to have a weekly call with him for a couple of hours--he found his English was deteriorating because he wasn't using it enough.
With the cellphone, this is no longer true. Before, I always saw many people reading at least newspapers in public. Now, they're playing video games, watching TikTok idiocy or listening to the same news over and over.
It's a shame they have succumbed to this affliction. It occurs to me that if this is indeed a world-wide trend, we may see, as one unfortunate side-effect, a drastic shrinkage in translations of good books into languages other than that of the authors. I've read an incredible number of books "in translation", and it's a shame to think that many such works yet to come will remain inaccessible to me.
P.S. Dirt cheap editions of Hồ Biểu Chánh (1885-1958) were sold at wet markets. He's a fantastic novelist who managed to become popular with regular people. Now, they're watching TikTok videos.
Linh, first off, the photo of you and your friend Motoyuki Shibata is beautiful and peaceful. It captures a moment of better, pre-cancelled times. I enjoy this "Postcards" space not only for the literary nervous system of references but because it also affords a glimpse into the lives and backgrounds of the folks that comment here. I am but a prosaic, bumbling Columbo looking for clues at the scene of the crime, life's been good to me so far...haha. BTW is it "that comment" or "who comment?" Thanks Linh for helping us not feel so alone.
Japan was busy building venues for the Olympics that would be delayed, then staged with almost no spectators, due to the absurd Covid hysteria. They really screwed over Japan.
Thanks for the description of your attempts to learn Italian Linh. I took two years of French in highschool which I thoroughly disregarded to my detriment. I still marvel at the facility with which some people acquire multiple languages, often by absolute necessity or simple discipline.
I heard an interview with Donald Ray Pollock years ago where he mentioned sitting down and transcribing short stories by Flannery O'Connor as a form of discipline when he had begun to think about writing seriously. A craftsman's approach. I thought his first book of short stories, Knockemstiff, was well written.
Without the need to use it, there's no real incentive to learn a foreign language. During six months in Albania, I picked up bits of Albanian, but never managed to say anything. I could half read menus, though, and once I figured out where to get my glasses fixed. A few times, I got directions from speaking to people in Italian.
During five months in Korea, I learnt next to nothing. Their alphabet was just too weird. The only word I still remember is mandu, meaning "dumpling."
In just three weeks in Indonesia, I picked up quite a few words. I really enjoyed learning that language.
I think I learned more Korean watching Korean costume dramas than I did of any other language. You make a good point about "alphabets." Being unable to lean on a familiar alphabet makes things a lot harder. But on the flip side, the alphabet can actually slow you down. I learned this while tutoring a Spanish speaker for a few years. She made really good progress early on when our lessons were strictly oral, but when we started using more written material it started to mess up her pronunciation. Some of the letters in the Roman alphabet stand for slightly different sounds in Spanish and English. It really gets bad in other languages that are further from English linguistically.
Bookstores and libraries are two of my favorite places. One nice thing about many of the independents is that they still welcome you to read stuff without buying it, as long as the book stays in shelf condition. Two places near here even have chairs to make it easy for you.
I spotted lots of familiar friends in those book photos. Obviously Vietnam does have well-stocked libraries, but what I guess I find most surprising is how very many books, from all over the world, have made it into a Vietnamese translation. This may be the best clue that many Vietnamese are avid readers--no one takes the time to translate most books into the languages of cultures not known to be widely literate.
You mentioned poetry translations. Verse is something I have to believe is much more challenging to translate than mere prose, since you need to capture the entire feel of it rather than just the literal meaning of the words. Perhaps the very grammar of the target language may not even support that. Some of the ancient Greek classics, my chief exposure to verse in translation, no doubt suffer from the effort--that is why there are so many versions, I guess.
I'm with what Troy says regarding learning languages. My English is excellent, but I've had schooling in 5 or 6 other languages in bits and pieces throughout my school days, and then later attempts to learn a couple myself--almost all for nought. In my early school days I was not a very serious student, so there's that excuse, I guess, but my later efforts were more dedicated. Despite all of it, however, I am essentially functionally illiterate in all of them, and can only lamely speak at the survival level in Mandarin. I remember Russian well enough to pronounce Cyrillic text, but no longer recall what most of the words mean. Looking back, I'd say (weirdly) that the Latin was actually the most useful for a number of reasons.
I had plenty of curiosity and, I think, incentive to learn them. The big problem lies not in the incentive, but in the opportunity to use them after you start learning them. It's not like riding a bike--you DO forget them if you don't exercise them regularly. My wife's nephew (a Mandarin, Japanese, and English speaker) knows this, which is why he asked me to have a weekly call with him for a couple of hours--he found his English was deteriorating because he wasn't using it enough.
"many Vietnamese are avid readers"
Hi JustPlain Bill,
With the cellphone, this is no longer true. Before, I always saw many people reading at least newspapers in public. Now, they're playing video games, watching TikTok idiocy or listening to the same news over and over.
Linh
It's a shame they have succumbed to this affliction. It occurs to me that if this is indeed a world-wide trend, we may see, as one unfortunate side-effect, a drastic shrinkage in translations of good books into languages other than that of the authors. I've read an incredible number of books "in translation", and it's a shame to think that many such works yet to come will remain inaccessible to me.
P.S. Dirt cheap editions of Hồ Biểu Chánh (1885-1958) were sold at wet markets. He's a fantastic novelist who managed to become popular with regular people. Now, they're watching TikTok videos.
Linh, first off, the photo of you and your friend Motoyuki Shibata is beautiful and peaceful. It captures a moment of better, pre-cancelled times. I enjoy this "Postcards" space not only for the literary nervous system of references but because it also affords a glimpse into the lives and backgrounds of the folks that comment here. I am but a prosaic, bumbling Columbo looking for clues at the scene of the crime, life's been good to me so far...haha. BTW is it "that comment" or "who comment?" Thanks Linh for helping us not feel so alone.
Hi Kevin,
That's me with Mieko Kawakami. Moto (that's what we call him) paid for that NYC dinner!
Here are Mieko and I again in a Tokyo newspaper:
https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3Aab79ba71-4b3e-4e22-b1c9-0ac093b88129&viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover
Japan was busy building venues for the Olympics that would be delayed, then staged with almost no spectators, due to the absurd Covid hysteria. They really screwed over Japan.
Linh
Linh, apologies for the faux pas, I'll get the tab next time. Kevin
Hi Kevin,
I get Japanese name confused too! Most that end with "o" are female, but the most famous one to Americans is Ichiro!
Linh
It is a good photo, the still shot where Mieko (arms crossed) doesn't look the least bit impressed!
I like it when those being photographed don't go "cheezey".
Hi Ernest,
It's amazing we managed to look dignified. A party of us got shit faced the night before.
Linh
Thanks for the insights. Viet Nam is a little more real to me from this
Thanks for the description of your attempts to learn Italian Linh. I took two years of French in highschool which I thoroughly disregarded to my detriment. I still marvel at the facility with which some people acquire multiple languages, often by absolute necessity or simple discipline.
I heard an interview with Donald Ray Pollock years ago where he mentioned sitting down and transcribing short stories by Flannery O'Connor as a form of discipline when he had begun to think about writing seriously. A craftsman's approach. I thought his first book of short stories, Knockemstiff, was well written.
https://bloomsite.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/donald-ray-pollock-feature/
Hi Troy,
Without the need to use it, there's no real incentive to learn a foreign language. During six months in Albania, I picked up bits of Albanian, but never managed to say anything. I could half read menus, though, and once I figured out where to get my glasses fixed. A few times, I got directions from speaking to people in Italian.
During five months in Korea, I learnt next to nothing. Their alphabet was just too weird. The only word I still remember is mandu, meaning "dumpling."
In just three weeks in Indonesia, I picked up quite a few words. I really enjoyed learning that language.
Linh
I think I learned more Korean watching Korean costume dramas than I did of any other language. You make a good point about "alphabets." Being unable to lean on a familiar alphabet makes things a lot harder. But on the flip side, the alphabet can actually slow you down. I learned this while tutoring a Spanish speaker for a few years. She made really good progress early on when our lessons were strictly oral, but when we started using more written material it started to mess up her pronunciation. Some of the letters in the Roman alphabet stand for slightly different sounds in Spanish and English. It really gets bad in other languages that are further from English linguistically.
"Whatever, man. I’m canceled"
Nah - they are just embarrassed and humiliated by their behaviour now.
"Woke" is DEAD.