Grievous Are the Sins of the Empire - Thank you!

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October 2006

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Thank you!	Sep. 10th, 2006 @ 11:23 pm

Guys, I had no idea about the kind of response I'd get to my last post.

trailer_spot did send me a couple of incredibly supportive e-mails, but I figured he'd be the only person reading this blog after so much time. I mean, I was away doing other things, neglecting this community, and then I come back and say it was all quite shitty and... yeah, I didn't expect anyone to understand.

But people DO understand. I actually checked my e-mail!

Massimo from Venice: "We're not cross with you, Vlad, we just hope you can stay at our place next year."

Christine from the Wiesbaden festival: "I want you to come next year. We'll cover the airfare and accomodation."

And a few personal things. What, I'm not universally reviled? I think I would react like George Bailey if I had any emotional resources left. No, seriously, guys, I love everything that you wrote, even if I was too messed up to actually open this page and read your comments until tonight.

It's kind of about what happened this week, when I came back to my publishing house, Algoritam, to talk about my next assignments. (I've finished The Golem's Eye, the second book of the Bartimaeus Trilogy, during the latest leg of my vacation.)

The visit turned out into a battle to preserve the integrity of my "White Jazz" translation. It took me three months to finish it, and I handed it in in early 2005. Then the redactor sat on it for FIFTEEN months doing nothing, just waiting to meet me face to face. And she did that this week -- she happened to be there when I walked in, and before I had the time to get introduced, she told me I didn't know English, I shouldn't be allowed to translate books, and I should probably just jump out the window and die.

All this in front of my boss.

Of course, when we sat down and talked about the specific issues she had with my translation, it turned out that she preferred different renditions of US institutional terminology, to make them more consistent with their Croatian counterparts (not that that's a very wise thing to do), and that she wanted the 1950's terminology I employed bumped up to the current slang terms (something I vehemently disagree with). But I kept my cool, and she ended up looking like a total ass. And then I left the office, and she, in a huff, printed out three pages of my translation and doodled all kinds of idiotic changes onto them.

I'm actually taking a sample of her "improvements", along with my originals and the Ellroy original text, to my publisher tomorrow. And we'll see if he really wants to have such a completely falsified lingo in his translation.

Oh, I wish you guys knew Croatian. You have to take my word for the kinds of things that would be totally obvious to someone who speaks the language.

But that's one battle I think I'm gonna win, because I have reasonable arguments on my side. What worries me is that the people like this person have hoarded so much power in this country, infiltrating unis and institutions and even private publishing companies, that people like me are soon going to get completely pushed out. It's the Pula story all over again -- bullying, shouting, bullshiting in the name of bringing everyone under the sway of a humorless, talentless, obstinately Procrustean agenda.

But I'm not letting this floor get out from under me. I need my translating job to make ends meet, and to finance that postgrad study that I've postponed so long.

I'm picking myself up, slowly, and I WILL MAKE THIS GJ WORTH READING FOR MORE THAN MY SELF-PITYING RANTS in the near future. Lylassandra, Isthisthingon, Mardybum, Kaja, Platinum-Cobra, Wumbawoman, all of you -- thank you for the bottom of my heart for your patience, well-wishing, and encouragement. You are better people than I am, but at least you're there to inspire me.

I need to make a "hugging you all" icon soon, or something.

(You were saying?)

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From:	isthisthingon
Date:	September 10th, 2006 - 11:39 pm

(Link)

That woman sounds like a fool. I'm so sorry you were treated that way in general, but especially in front of your boss! But it seems like right is on your side on this one, and I hope it comes right!

*hugs*

katels from LJ