Shanna & Languages

Of translation, books, languages and me

随便写写

开始这个部落格的初衷是想多写写文章，多阅读，给自己打造一个小小的文字空间。虽然在网络的某个角落已经有了另一个关于学习外语的部落格，但是我想在这里放一些自己写的故事。比起流水账一般的文章，我更想尝试有故事架构，人设的故事，或是有主题的文章。但是这样的想法却让我迟迟无法执笔（敲键盘）。因为顾虑太多，觉得没有灵感，没有特别想写的故事。

所以呢。几乎半年过后，这里一篇文章也没有，只有几个读后心得。平日里写读后心得我也比较喜欢随意的写。但想到要更注意用词，要写得有些深度等，反而写不出来。无形的压力，让写文章变成索然无味的作业，让我只想避而远之。所以我决定还是照着自己的喜好，兴趣来写文章。不求有任何读者，不刻意要求自己，只想开心的，随性的写。这样的操作更符合我的性格。

对于我来说，写东西是一种和自己，和世界的沟通方式。通过文字，我能更好的理清自己复杂的情绪思绪。把一些想法记录下了，过了一段时间再翻翻，感觉好像和当时的我对话。彼此怜惜，彼此勉励。我是一个内向的人。天蝎座的我孤傲，不擅长表达。很多时候说不出口的事，只能用文字表达。这是我与世界交流的方式。

之前一直太执着于写好，反而失去了写东西的动力。希望今天的决定能让我留下更多文字，更多自己的故事。

Review: 大军师司马懿之军师联盟 The Advisors Alliance

Court politics isn’t my usual cup of tea, but I’m so glad I picked up this novel by Chang Jiang (常江) from the library. It’s the first part of a two-part novel (and drama) based on the life of 司马懿 (Sima Yi), a government official (and later on military general) who lived in the Eastern Han dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period.

I usually steer away from such books/dramas because I find them either too dry or too angsty, dragging a single conflict out for no reason. But the book hits all the right notes. It’s sweeping, grand and the plot is fast-paced. But I still feel so much for the characters and there’s so much wisdom about life, friendship, family, loyalty and responsibility weaved in the story.

In particular, it’s really sad to see how the power distorts relationships and how loyalty and gratitude turned into hate and suspicion once people settle into positions of power. The characters talk about how things have changed under different circumstances and how things are beyond their control, but in some ways, it feels like they have betrayed their original beliefs.

身不由己，还是背弃初心。

This book leaves me much to think about, and I cannot wait to get my hands part two of the novel.

So glad to come back to reading in Chinese with this book.

2020 Tilted Axis Press Subscription

I’m late in the game of book subscription boxes. How could I not know that such a thing exists?! I need to rethink whether I can call myself a book lover. But better late than never, so I got myself the 2020 and 2021 subscription from Tilted Axis Press.

The great thing about being late is that instead of getting the books as and when they are published, I get to have all six at one go! Shipping was amazingly fast despite the COVID situation. Received the books in 9 days and in pristine condition. Sometimes I hesitate to buy books online because I’m afraid that they will come creased (or tattered!), am I the only one?

While I love reading, I tend to stick to specific genres/themes or authors (who may write books across diverse genres). For about 2 years, I was crazy about time-travel (穿越言情) books, so I read almost exclusively in that. There was a period where I was into forensics / crime books, and for the past 10 years, I bought almost all the books that Taiwanese author Giddens (九把刀）wrote.

I’m glad that my ongoing obsession is on translated fiction. It really introduces me to a wider range of authors and genres that I’ve read previously. The Tilted Axis subscription looks great. I may not have picked them in the library / from the bookstore, but now I’m so excited to delve into the books.

I’ll share more once I’ve finished reading. It’s crazy how I started the site in October and didn’t update since then. 2020 is a time warp.

Happy reading. If you happen to come across this space, please let me know what are your favourite books. 🙂

Get your books now:
2020 Tilted Axis Press Subscription
2021 Tilted Axis Press Subscription

Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Tales from the Cafe by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

I picked up this novel simply because I was intrigued by the title. What’s going to happen after the coffee gets cold? What kind of tales can we expect? Somehow I’m always drawn to stories set in cafes and train stations – people come and go, but everyone has a story to tell. I hadn’t realised that this was actually the sequel novel to Before the Coffee Gets Cold, but even without reading the first novel, the sequel can be enjoyed very much on its own too.

A cafe that allows you to travel back / forward in time once, with a set of rules in place. Amongst them, there is a rule where you won’t be able to change anything in the past or future.

Why then, do people still want to travel back / forward in time, despite knowing that it’s a futile attempt? The novel teaches us a very valuable lesson, that even with the same outcome, there can be a very different way to which we approach the situation.

In face of loss, we are often overwhelmed by regret, anxiety, guilt and self-reproach that we forget how it is not what our loved ones would wish for us. We forgot that we are deserving of happiness and that it is what our loved ones would want us to be. The time travel may not have changed the events in time, but it definitely changed the lives of those who had made the attempt. My favourite quote in the story:

We can never truly see into the hearts of others. When people get lost in their own worries, they can be blind to the feelings of those most important to them.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Tales from the Cafe

The novel is of the most poignant reads of the year so far and I love that despite not having a dramatic plot or climax, it manages to tug at our heartstrings with its simple prose. Sometimes I tend to shy away from Japanese dramas as I find that they tend to always end off each episode with a morale of the story that’s spelt out in our faces, but I like that the writing here in the four stories are a lot more subtle. It gives the reader space to think about it and form our own thoughts on what’s there to be learnt from each story.

Despite not having read the Japanese original, I do love the style of the translation by Geoffrey Trousselot. It reads smoothly, but I still feel the vibe that I do when I read a Japanese novel. It’s hard to describe, but I felt that the translator did a good job in retaining the quaintness, subtlety of the original. I feel that this is the appeal of translated fiction. It has to read smoothly for sure, but yet I don’t want to get the feeling that I’m reading an “English story” set in Japan with Japanese names or the characters.

All in all, a poignant read that makes me think about life and death and what it means for those who live on.

Review: Almond by Sohn Won-pyung

I bought the Korean novel 아몬드 weeks ago because I was intrigued by the title and the bold cover illustration of a boy with unfeeling eyes. I love its clean cover. I am glad the publisher kept the cover plain instead of including words like “Bestseller”, “No.1” etc, despite the book being already on its 90th print (first print in Mar 2017).

I ended up reading the English translation first, with the same title “Almond”, translated by Sandy Joosun Lee.

This story is, in short, about a monster meeting another monster. 

One of the monsters is me.

Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He does not have friends—the two almond-shaped neurons located deep in his brain have seen to that—but his devoted mother and grandmother provide him with a safe and content life. Their little home above his mother’s used bookstore is decorated with colorful Post-it notes that remind him when to smile, when to say “thank you,” and when to laugh.

Then on Christmas Eve—Yunjae’s sixteenth birthday—everything changes. A shocking act of random violence shatters his world, leaving him alone and on his own. Struggling to cope with his loss, Yunjae retreats into silent isolation, until troubled teenager Gon arrives at his school, and they develop a surprising bond. 

As Yunjae begins to open his life to new people—including a girl at school—something slowly changes inside him. And when Gon suddenly finds his life at risk, Yunjae will have the chance to step outside of every comfort zone he has created to perhaps become the hero he never thought he would be.

Synopsis: HarperCollins

The novel explores what it means to be different and how the different ways people perceive and approach differences make a hell lot of difference. I love how most, if not all, our characters manage to subvert our expectations. It is as though throughout the whole novel, the author is calling us out on stereotypical mindsets and attitudes.

I love that how the word “monster” takes on an affectionate and endearing tone. Granny called Yunjae a monster during their first meeting, “the most adorable little monster”. The meeting of Yunjae and Gon is called “a meeting between monsters”. The word “monster” becomes normalised in the story.

The making of monsters is also very much a product of how people are treated and we see how the warmth that people around Yunjae treated him had made the difference in his life. Gon, unfortunately, did not quite get the same from his father. While we see that his father missed him a lot over the years, he had already started on the wrong foot with Gon by asking Yunjae to pose as his long-lost son in front of his ailing wife. By denying Gon the only chance to meet his mother, he essentially had denied Gon’s identity as his son.

While Yunjae may not be able to understand / feel emotions, he perceives his world in his own way – his views are simple, logical and often incisive. Through the short, sharp prose, the readers get to understand him and sees the world from his eyes. I find that Korean sentences have a tendency to be long so I’m keen to find out if the stylistic choice is on the part of the translator or also the writer.  

I would have loved to see more scenes between Yunjae and Gon. The introduction of Dora turned the story into a more typical love story and for some reason, it didn’t quite appeal to me. It would have be interesting if the story went deeper into how Dora had affected the relationship between Yunjae and Gon but it was glossed over quite quickly.  

I love the unlikely friendship that blossomed between the two special boys. It is a good reminder that friendship is not about finding people similar to you, and often, we are all just waiting for someone to reach out to us, to accept our uniqueness and that will make all the difference.

Definitely a book that will remain on my mind for a while. Can’t wait to delve into the Korean original.