AtD translation: too fair to be alone, too crazy for town/exploding into the dark

[Mike Jing]

Thanks for all the suggestions, Mark. They certainly help a lot.

Since in Chinese we count characters instead of words, comparison could be
tricky. But in general, modern Chinese is not very laconic, while classic
Chinese is exemplary in its word economy. However, some classic usage is
still frequently used in modern prose, and it could make a significant
difference in word count.


On Tue, Jan 11, 2022 at 6:07 AM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:

> Mike,
>
> I think I do get your point, monolanguager (sic, he writes too cutely)
> that I basically am. (But
> I have explored varying translations of many closely read books, sometimes
> in groups with translators and read and heard about translations from
> translators
> and others. Here is an interesting observation that I've  read: most
> translations have more words than the original....
>
> Anyway, I'm game. I like being part of your work as I can. My first
> reading of "crazy' is the literal one, as David might be saying, out of
> touch with reality. Their "Imagination all compact" to quote Shakey. They
> live in their own minds, minds of a lot of fantasy mostly.
>
> Specifically to the phrase in question, the reality of  being in town,
> living in a town. That takes a firm connection to the reality principle,
> right? Jobs, a disciplined life. They are "crazily" in thrall to
> something else; the fantasy of romance, love, boys/men and---see how they
> end up.
>
> And I do not know what you think is obvious about "exploding into the
> dark"....I see multiple resonances....1) mine dynamiters  2) orgasms in
> girls/women 3) Expressing themselves into the darkness of life....(it's
> always dark, etc.)
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 11, 2022 at 4:06 AM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Got it.  Sort of.  But, Pynchon wouldn’t want you translating words that
>> he
>> intended to be simple (as isolated words) but are connected to other words
>> in strange ways like “too fair to be alone, too crazy for town.”
>>
>> Two separate “too (blank) for (blank)” phrase pairings that don’t have any
>> clear meaning by themselves, and aren’t figures of speech, as far as I
>> know.  And their meanings are both to understood as related to a certain
>> kind of girl (Dixies and Fans and Mignonettes).  I think it’s best to just
>> define those kinds of girls, let the reader tease out the obscurities.
>>
>> On Tue, Jan 11, 2022 at 2:39 AM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > We've been down this road many times. Suffice to say that "translate as
>> > written" is not as simple as many people think it is, and I welcome
>> > interpretations from everyone since it helps me to understand the text
>> > better, thus making the translation better.
>> >
>> > Or you can simply ignore the part about the translation, and pretend
>> this
>> > is just another question about a Pynchon novel from a non-native
>> speaker.
>> > Sometimes I simply would like to know. The only reason I put "AtD
>> > translation" in the subject is so that I can filter the messages easily
>> > (BTW, for the same reason, it's best not to edit the subject when
>> > replying). So there is no reason to shy away from interpretations. In
>> any
>> > case, all helpful responses are greatly appreciated.
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, Jan 11, 2022 at 12:47 AM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> >> If you want translation rather than interpretation, I’d suggest you
>> >> translate as written.  There are too many subjective interpretations
>> >> possible.
>> >>
>> >> On Mon, Jan 10, 2022 at 11:04 PM Mike Jing <
>> gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
>> >> wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> P651.23-29   . . . yet she couldn’t see her luck as other than
>> purchased
>> >>> in
>> >>> the worn unlucky coin of all those girls
>> >>> who hadn’t kept coming back, who’d gone down before their time, Dixies
>> >>> and
>> >>> Fans and Mignonettes, too fair to be alone, too crazy for town, ending
>> >>> their days too soon in barrelhouses, in shelters dug not quite deep
>> >>> enough
>> >>> into the unyielding freeze of the hillside, for the sake of boys too
>> >>> stupefied with their own love of exploding into the dark, . . .
>> >>>
>> >>> What does "too fair to be alone, too crazy for town" imply here,
>> >>> especially
>> >>> "too crazy for town"? And what does "exploding into the dark" refer
>> to,
>> >>> apart from the obvious?
>> >>> --
>> >>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> >>>
>> >>
>> --
>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>
>