Discussion

The problem with us freaks is that it NEVER ENDS.

To wit:

"I went back and forth on this, but concluded that a word is only connected to the word next to it -- hence each other."

s/b "...a word is connected only to..."

Very funny - and so, so true! (except that all the biggest and best stuff in Brazil is from São Paulo, of course!). Re: Food licentiousness. I´d say eating healthy portions of heavy feijoada in boiling hot midday temperatures meets the mark. Plus curious ways of perceiving time: the New Year ALWAYS starts AFTER Carnaval - be that in Feb, March or April...

GoodN sincere and informative writing but seems to have lost punch in translation (the looking glass, memory opacity) sound heavy and unbrazilian...

Daniela, Thanks for weighing in on maté. We weren't sure about this, but our dictionary has it with an accent, and for consistency's sake we went with that.

Diego, So interesting about the different states of Brazil, and something that we discussed as we edited and during our week of events with the authors. And thanks for telling us a good curse word!

Liz, This is an issue having to do with the lovely and underused subjunctive mood -- thanks for bringing it up! I don't think it's necessary to use it in this context, because 'if' hasn't been used to imply future doubt of something occurring. If I were (!) to use it, it would change the nuance of the sentence.

Mate does not need an accent in Portuguese or even in Spanish... At least not this Maté accent - it would if we emphasised the last vowel but the emphasis is in the first syllable...

The permanent sound.

A sweet
little candour
in the youth
of a white
dream, a tender
illusion where
a fine day
appears.....

Francesco Sinibaldi

"What’s the best translation for xoxota: ‘cunt’ or ‘pussy’?"

Xoxota is not a very common word. I've never used it, or maybe once or twice when I was a kid. The most common word for it (20/1) is "buceta". And we never use xoxota to curse. But I guess the real problem faced when translating Brazilian authors is that many words are quite common in one state but sound weird in another (and we have 27 states). So what to do when you translate them?

"Wouldn’t it be better if it was ‘on’?"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't it be "Wouldn't it be better if it were 'on'?"

Duplicated comment

Catherine, Happy to discuss ellipses any time! (Our house style dictates spaced ellipses always.)

Mo Hayder: that's an ad we printed in the Book, for Bath Spa University.

Patrick,
I read the book for my English Lit class. I'm writing a research paper on the contrast in the two cultures and the diffuculties of the Japanese integrating into with American people as a result. May I quote your interview in my research paper?

Duplicated comment

Dear Adam Thirlwell,

Is not my intention to drag You to a comtroverse but my friends and I have diferent interpretions on your article above. Since, I see no point to carrion a debate over someone else's opnion When You can solve the impasse strait with the source. I will like to ask You What excactly do You mean in your statements:
"There’s no doubt that the international reader is always an insecure, worried reader"

"I know nothing of the language in which this story called ‘Animals’ was written. Or also I do not know where precisely Porto Alegre is – where this story by Michel Laub begins. It does make, I’m just saying, a reader anxious. I have to assume that it’s Brazil. And yet also I think it’s possible in some bronco way not to care about these ethical problems and instead just attend to what’s right there."

"may have worried over to produce this very careful and very organized piece of English prose, just as it survives the anxieties in the present moment of its international reader"

To some people the way You treat the lack of kwnolge of the languange and the complement to the translator makes your critic insecure and puts a "shadow" over the brazilians work. Like, " what I am reading is the good work of the translator and I am not sure of this guy has to say"

Thank You

Fabio

Unrelated - am very intrigued to see Mo Hayder's Hanging Hill in the corner of the frame! What's going on there?

We need to talk about your ellipses?

‘Have we been ruined . . . for life?’

or

'Have we been ruined … for life?'

Hahaha! Miss Read, this was exactly what I wanted to happen when we posted this. Thanks for joining us in freakdom.

'It was Friday afternoon and we were ready to celebrate.' I see your point, and have added a comma.

fielding comments/changes: fielding can mean 'to take care of or respond to (as a telephone call or a request)' so I think this is OK.

dust-covered: in our style guide, we hyphenate compound adjectives if removing the comma might cause confusion.

copy-edit, proofread, wash cloth: these follow our style guide (based on the Oxford Dictionary of Writers and Editors, Oxford Spelling Dictionary, and the 11th edition of the Oxford Concise Dictionary.)

connect words to each other/one another: I went back and forth on this, but concluded that a word is only connected to the word next to it -- hence each other. Now that you've pointed it out, though, I'm starting to agree with you. I think I'll change.

'pure' in quotes: you're absolutely right; I have removed.

(Please read this as a JOKE, or at least a half-joke, from another freak copy editor.)

"It was Friday afternoon and we were ready to celebrate." --arguably these clauses are not short enough to omit the necessary comma between them.

fielding queries, yes.
fielding comments? hmm.
fielding changes? grr.

dust-covered=no hyphen unless placed before a noun

(why hyphenate copy-edit but not proofread?)

wash cloth=washcloth

"connect words to each other"--s/b connect words to one another

why put 'pure' in quotes when the word is not being used figuratively?

This article has served to add to the stockpile of inspirational material that I am reading on communal bakeries and their intrinsic value to communities.
I am desperate to see a return to communal values, and communal support for local .businesses

"Curious ways of perceiving time. If a Brazilian human says that something will not take long, relax: it will." - This is too much, not real at all. Doesn't work even as a joke. Might be true in some small towns and that's the end of it.

With the rest of the stuff, you've got your arses covered. Funny article. Keep going with it.

Excelent, I never thought about how we say Hi before! Please do not forget to mention the truth in the guide version:
The best and largest and most beautiful things in the whole Universe are in Rio de Janeiro.

it's soap opera, not soup opera -- I have made the same typo before :)

Where can we find the entire book in English? I can't find it anywhere. Not Amazon, not B&N, not Abebooks.

Where can we find the entire book in English? I can't find it anywhere. Not Amazon, not B&N, not Abebooks.

La belleza de los sueños.

Un flujo
de poesía
donde el
musco cubre
una luz y la
candida pasión.

Francesco Sinibaldi

HAHAHAHAHA, awesome article, so true !
Still laughing a lot here haha..
And Leticia is right, you forgot to mention about the kissing thing haha.
Abraços,

Matheus