Exciting Insights from Reading in English

On Reading in English and Translation

I have no doubt that reading books in English is incredibly beneficial, but there are moments that make you want to squeal with excitement and read even more!

Yesterday, while on a plane, I came across the new word "Oriental" in the novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.

There’s a dialogue between an American talk show host and a young English actress of Korean descent:

He looked at her face. He ran his index finger down the bridge of her nose.
“Exotic. The last one was an Oriental, too.”
“Orientals are rugs and furniture,” Anna said. “Not people.”

This morning, I struck up a conversation with a guy on the street about dogs, and he asked me, “Is your dog Oriental?” At first, I didn’t understand the question because it was the first time I heard that word. He clarified, “Does she come from Japan? Or China?” Can you believe it? Just yesterday I read that word, and today it popped up in conversation!

I was curious to see how that exchange was translated into Russian:

• “Exotic. The last one was an Oriental too.”
• “Oriental is a breed of cats! People shouldn’t be called that.”

Initially, I wanted to criticize the translation, but after discussing it with my older sister, a video game translator, we concluded that the dialogue is indeed quite complex. “Asian” feels too soft, while “slant-eyed” is too harsh and doesn’t carry the same nuance as “Oriental.”

However, I do appreciate the creative twist with the Oriental cats. It seems like they could have just left “Oriental” in the masculine form, as that’s how those cats are referred to. “The last one was also an Oriental.” It would emphasize the ignorance of that guy even more. After all, Oriental cats, even the females, are never called “Orientals.”

Overall, I highly recommend this book in English! The plot is quite unique, like a breath of fresh air—it’s about two young guys from MIT and Harvard who create video games in the 1990s.