Translating with TJ

Perfect Balance

Translator is the one who achieves

the prowess of being faithful to

the author and to the reader

at the same time. – tj*¬

My Translation of Whisky Classified

This is a very interesting book I translated about whisky, and it also represented a professional challenge because the author, David Wishart, classifies all kind of whiskies from

Scotland

, talks about the distilleries, historical places, present day locations and the whole process to produce whisky.

Book Description:
Ten years ago, WHISKY CLASSIFIED revolutionised our appreciation of single malt whisky. David Wishart cut through the confusing jargon often used to describe single malts and replaced it with an objective and easily applied guide to taste using a new flavour profile. Twelve dimensions to the aroma and taste of a single malt whisky were identified: body, sweetness, smoky, medicinal, tobacco, honey, spicy, winey, nutty, malty, fruity, floral. Single malt whisky is the fastest expanding sector of the booming whisky market. In this revised and updated anniversary edition, Dr Wishart has included all the new UK and Irish producers of single malt whisky that have emerged in the last 10 years. The author has also updated the taste profiles for each selected malt and reviewed previous entries to ensure that this book remains the definitive guide to tasting malt whisky. Each entry includes a short description of the distillery, information for visitors, the author's own tasting notes and his flavour profiles according to this innovative classification. The history of whisky-making and production methods are clearly explained, and Dr Wishart also reveals how to organise a whisky tasting. WHISKY CLASSIFIED is for all whisky drinkers, from the novice to the connoisseur.
Extracted from Harper Collins

Whisky Classified
David Whishart
Translation to Portuguese: Tina Jeronymo

Happy Translator's Day!

The International Translators’ Day is celebrated on September 30th on the feast of St. Jerome, the Bible translator who is considered as the patron saint of translators because he translated what was recognized as the official version of the Bible into Latin, the Vulgate.

My translation of Weapon - A Visual History of Arms and Armour

This was one of the most interesting books I’ve translated to Portuguese. Weapon - A Visual History of Arms and Armour (by Richard Holmes) represented a big challenge to me as a translator because it’s a complete guide of weapons through ages and from all parts of the globe. It’s a journey through history, and contains all the technical details and explanations about weapons mechanisms, and I had to research a lot during translation. The book also covers war tactics, talks about warriors and soldiers from all times, and also all kinds of armours. It was indeed a privilege to translate it, and I’ve learned a lot during the whole process.

Synopsis:

A slice of history - the definitive exploration of weapons through the ages, now with a fresh new jacket. An epic 4,000-year illustrated story of weaponry. From stone axes to heavy machine-guns, swords to sniper rifles, discover the innovative design, range, lethal function and brutal history of arms and armour, and meet the warriors who wielded them. Includes all the important arms from the ages, covering edged weapons, clubs, projectiles and firearms from ancient Egyptian axes, through bows and spears of traditional societies in Africa, Oceania and the Americas, to the machine-guns and missiles of modern infantry forces. Key weapons from every era are presented in sharp detail and the mechanisms that operate them are displayed and explained. Top fighting forces, from the Greek hoplite to the Navy Seal are profiled, and the weapons they have wielded and the tactics and fighting methods they've used are revealed.

(Synopsis - from: http://books.google.com.br/books/about/Weapon.html)

- Weapon - A Visual History of Arms and Armour - Richard Holmes

Translation to Portuguese: Tina Jeronymo

- Armas - Uma História Visual de Armas e Armaduras

Editora: Lafonte

September – Translator’s Month

The translator not only likes it, but he/she needs to learn more and more about cultures and peoples from all over the world, ancient and new.

Translator's Month

My Translation of Slash’s Autobiography

Comments about Slash’s Book and My Translation to Portuguese

The autobiography written by Slash, Saul Hudson, born in England in 1965, is a real trip throughout the music world. Slash tells us about his musical preferences since he was a kid and traces an interesting time line since, mainly, the 1970s till present day. This alone, for those who enjoy music (almost everyone, I guess), would turn it into a “must-have” book. In Guns N’ Roses golden days, Slash was (and always will be, of course) an extremely talented guitarist, indeed. But, to me, as a rock fan, at that time he was still someone hidden behind a mountain of hair and a top hat. The curious thing is that this book has been given to another translator who wasn't able to do it because of the deadline, and I ended up having the privilege of translating it.

Of course, as most fans, I've never really known Slash, nor Saul Hudson, as a person. I only know the things I've read about him, and I love his irresistible rock music and riffs and those incredible songs (Though I was lucky to meet him in a show, as in the picture below.) But it was only after I translated Slash’s book that I came to admire him as a person as well. As I use to say, to translate a book, you have to enter a bit into the author’s mind, to understand his/her ideas to be able to transmit them in the most precise way, while you read the book hundreds of times in the process. But always, as a translator, you have to transmit all this in a detached way, and so, this translation of the book to Portuguese is impartial as it must be.
As a reader, though, I think Slash revealed himself a generous, gentle, sensible, determined person. Slash talks about his childhood, his friendships, the mischievousness of the youth, of school times, and his fascination for snakes and exotic animals in general. It’s amazing the candidness Slash uses to give us his account, so perfectly transmitted by Anthony Bozza’s style as he wrote the book. As Slash talks with all his heart, we’ve got the impression, throughout the book, that we're in a kind of chat with our idol as readers. (If you want to know it all, his book is really great to read.)
Another admirable aspect is Slash’s innate talent for music and to play guitar. Without many resources, he learned to play practically by himself, starting using his grandmother’s famous flamenco guitar and reading dozens and dozens of sheet music and guitar tabs, while playing together with his favorite rock bands’ albums. His efforts ended up enabling him to achieve great success in his musical projects. (I went to his shows in São Paulo in 2011 and in 2012 and was amazed to see the energy the man has to play his guitar. We get breathless just looking at him as fans!)
Naturally, in his book, Slash tells us about his trajectory in Guns N’ Roses, the way the band started, how he met the other members, about ups and downs, the huge success, what he felt becoming famous, the tours, the opening shows to his own idols, like Aerosmith and Mötley Crüe. Like Rome, there was the inevitable decline of the band, and it was a pity because they were perfect together, with an incredible chemistry, as all gunners would agree. And it’s not a report about choosing sides _ in all stories everybody has his/her own version of the facts, his/her points of view. Anyway, I guess certain aspects are all water under the bridge now, and concerning the parts involved. If I had to use a single word to describe the book itself as a reader I would say it’s about “endurance”.

And my translation, naturally, was totally impartial as translations must be, transmitting all the contents as they are in the original book, though I’m also giving my own opinions as a reader in this article. The translation itself to Portuguese was long and hard with lots of slangs, technical details about music, playing and recording, references to countless people, places, etc. etc., and it demanded lots of researching. But it was very pleasurable indeed. It’s my favorite among all the translations I’ve done. Because when one translates a book, the result is much better when he/she also enjoys it as a reader first. And I’ve been lucky enough to always translate things I enjoy.

In the book, there is the somber and dramatic side, the deep darkness to which addiction unfortunately drags human beings sometimes. As a reader, I think this part about addiction/drugs/alcohol/smoke/self-destruction must be faced as a guide about what NOT to do with our lives.
In his autobiography, Slash tells us how he has gotten his nickname, and also the top hat that would become his trademark when he had to improvise some garments for shows. There we find drama, friendship, nostalgia, a lot about Rock, a bit of something like the “Twilight Zone”, and there’s a lot of sense of humor in the book too, what’s very charming. We can laugh with some of Slash’s mishaps, as he talks about them, including the glam period of the band, or when he had to dress like a woman to go inside a nightclub.

One of my favorite of those parts is when he jumped straight from the stage during a show and the audience parted like the Red Sea, and he fell hard on the floor _ a kind of miscalculation. Then, as if nothing had happened, he cleaned the dust, went back to the stage and kept on playing. I think that’s a good metaphor for the way he gathered up the pieces of his old life and turned it into a greater success.

Slash With Anthony Bozza

Translation to Portuguese: Tina Jeronymo

Ediouro

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