Awesome. Glad to turn you on to something new. Keep us posted on your yaoi journeys…

Yes, I loved that story too.

And I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed it. I read a review recently over at Kuriousity that talked about this book being over-hyped. And while Lissa Pattillo seemed to ultimately like the book, that review did make me question my strong recommendation some. Still, whether or not it’s “great yaoi” or “great literature”, I enjoyed reading it and I believe that other fans of yaoi will also find it worthwhile.

Thanks for the insight,

Alex

As for the stories – I loved the cats. What can I say.

Interesting — and for all I know, you could be right about it being scouse — but our speculation about what it might or might not be speaks exactly to why I think it’s not a good idea for translators to use English-language dialect to substitute for foreign language ones. It’s almost impossible to anticipate the readers’ associations with any particular dialect — and, as there is no standardization with the written forms of these dialects, determining exactly what English-language dialect was attempted remains nearly impossibly obscure for most readers. So, scouse or not, I still think it was a poor choice.

And while I’m not desperate to know the answer, I do appreciate you linking to that post on his blog. I notice that he says:

I did completely re-translate “Twilight Cicadas,” though, so if you hate the way that was translated, now you know who to blame.

and also note his post came out after my review here. Hmm — I’m hoping that it’s not a response to what I said in this review! I’m not a hater, Mr. Thorn, and I greatly appreciate you helping to make this work available to us. Just next time, I’d prefer you stick to standard English…

Thanks for commenting,

Alex

I think the dialect in the last story is intended to be a UK-ism of some sort, possibly scouse, not American Southern. That story was translated by Matt Thorn, so I suppose one could ask him if they were desperate to know.

JRB

Good to hear from you. I was sorry to see that YaoiSuki had suspended operations — I really liked your site. I hope you’re doing well.

And yeah, this one’s a goodie. I’m hesitant to overhype it because they’re short, relatively straight-forward stories — but I found it very satisfying and unique. I hope you enjoy it — and please let me know what you think!

Alex

I have marked this book into my wish list. Short one-shots, I would imagine, are a challenge to make compelling and memorable.

Yeah, that’s one of the strange truths about writing — that the shorter it is, the harder it is to write well, or at least satisfyingly. It’s one of the things that makes me have great respect for talented poets — and something I strive for (and fail at) with the posts on this blog. ::blush::

The comment you made about, “. . .to walk this earth is to be lonely but that none of us walk this earth alone,” is what ultimately tip the scale for me to want to purchase this book.

Well, heck — hopefully I’ll be as compelling when it comes time to write ad copy for my own work!

Glad you enjoyed the review — and I hope you enjoy the book!