Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site brl-tgr.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!houxm!houxz!vax135!floyd!cmcl2!seismo!brl-tgr!wmartin From: wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) Newsgroups: net.books,net.religion Subject: Re: The Name of the Rose Message-ID: <3021@brl-tgr.ARPA> Date: Tue, 5-Jun-84 09:13:19 EDT Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.3021 Posted: Tue Jun 5 09:13:19 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 7-Jun-84 07:44:07 EDT References: <745@bbncca.ARPA> Organization: Ballistics Research Lab Lines: 23 Truly a good and enjoyable book (the two are not always synonymous). One annoyance I had with the translation into English (I have no idea if it was this way in the original, so I will not blame the author) -- there are many inclusions in Latin, and SOME of them are translated into English, but some are not. (Usually the method is that a character states something in the Latin and it is then followed by a version in English, as if the character was explaining or elaborating on his statement. It is a much smoother method than using footnotes.) Anyway, if some are translated, ALL should be. My Latin is over 20 years rusty, and most readers will have less than that. If it isn't worth translating, it isn't worth including, and if it is worth including, it is worth making sure that the information is accessible to all readers. This doesn't apply to standard phrases, or something used more for effect than for content (such as a transcription of a chant during a service), but it does apply to dialog. There would be a special exception made for a certain character in this book who speaks in a mingled jumble of Latin and local dialect, where the nature of the jumbled words is important to the characterization. Will