Sunday Night

[kelly_chambliss]

Well, Sunday night is never quite as exciting as Friday, at least not during the academic year. But I've had a lovely weekend -- went out to dinner twice with different friends, posted a couple of recs for my "Flitwick" month at crack_broom, was pleasantly surprised to receive a lovely rec at crack_broom, AND (*cue cheering crowds*) I managed to write 3000 words of my story for snapecase. (Of course, I've also reached the stage of thinking that the premise of the fic is totally absurd and that Snape has never been written as more OOC, but I'm willing to believe that a lot of that is just ordinary WI [Writer's Insecurity] and that I'll get over it. And even if the fic is OOC and absurd, I've had fun writing it so far.)

Random Musings: Piled all over my desk for research purposes are various Harry Potter books; some are British editions, some are American. Now from an aesthetic standpoint, I have to say that the American books are more attractive. They have nice little typographic touches like small magical stars on each page, and any time a character receives a letter, it has an actual signature (Minerva, for instance, signs her name beautifully) or is completely written in a facsimile handwriting. And while the American books are probably less environmentally-sound (because they use more paper), they are easier to read: larger print and larger margins. The American version also includes a Table of Contents, which for some inexplicable reason, the British versions leave out. (Surely it wouldn't have been that much more expensive to include the contents pages, and when you're looking up bits for research, it's a pain not to be able easily to locate a given chapter.)

Still, despite the (to me) greater appeal of the American books, they just don't seem like the "real" Harry Potter books to me. And not just because of the linguistic changes (although it still pisses me off that Scholastic apparently didn't think American readers were bright enough to understand what was meant by terms like "dustbin lids" and "shan't!"). When I want to sit down and read some HP for fun, I'll always choose the American versions, for the ease of reading and also for the fact that the quality of materials seems better (already my British pages are yellowing, and the spines are not nearly as solid as the American ones). But when I want the "real" HP, I turn to the British books.

Comments

[lysanatt]

Hello there. I didn't want to add you out of the blue, so just here to tell you that I found your recs very interesting and helpful (I'm slowly getting back into fandom after a long hiatus, and currently in a reading spree). So I hope it's okay I add you to my reading list as I'd like to stay updated with your brilliant recs?

(My DW does not have any content yet - I am lysanatt @ both IJ and LJ, and not a Russian spambot *grins*)

[kelly_chambliss]

Oh, yes, feel free to add me; thank you! I'm really glad you enjoy the recs. I usually cross-post everything to DW and LJ, so add either or both. (I have an IJ account, too, but I use it only for fest commenting.)

[lysanatt]

Thanks! I'll probably add you @ LJ, too. *goes to add*

[delphi]

The Canadian editions are the same as the British inside, but I've been happy with the binding and paper quality. (All my books have been in my father's basement for years, but every time I check on them, the Potters are holding up).

although it still pisses me off that Scholastic apparently didn't think American readers were bright enough to understand what was meant by terms like "dustbin lids" and "shan't!

It's not just Scholastic. I've met many US fans who enthusiastically defend the "translations", claiming that reading the originals would make US children flunk their spelling tests and that one would need a UK dictionary on-hand, which would just make people lose interest. As someone from a country where the media is 90% foreign, I had to quietly beat my head against the wall.

[kelly_chambliss]

This is depressing on so many levels that I don't even know where to start. Spelling tests? Really? And are our attention spans so limited that kids are going to throw up their hands in despair and confusion if they have to read "Mum" instead of "Mom"? I ask you.

When I was ten years old, our family moved to a different house, and the people who were moving out left behind a huge box of kids' books for us. Among them were E. Nesbit and some L. T. Meade, and I absolutely adored them. The excitement of figuring out what the British terms meant, and what the worlds of the past were like -- that was so much of the pleasure for me. I hate to think of how much fun and knowledge kids lose out on by this needless "translation" from English to English.