And then there were some...

It had to happen. In my slapdash, pick-em-all-up, buy-it-for-its-cover way of stocking my growing library, I have bought and am still buying books that I just cannot get through after more than a few chapters.

One of those genres is the translated book. I've always held to the believe that translated books somehow lose something in the translation or that whatever language it was written in probably reads better than the English. That's why it is difficult for me to sit through Murakami and not constantly think to myself, "Hey, that actually would make more sense in Japanese", or "It would sound so much better in Japanese". Not that my grasp of that language is better than my knowledge of English, given that I haven't used it in yonks; with what little Japanese I have left over from university, I can still some how picture Murakami would sound perfect in Japanese. In English, he reads like a halting, stilted Hemmingway. He just doesn't sound as "right" as he would in his native tongue.

And that's what I thought of Cornelia Funk's The Thief Lord. Somehow, the story didn't "get" me and the dialogue sounded stilted. It was not a very pleasant read. Because of Murakami and Funk, I have tried to keep away from translations as much as I can. But I gave in a couple of days ago.

I bought Isabel Hoving's Dream Merchant. The first few sentences were fine. A few pages into the book and I realised I was not enjoying it; the dialogue felt stilted (again) and the writing was stiff. I could somehow imagine it to read better in its native Dutch. The plot is interesting but the writing (translation?) takes some muster to wade through. And I just don't have the patience. I am deciding to ditch this book after going through about five chapters worth. Maybe someone else could fare better than me.

My other habit that lands me with more than one book unread is buying based on the cover alone. Sometimes I just wing it and pick a book for its cover. Wrong move. I should never judge a book by its cover. Ever. Even though nice covers are pleasing to the eye and quite pleasurable to collect. Bertrice Small's Forbidden Pleasures cover was attractive and had the blurb shouting, "Bertrice Small [is] the reigning of ... erotica, romance, love, and lust!" - Literary Times

Pah. Give me Susie Bright (of Herotica and Best American Erotica fame), Mary Anne Mohanraj (Torn Shapes of Desire: Internet Erotica) or even Julia Quinn any day. ANY day. Forbidden Pleasures is not very tasteful erotica, and the writing borders on sucky and boring. I went through two chapters and skimmed the erotic bits. And came away wishing for more Julia Quinn (I'd read two of her books by the time I picked up Bertrice Small). Regency romances that boast wit, humour and lively characters are gems indeed. And Julia Quinn delivers them all with a bang. Although I did notice that all her women protagonists tend to talk an awful lot, are self-assured and more than a little opinionated. But who cares when her writing shows them off to such witty and humorous light? Did I mention that her writing is oh, so witty?

I should have just stuck to perusing the Women's Fiction leisurely and casually. Not all Women's Fiction are gems even though most of them have interesting, attractive enough covers.

After such a scathing review, I wonder if I coud possibly pawn Forbidden Pleasures off for oh, say half its price of RM42?