THE FILIPINO TRANSLATION OF “FIFTY SHADES OF GRAY”: SURPRISE! THE TRANSLATION IS ACTUALLY BETTER THAN THE BOOK!

RATING GUIDE:

                       

5 – A keeper!   

4 – Very good

3 –  Passable

2 –  I’d rather read a telephone book

1 – An absolute bomb.  Read at your own risk!

Last year, a Philippine publishing house, Precious Pages Corporation, published its first-ever translation of a popular novel, that of Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight.  This bold move caused quite a stir, and a number of book lovers (like yours truly) asked many questions, such as the following:  Will the translation be any good?  Will book readers accept the idea of translating popular novels?  What book(s) will be translated next?  Will it be (GASP!) Fifty Shades Of Gray?

Apparently, Precious Pages Corporation’s decision to make translations of popular novels available to the public has been a very good one.  Even though the Filipino translation of Twilight received mixed reviews, Precious Pages has soldiered on in its vision to give the reading public a wider variety of popular material in Filipino.  In the last few months, it has released the translations of other titles, such as Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games and Catching Fire (The translations are selling well, I guess). And just recently, it has released the long-awaited (or long-dreaded) Filipino translation of EL James’ Fifty Shades Of Gray. 

If you have read my book reviews of EL James’ Fifty Shades trilogy, it would be obvious that I’m not really a fan of this book series.  But since I am a new convert to reading Filipino translations, I got a copy of the Filipino translation of Fifty Shades and got ready to … what’s the right word … oh, yes.  Puke.   

Imagine my surprise when I finished reading the translation  without feeling any urge to run into the bathroom and vomit my guts out.  In fact, it took me a much shorter time to finish reading it (as opposed to its English original, which was almost an intolerable chore to read).  What do you know?  Believe it or not, the translation is actually better than the book.  Surprised?  Well, I am, considering how bad the source book is.

Thanks to the sensible and careful efforts of Precious Pages’ translation and editing team, the Filipino translation of Fifty Shades Of Gray is a much smoother and quicker read.  I was sooooo glad that the team minimized the number of times I had to read about the color of Christian Gray’s eyes, or the shape of Christian’s fingers, or Ana’s lip-biting, enticing ways.  I mean, hey, the book readers aren’t idiots (well, most of us aren’t).  You don’t need to tell us a hundred times that Christian’s eyes are gray before we realize that they ARE gray.   I mean, come on!

In the original book, Ana sounded like a British woman desperately trying to sound like a young American girl.  In the translation, Ana’s voice is very young and Pinay.  She also sounds more “normal” compared to the original Ana, whose capacity for vulgarity came in stages (it took her a huge dose of Christian Gray before her swearing progressed from “Holy crap” to “Holy fuck”).  In the translation, there are no such levels and distinctions, and we know exactly how Ana feels the moment she goes “Putang ina!”

Wow.  Ang lutong ng mura, parang chicharon!

This “direct approach” is also applied to the book’s abundant sex scenes.  Instead of using euphemisms for body parts or sexual terms (the kinds we read about in those seedy underground tabloid columns or magazines), the translating and editing team calls a spade a spade.  Walang preno.  Breasts are not mountains but suso, the clitoris is not a gem but tinggil, and so on and so forth.  I don’t know if that approach would raise the nausea factor for other book readers, but that approach worked well for me.  I probably would have rolled my eyes or snickered had I found any of the euphemisms being used in the translated version.

I also discovered something surprising about reading translations.  If you have read any of my previous posts, you would know that I am a recent convert to reading translations.  I just enjoy reading books in their original form and reading their translated versions.  So far, I have talked about the surprising things that happen when one reads a Filipino translation.  In my experience, a translation is easier to read.  It takes less time, the words are processed by the brain much quicker and much more smoothly, the details are more vivid.  I also experienced this while reading the translation of Fifty Shades, but what’s surprising is, I liked Christian Gray MORE when I read the translation.  He was a dangerous asshole in the original, but he morphed into an almost-normal guy with many issues when I read the Filipino version.  Ana, meanwhile, became younger, natural-sounding and more like your average Pinay … and believe it or not, the sex scenes became less gag-worthy and more acceptable.  Steamy, even.  I’m not kidding.

While I will never consider the English Fifty Shades trilogy as something I might want in my book collection, the Filipino Fifty Shades is a very sharp, accurate, readable and (dare I say this) enjoyable translation to read.  Much, much better than the original.

RATING:  4 1/2

               

           

EL JAMES’ “FIFTY SHADES DARKER”: FINALLY, A STORY!

RATING GUIDE:

 

5 – A keeper!   

4 – Very good

3 –  Passable

2 –  I’d rather read a telephone book

1 – An absolute bomb.  Read at your own risk!

I know I didn’t exactly relish the experience of reading Fifty Shades of Grey, but I still went ahead and read the second book in EL James’ highly controversial trilogy.  I can only compare the experience to believing the campaign promises of a politician who’s running for office:  there’s a part of you that knows you’re going to be screwed, one way or another.  But blame it on my hopeless sense of optimism (you know the boat is sinking and yet you refuse to jump off), my stubborn nature, or simply my curiosity.  Really, is there anyone out there who can refuse the call of a cliff-hanger?  I can’t.  And so, armed with a glass of water and Biogesic, I got back into the extremely warped world of Anastacia (then-clueless-virgin-now-poster-child-for-the-walking-orgasm) and her Perfect Man (or so it seems), Christian.

The last time author EL James left her characters, Anastacia (or Ana) had just broken up with Christian.  Fifty Shades Darker opens with Christian’s nightmare, a scene that actually made me think, Hmm!  Angst!  Promising!  That very promising scene of angst is quickly followed by Ana  doing what every girl does when she has just broken up with her man (act like a total wreck).  For a moment, I actually had high hopes that I’d get to see how these two would try to get through life without each other … but alas, my hopes were dashed very, very quickly.  Christian visits Ana, and before you can say “Holy fuck!” (one of Ana’s favorite phrases), they’re back in each other’s arms and … well, into each other’s nether parts.  Ho-hum. 

But wait, there’s more!  Apparently, an excessive amount of sex can totally wipe out one’s personality.  In this book, the formerly shy-in-bed Ana has been replaced by her frequently foul-mouthed, outspoken, sexually aggressive evil twin.  She’s so sexually “on” that you begin to wonder, could this girl be a sex addict?  A mere look from her beloved Christian sends her vagina goes into orgasmic spasms.  Really. To use her new catchphrase … Holy motherfuck!  It’s a wonder she actually gets any work done.  Well, apparently, she does … in between being wined, dined and shagged by Christian, she works as an editor’s assistant in a publishing house that, oh, yes, has actually been bought by Christian for her, supposedly to “protect” her. 

Ana tries to fight against Christian’s extremely manipulative, controlling ways … and I’m reluctant to use the word “tries,” because, to be honest, it doesn’t really seem that way.  Why try, when every woman in town is ogling YOUR man.  Why try, when he’s feeding you gourmet food and buying you expensive things (like a CAR!), and, oh, your very own publishing company, and giving you mind-blowing --- NO, SCREAMING! --- orgasms?  Never mind that this very same man treats you like an object, practically controls your every move and subjects you to his frightening mood swings.

Thankfully, this is fiction, and so the very man that in real life should send every woman running to the hills, actually transforms into something that resembles, oh, an actual human.  It is in this book that the readers begin to understand why Christian is, to use his words, “fifty shades fucked-up”.  Finally, something to latch on to, emotionally and intellectually!

The weird thing about this book is, as repetitive and boring the sex scenes are, as infuriating Ana and Christian are, there’s still a tiny part of you that wants them to overcome their difficulties and have their happy ending.  To the Fifty Shades fans, this book delivers just that, even though it’s slightly over-the-top-cheesy for me, just like their flirtatious e-mail exchanges.  I am a hopeless romantic, but honestly, their e-mail exchanges make me cringe. 

One improvement that can be observed from the first book is EL James’ characterization.  I’m not saying that her characterization is good, to me, it’s still very flawed and lacking in credibility.    For example, there’s way in hell one would believe that Ana is capable of being an editor’s assistant in a publishing house, just because the word “avuncular” is part of her vocabulary.  There’s hardly any mention of Ana’s life outside her life with Christian (blame it on all of the sex scenes), and so imagining Ana as an actual person is pretty difficult. The same can be said of Christian’s characterization.  However, EL James manages to paint a fairly good picture of Christian’s past and his vulnerabilities, that he actually becomes real in the reader’s imagination.  Unfortunately, the effort EL James put into developing Christian didn’t quite extend to Anastacia’s character.  Her transformation from clueless virgin to foul-mouthed woman on top just doesn’t make me see her as a sensual, modern woman … she just seems, well, horny.

Fifty Shades Darker continues to be a sextravaganza of epic proportions, though, in my view, it’s not the numerous sex scenes that gives it merit, but the revelations in Christian’s tortured character.  It’s actually a surprisingly poignant moment when  Christian reveals what’s truly in his heart  and assumes the submissive position, all for fear that Ana would leave him.  In my opinion, it is that scene, and the other moments when Christian shows his heart, that are the best moments in the story.  When Christian tries to compromise with Ana, or when he lets his guard down and allows himself to be touched before they make love --- to me, these are actually the moments that grab one’s heart and attention.  As opposed to the many, many moments when Christian (pardon the expression) fucks her senseless.  I didn’t even react when Christian had sex with Ana over the pool table, or when he gave her a hand job while they were stuck in a crowded elevator … although I did wonder, wouldn’t anyone notice that while it’s happening?  Which probably proves that too much of anything --- including sex --- isn’t really a good thing.

Overall, Fifty Shades Darker is a slight improvement over Fifty Shades of Grey.  If you’re into reading sex, sex, sex with angst and cheese, LOTS of cheese, then this is the book for you.

RATING:  3