JUNE GRAY’S “DISARM”: AN EXAMPLE OF MODERN DAY ROMANCE

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!

0 – Nothing will compensate for what I lost reading this book 

 

Gone are the days when romance meant flowers and chocolates, and walks along the beach on a moonlit night while holding hands with your special someone.  In June Gray’s “Disarm” at least, the 21^st century version of romance appears to be … sex, sex and more sex. 

June Gray’s “Disarm” is the story of two childhood friends, Elsie and Henry.  Elsie and Henry are forced to live together following the death of Elsie’s elder brother, Jason, who happens to be Henry’s best friend.  The problem is, Elsie and Henry have long been attracted to each other, and this attraction finally erupts into full-blown passion right before Henry leaves for an overseas assignment. 

Elise patiently waits for Henry’s return, expecting the two of them will resume their love affair once he gets back … but Elsie is thrown for a loop when Henry unexpectedly puts an end to their relationship.  Will Elsie fight for her love for Henry or move on?

Generally, I don’t enjoy reading books that are heavy on sex scenes.  I prefer reading books that are more focused on plot and character development.  However, thankfully, “Disarm” has both elements.  At least, in this book, sex is presented as a by-product of the love shared between Elsie and Henry, which grew out of a long and deep friendship.  Elsie and Henry are PEOPLE, and not just animals in heat.

The most satisfying part of the book was when Gray told the story from Henry’s point of view.  I wonder if Gray planned to write this book this way at first, for this portion is very different from the way the story is told (i.e., from Elsie’s point of view).  Personally, I think I would have enjoyed this book more had it been told from Henry’s point of view.  It was in Henry’s portion of the story that I learned about the characters’ history and felt some form of empathy for them.  Elsie’s portion of the book just reads like a mashup between a Harlequin romance and porn (quite boring to me).

As a Filipina who isn’t in her twenties anymore, I found it quite difficult to relate to Elsie --- but I guess that’s the generation gap at work.  Perhaps, the twenty-something Filipina with more liberated views (or at least, raging hormones) will have a better appreciation of this book. 

RATING:  3

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