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RE: The State of Space Sci-Fi - Mattias Westlund - 08-29-2019
I actually tried reading [the Swedish translation of] Titus Groan somewhere around the time I discovered Tolkien. So I guess I was twelwe or thereabouts, already hooked on p&p role-playing games. I never finished it because it was too weird for my pre-teen brain. It had the trappings of a fantasy novel, but none of that heroic adventuring stuff I expected and longed for.
I should really give it another shot, and in English this time. You native English speakers are lucky in not having to deal with the translation crap most of the time. Well, some books are bad no matter what they're translated from and into, but there's a certain disturbing clunkiness that comes from bad translations that you learn to pick up on if you're at least somewhat versed in the original language. And it can ruin a book for sure.
RE: The State of Space Sci-Fi - Terry93D - 08-29-2019
(08-29-2019, 12:46 AM)Mattias Westlund Wrote: I actually tried reading [the Swedish translation of] Titus Groan somewhere around the time I discovered Tolkien. So I guess I was twelwe or thereabouts, already hooked on p&p role-playing games. I never finished it because it was too weird for my pre-teen brain. It had the trappings of a fantasy novel, but none of that heroic adventuring stuff I expected and longed for.
I should really give it another shot, and in English this time. You native English speakers are lucky in not having to deal with the translation crap most of the time. Well, some books are bad no matter what they're translated from and into, but there's a certain disturbing clunkiness that comes from bad translations that you learn to pick up on if you're at least somewhat versed in the original language. And it can ruin a book for sure.
Someone once suggested that the books - the Gormenghast books, that is - be taught in primary or secondary school, and I can think of no finer way to ensure nobody ever wants to read them, ever.
(To speak more clearly and succinctly: I don't blame your 12-yr old self.
)
RE: The State of Space Sci-Fi - Nayrb - 08-30-2019
(08-27-2019, 01:59 PM)bigcat1969 Wrote: Rocketh on in ye olde English Lit Master program! Grateths! Sorry too many Ren Faires.
We have a permanent Ren Faire that runs July through Sept.; I go every year! I've been going since I was probably four.
(08-29-2019, 12:46 AM)Mattias Westlund Wrote: I actually tried reading [the Swedish translation of] Titus Groan somewhere around the time I discovered Tolkien. So I guess I was twelwe or thereabouts, already hooked on p&p role-playing games. I never finished it because it was too weird for my pre-teen brain. It had the trappings of a fantasy novel, but none of that heroic adventuring stuff I expected and longed for.
I should really give it another shot, and in English this time. You native English speakers are lucky in not having to deal with the translation crap most of the time. Well, some books are bad no matter what they're translated from and into, but there's a certain disturbing clunkiness that comes from bad translations that you learn to pick up on if you're at least somewhat versed in the original language. And it can ruin a book for sure.
That's the tricky thing. If you want to be well versed in literature you can't really avoid translations. Sometimes they are themselves a work of art; but other times, yeah, they are clunky and don't seem to deliver on the promises made by the original.
I actually couldn't get into a number of graduate level Lit programs because I don't have even a reading knowledge of a language other than English.
RE: The State of Space Sci-Fi - Samulis - 08-30-2019
I once met someone who did the reverse- translated the Three Little Pigs story into Old English!
RE: The State of Space Sci-Fi - Nayrb - 08-30-2019
(08-30-2019, 01:30 AM)Samulis Wrote: I once met someone who did the reverse- translated the Three Little Pigs story into Old English!
Awesome! I bet it looks and sounds all archaic and grave.
I'm hoping to get back to studying OE when I get back into school.
RE: The State of Space Sci-Fi - Mattias Westlund - 03-05-2020
Necrobump again. But I'm going to stop saying "sorry about that", because sometimes it's warranted dredging an old thread up from the depths. Anyway, I've watched the new seasons of a couple of my favorite sci-fi shows recently, namely:
THE EXPANSE, SEASON 4
It's still very good. Maybe not as good as the first three, as I got a faint "generic sci-fi show" vibe from it, which I never noticed in earlier seasons. Hard to explain exactly what I mean, but I think it boils down to the script not being as tight. There was a little too much of that old Bad things happen, oh no! How will our plucky heroes escape... ? I.e. Holden et al get stuck in an alien structure, with a tsunami coming, and there's slugs there that make you go blind. But they're all fine in the end. All the while the overall plot hasn't moved an inch. So, eeeeh... hopefully season 5 will be better I guess?
ALTERED CARBON, SEASON 2
This one really pissed me off. First season of AC was awesome. Big budget, very stylish, very atmospheric, great characters. Best looking cyberpunk I've seen since Blade Runner. And then season 2 comes along and it's like... I don't know. A shoestring-budget, fan-made sequel? And replacing Joel Kinnaman with Anthony Mackie is just a bad, bad idea. I'm sure Mackie is a capable actor, but he just doesn't have the same screen presence as Kinnaman. Not to mention that his Takeshi Kovacs feels like a completely different character. What happened to the quippy, wisecracking Kovacs?
I'm getting increasingly disappointed with Netflix. With Altered Carbon they were on to something great, but botched it. The Witcher (which people seem to love for some unfathomable reason) feels like a fantasy show made in the 1990's, completely ignoring the strides made by Game of Thrones. If it weren't for the fact that our kids are heavily into Netflix shows, I would cancel my subscription.
RE: The State of Space Sci-Fi - Samulis - 03-10-2020
Necrobump is the best kind of bump!
I also should contribute, I recently watched the second season of Lost in Space. It was imho not quite as good as Season 1. I think the main weakness is pacing/script. I'm normally pretty good about not skipping ahead in movies/TV shows, but sometimes when watching it was just so utterly boring that I couldn't help myself. That was a weakness with season one, but season two was worse in that regard. Also, a heck of a lot of 'jumping the shark' as they call it on TV Tropes. Not that I have anything against shows where the characters are immortal rubber bullet sponges (I freakin' love old sci-fi channel dramedies like Eureka), but sometimes it just felt like there weren't really stakes after a while, especially since so many other shows are perfectly happy to kill off characters left and right these days. Character motivations seem non-existent, with characters jumping around morally seemingly just to satisfy the needs of the story at any given time. Even the music seems not as well written. :/
I'm not sure if it was brought up, but I was re-watching Starship Troopers the other day in HD and blown away by how amazing some of the ship exterior shots looked. For how campy and goofy the film is at times, there are some shots which still to this day look better imho than anything I've seen come out of modern CGI-laden productions.
Anyway, going back to Netflix, I honestly agree a lot. I gave a hard pass on their 'Another Life', another space sci-fi show of theirs, after looking at reviews. They seem to be just doing scatter-shot in every direction with lots of seemingly cheap, honestly poorly written shows. It's a shame, they had some really excellent original content for some time but I'm just not seeing that as much anymore. Hulu isn't doing that much better, and on many cases I tend to end up watching things on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, but "The First" was much better than I expected, and some of their other shows like "The Looming Tower" are remarkably good... not to mention The Orville is slated to officially move over to Hulu this fall. However, it seems, as we have discussed here before, that they don't seem terribly interested making their platform/content accessible outside of the US.
RE: The State of Space Sci-Fi - Mattias Westlund - 03-10-2020
(03-10-2020, 05:56 AM)Samulis Wrote: I also should contribute, I recently watched the second season of Lost in Space. It was imho not quite as good as Season 1. I think the main weakness is pacing/script. I'm normally pretty good about not skipping ahead in movies/TV shows, but sometimes when watching it was just so utterly boring that I couldn't help myself. That was a weakness with season one, but season two was worse in that regard. Also, a heck of a lot of 'jumping the shark' as they call it on TV Tropes. Not that I have anything against shows where the characters are immortal rubber bullet sponges (I freakin' love old sci-fi channel dramedies like Eureka), but sometimes it just felt like there weren't really stakes after a while, especially since so many other shows are perfectly happy to kill off characters left and right these days. Character motivations seem non-existent, with characters jumping around morally seemingly just to satisfy the needs of the story at any given time. Even the music seems not as well written. :/
I actually watched LiS S02 too, now that you mention it! Totally agree on all points. It was so boring and unengaging that I forgot I had watched it.
(03-10-2020, 05:56 AM)Samulis Wrote: I'm not sure if it was brought up, but I was re-watching Starship Troopers the other day in HD and blown away by how amazing some of the ship exterior shots looked. For how campy and goofy the film is at times, there are some shots which still to this day look better imho than anything I've seen come out of modern CGI-laden productions.
Yeah, it's an amazing-looking movie. I think it's from a sort of a golden era in film making that peaked with the LotR movies, where models and miniatures and practical effects were still being used to a large degree, while tastefully enhanced and added upon with CG. These movies tend to look a lot better than stuff made entirely with CG.
(03-10-2020, 05:56 AM)Samulis Wrote: Anyway, going back to Netflix, I honestly agree a lot. I gave a hard pass on their 'Another Life', another space sci-fi show of theirs, after looking at reviews. They seem to be just doing scatter-shot in every direction with lots of seemingly cheap, honestly poorly written shows. It's a shame, they had some really excellent original content for some time but I'm just not seeing that as much anymore. Hulu isn't doing that much better, and on many cases I tend to end up watching things on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video, but "The First" was much better than I expected, and some of their other shows like "The Looming Tower" are remarkably good... not to mention The Orville is slated to officially move over to Hulu this fall. However, it seems, as we have discussed here before, that they don't seem terribly interested making their platform/content accessible outside of the US.
Another Life was indeed terrible and you didn't miss anything. I got myself an Amazon Prime Video subscription some week ago, partly to support the continued development of the Expanse, and partly because they seem to have a lot of cool content. Watching American Gods right now, and it's good. Weird, but good. I read the novel years ago and the show is pretty faithful to it, though a bit more stretched out with more added details.
RE: The State of Space Sci-Fi - Mattias Westlund - 08-03-2020
Rewatching the Expanse again. For the third time I think? At least the first three seasons; S04 I've still only seen once. This show blows me away. The story, the characters, the setting, the production values and FX. So . Damn. Good. I find myself liking Amos more and more, whereas on previous viewings I felt he was just a creepier version of Jayne Cobb from Firefly. A lot of little layers and nuances there. And that goes for basically all characters, they're all interesting in their own right.
Beratna and sésata, sasa ke?
RE: The State of Space Sci-Fi - Terry93D - 08-03-2020
I think I disagree on The Witcher... and I say this as someone who had to talk his ex into watching it, only to have her like it far more then I did. I think that the series, whatever its flaws, is a wilful antidote to it. Game of Thrones was self-serious and flew off the rails as soon as it stopped loosely retelling the War of the Roses.
The Witcher, on the other hand, is at least fun, and when it draws upon history, it draws upon more recent history. It's true that it's not transformative or revelatory the way GoT was, but its simplicity and sense of fun make it arguably equally, and in some ways more, enjoyable then it.
Anyway, that's not to make myself out as a super-fan. The actors all seem like they're having fun, and they're fun to watch, but pulp fantasy just doesn't sell itself to me---and even the drawing upon 20th century history, something which I absolutely love when fantasy does, just wasn't prominent enough for my tastes. The constant repetitions of "destiny" grated on my nerves. I'm not sure whether or not I'll continue with season two or not.