The epic masterpiece "Game of Thrones" that has taken the world by storm came to an end last month. Through the color of magical reality, it tells the story of seven countries and nine families competing for power in the medieval setting.
has been on the air for nine years. Its status as a drama has remained intact, but it has stepped down from the "throne" this year, with domestic and foreign rating websites setting new lows repeatedly. So much so that more than 200,000 fans of the show signed a petition petitioning for a remake.
Qu Chang may be the person who knows the most about "Game of Thrones" and the original "A Song of Ice and Fire" in the entire Chinese world. While studying at Sichuan University, he accidentally came into contact with "A Song of Ice and Fire", dove into it, and then started a translation work that lasted for sixteen years. Qu Chang and the original author Martin are both Virgos. Qu Chang's translation story vividly demonstrates what it means to pursue perfection.
Failed English Level 6 He started translating Binghuo
In 2002, there was a whole street of bookstores scattered on the Wangjiang Campus of Sichuan University. Qu Chang accidentally discovered the first volume of the Taiwanese translation of "A Song of Ice and Fire" at a used bookstall, and then found the English versions of the first three volumes online.
"I have been looking for better fantasy books, and "A Song of Ice and Fire" is better than anything I have read." At that time, the library of Sichuan University was also a place Qu Chang often visited. According to the regulations at the time, a maximum of ten books could be borrowed at a time, and Qu Chang would reach the limit every time. In addition to fantasy, the book list also included many historical, detective, and science fiction novels.
When he saw the world of ice and fire for the first time, Qu Chang described it, "It was like reading a lot of martial arts online articles, and suddenly I saw Gu Long and Jin Yong . Just like Messi and Ronaldo, they are always better than others." He was eager. Share this joy with others. For the purpose of sharing, Qu Chang tried to translate the novel and posted the translation on the then-famous "Dragon Knight Castle" forum.
Various articles introducing Qu Chang nowadays often mention that he failed to pass CET-6 in college. English expression was his shortcoming, but with his passion, Qu Chang began a translation work that lasted for sixteen years. Four translators successively collaborated with him, but only he has fully participated in the current five volumes.
Looking at oneself from the perspective of a critic
Qu Chang is a native of Chongqing, born in 1982. He is slightly fat, has shoulder-length hair, wears glasses, and is nearly 1.8 meters tall. "After posting two chapters on the forum, the response was okay, and then I went back and translated a dozen chapters." This attracted the attention of Chongqing Publishing House, who contacted Qu Chang, and then Qu Chang officially started working on the first three volumes. translation work.
Each volume of "A Song of Ice and Fire" contains millions of words. In order to concentrate on translating, Qu Chang rented a house on the roof of a building. There were very few Chinese versions of computer games in the 1990s, so he had to force himself to face English. Growing up, he accumulated thousands of game CDs. But the more test of this novel is that the translator restores several clues and foreshadowings in the original text, understands the author's writing intention of each sentence, and puts his own understanding into the framework of the entire text.
In order to translate it accurately, Qu Chang printed out thousands of pages of information for comparison. It contained information about the world of ice and fire, including clothing, food, housing, transportation, weapons laws, family geography, etc., as well as foreign netizens’ understanding of the novel. The information was piled into a small mountain. Qu Chang compared these materials with his own translation. Whenever he saw any doubts, omissions, or imprecision, he would cross it out or check it, change it back, read it silently, check it again, and eliminate all the places that he felt were not smooth. From the perspective of a reader and critic, I don’t defend myself.”
Qu Chang’s habit of pursuing perfection is also reflected in playing games. He likes almost all types of games, taking "football manager" games as an example. After playing one, he desperately searches for similar, better, or comparable football manager games, and has played almost all of them. 50 versions. Feeling that it was not enough, he also played games such as Baseball Manager, Football Manager, and Basketball Manager. Finally, he installed other works of the same company into his computer, "constantly looking for new places."
Under such strict pursuit, that winter, he completed the first volume of "A Song of Ice and Fire" Last revised.
Sales volume is average. The TV series has increased 4 times since its launch.
In 2005, Qu Chang and his collaborators completed the translation of the first three volumes of "A Song of Ice and Fire". Martin published the fourth volume shortly after, and Qu Chang continued working non-stop.
After graduating from the undergraduate program, Qu Chang stayed in the History Department of Sichuan University to continue his studies, studying under Professor Wang Tingzhi in the direction of the Renaissance. After leaving campus, he also worked at the well-known magazine "Science Fiction World" for 5 years, editing dozens of books and tens of millions of words. Liu Cixin 's "The Three-Body Problem" was also serialized here at the beginning.
Unlike "The Three-Body Problem", "The Song of Ice and Fire" translated by Qu Chang and his colleagues had a good reputation in the past few years, but its sales were mediocre. "For a while, the publishing house felt that this was it, and it didn't pay special attention to it." . In 2010, news came that HBO was going to make "A Song of Ice and Fire" into a TV series, and the publisher quickly won the rights again. With the phenomenal popularity of the adapted drama "Game of Thrones", the original work has also become popular in China.
"I printed a lot of them later, and now I have printed a lot of them, and the publishing house has also invested a lot." Qu Chang couldn't remember the specific sales volume: "It was at least four times as much as before."
As of now, the original author Martin has completed the previous work. The creation of five volumes and the accurate and smooth translation by Qu Chang and his collaborators have also won praise from readers. Some comments said: "I only accept the translation of Teacher Fan Ye's "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and Qu Chang and Zhao Lin's "Song of Ice and Fire" series." Another comment said: "Qu Chang, Liu Cixin and the science fiction world , is an eternal memory in the hearts of all fantasy and science fiction lovers. "
"Game of Thrones" has concluded. The original author Martin has not kept up with the progress of the TV series, and the manuscript has been delayed again and again. Now, Qu Chang has established his own studio, "History Books", and continues to devote himself to the introduction and localization of excellent fantasy literature.
Recently, a reporter from Red Star News conducted an exclusive interview with Qu Chang. They agreed that the interview time should be limited to more than half an hour, but they accidentally chatted for almost 2 hours. When answering questions, Qu Chang will almost always focus on the questions and answer them clearly vertically and horizontally. Regarding a question, he can talk for 10 minutes without stopping, and then stop instantly when he finishes answering.
Red Star News: Many readers comment that your translation is accurate and easy to read. How do you achieve this?
Qu Chang: The main thing is that you have to be serious, compete with yourself, strive for excellence, and don’t seek to understand everything. This is what translation requires. Nowadays, there are more and more information on the Internet. In the past, I had to print out thousands of pages of information for comparison. Maybe 99.99% of people would think this is a waste of time.
At that time, there were summaries from abroad about food, drink, housing, transportation, weapons and equipment in the world of ice and fire. They all had original texts, such as what armor looked like. The people who compiled these materials were amazing, and I was using them ready-made. After printing them out in a row, I have to compare them with my own translation with questions in mind. Whenever I see any omissions, doubts, or inaccuracies, I will cross them out or check them, change them back, and then Check it over and over again, read it silently many times, eliminate any places that feel uncomfortable, and look at it from the perspective of a reader or critic. The
method seems very simple, but sometimes I give lectures at universities and give suggestions to my classmates. Many students may think this suggestion is too common and uninspiring, but from what I can see, most of them are unwilling to do this basic thing, which is to "read it again and again from a critical perspective." Some people will be lazy, or they will forgive themselves and defend themselves after reading it, and many problems will arise. I never defend myself.
Sometimes I am also very stubborn. After the book is written, if someone comes out and says that your translation of "Winter is Coming" is not good or there is something wrong with it, I will probably debate or refute it fiercely. But before the book was written, I was skeptical about everything in it and tried every means to think that it could be improved.
But even after such hard work, there were still some mistakes and omissions, and even the seniority was reversed. This was also related to my understanding ability and reading ability at the time. I was too young. It’s too easy to just muddle along and make something. If you really want to make something that others will find good, it’s still a bit annoying (it’s not easy).
Red Star News: What is so special about "A Song of Ice and Fire"?
Qu Chang: It is indeed well written, surpassing all similar novels.
It follows realism and is highly realistic. The Middle Ages described in it are tangible, not fairy tale-like or detail-free. Many novels use the names of knights and princesses, but there are no details. It feels like they are concepts borrowed from Disney. "A Song of Ice and Fire" does not fall into this category. It has a very good narrative structure with lots of twists and turns that make sense and keep you on the edge of your seat.
I have read a lot of fantasy novels, but I have never read anything beyond it. In fact, the novels written by later generations will have a better look and feel than those of their predecessors. Later generations will summarize the experiences and strengths of their predecessors and make their strengths more prominent. As long as it is not a stagnant field, future generations will always be better than their predecessors in a certain place. Some novels will surpass "A Song of Ice and Fire" in terms of combat, magic, individual characters, etc., but when the whole thing is combined to form a system and a world, until now, in my opinion, the fantasy field has not yet appeared. Being able to surpass its novels as a whole, it undoubtedly holds a high status.
"A Song of Ice and Fire" has so many advantages. If I had to mention them, I could name more than ten or twenty, and each one has a lot to say. Just like you have been reading martial arts novels online since you were a child, and suddenly one day you saw Gu Long. "A Song of Ice and Fire" is a standout and unique way of writing, just like Messi and Ronaldo play football better than others.
That’s why others will choose to film it, and it will impress everyone if it is moved to the screen. Many people think the TV series is good, and that feeling may be the same as when I watched the original work, because it is the same story. Except for the most popular seventh and eighth seasons of the TV series, which were done by the screenwriters, except for the plots that could not be filmed due to financial problems, or the characters that were merged, the previous four seasons, especially the first four seasons, were almost intact, and the books were moved to on the screen.
Red Star News: Why does the final season of "Game of Thrones" make you feel confused?
Qu Chang: From my personal point of view, both screenwriters are very qualified screenwriters and are above average in Hollywood. But "Song of Ice and Fire" is a vast world that exceeds the abilities of these two screenwriters. Their understanding of the world of ice and fire remains at the level of "more powerful Zhihu answerers". They have a fatal flaw, that is, they are not familiar with the original work. Maybe they also want to not be bound by the original work. But in any case, their understanding of the original work is not that in-depth. They rely on the team to work on it, and sometimes there are some problems with the lines. The
TV series is based on rich original materials and adds something of its own. When the plot of Martin's original work was not used as a "crutching stick" in the later period and only some plot points were provided, the problem emerged and it stopped working. This "no" was a systemic failure.
HBO has spent a lot of money on this drama, and the actors, locations, costumes and other configurations are very high. It was okay in the sixth and seventh seasons. Although the fans of the original series were extremely dissatisfied, viewers who only watched the TV series always felt that it might be better in the future. As long as the TV series used some big scenes to cover up some problems, it would still be okay. Cover it.
But in the end, the TV series couldn't give a good answer. The ratings on the Internet are very low now. I think they are a bit too low. Many of them are rated out of anger, but I understand them because everyone’s expectations for TV series are too high. I am very opposed to the idea of reshooting the eighth season. They were unable to control the story. Many problems had arisen before, but in the end when they had to solve them all in one moment, they all collapsed.
In fact, compared to the eighth season, I think the seventh season has many more unreasonable plots. For example, Jon and his team went to the north to capture wights to show to Cersei. This was their original work. There were so many unreasonable plots in the middle, and the relationship between time and space was messed up. The capture did not play any role, and several episodes were wasted. This kind of plot is completely Hollywood-style, but everyone is looking forward to a big showdown, so the disappointment is not that strong.
For another example, since Daenerys returned to Westeros in the seventh season, she has ignored the time and space connections in the Westeros continent. In order to make up the plot, Daenerys's troops immediately Casterly Rock Occupied, Casterly Rock City is on the other side of the continent, how to capture it? Moreover, Casterly Rock is a fortress built on a thousand-meter-high mountain, but it was abandoned and allowed to be occupied by Daenerys. Why was it abandoned? Even if there are a hundred soldiers in it, you won't be able to occupy it. Subsequently, the High Court in the southwest of the mainland was also occupied instantly, like lightning. It doesn't take any time at all to get from Winterfell in the north to the capital, King's Landing. You can come and go as you please, without any time and space connection in between.
Although the TV series has its shining points and the actors' acting skills are also online, in the end there is no breathing space and the plot is all pressed together. There are too many problems in the entire script concept. The reason why Martin took so long to write is because he is very particular about details, and the entire relationship between space, time, and characters is completely seamless, but the screenwriter was completely divorced from this when he was writing it.
Many people who only watch TV series will think at first that this is the story and it doesn’t matter, but in the end they don’t believe it. Why did the drama become like this? Is this the attitude towards creation? Although the score of the TV series is very low, I am not that disgusted. They are at this level. If they know the world enough, they will know that the plot is illogical and present it in another way. But they gave up trying to be logical very early, and it would be even less possible to be logical later.
They don't have the ability, but Martin doesn't have the time. From a practical point of view, when they are incapable of doing so, they should be original and should not refer to Martin's skeleton to describe who died and who lived. The eighth season should be longer, and all the plots of the next three episodes should be cut off. They can't describe human nature and turning points like Martin, so they only need to play Night King , and all the people who died will die fighting the Night King. In the plot, he died passionately and finally defeated the Night King. It's dawn, this is the best ending. But they just want to imitate Martin, but since they don’t have the artistic ability, they should move closer to "Pacific Rim" or superhero movies.
Red Star News reporter Wang Tuo
editor Zhang Bo Zhang Chao
