I'm reading it in Japanese. The way I figured it was this - I've read the books more times than I can Yes, you read that right. Ginga HichihaikuGaido.
I'm reading it in Japanese. The way I figured it was this - I've read the books more times than I can count, I've listened to the radio shows and seen the TV show and the movie. I know it damn near by heart, so I reasoned thusly: knowing the source material that well should aid me in understanding the Japanese translation. And I was right, to some extent. For a good portion of the book I was able to glean the meaning of the passage from the small amount that I could actually read. In other sections, I realized that a lot of what I thought I knew about the story was more from the TV show and the radio show than from the actual text.
Still and all, I finished it, which is an achievement in and of itself. And I even took notes on my favorite lines....
「今日は木曜日だったよな。木曜日はいつもろくなことがないんだ。」 - This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays. 「先にお断りしておきますが、わたしはとても気が滅入っています。」 - I think you ought to know, I'm feeling very depressed. 「革命が起きたら真っ先に銃殺される脳たりんの集団。」 - A bunch of mindless jerks who will be the first against the wall when the Revolution comes. 「人生。わたしに人生を語らないでください。」 - Life. Don't talk to me about life.
I can imagine that those phrases may be able to come in handy.... *grin*
Reading this in Japanese is getting ever so slightly easier. Slightly. Very slightly. But I keep learning new things, most ofI got through volume two!
Reading this in Japanese is getting ever so slightly easier. Slightly. Very slightly. But I keep learning new things, most of which astonish or disturb my staff (although the manager did seem intrigued when I taught her, "A bunch of mindless jerks who will be the first against the wall when the revolution comes....") I've learned a nice number of ways to insult someone. Every time I ask the staff, "Is this a bad thing?" they look all surprised and say, "No, no, don't say that!"
*grin*
Anyway, things I learned this time around:
「喜びを分かちあいましょう。」 - Share and Enjoy 「生命は生者にはもったいない。」 - Life is wasted on the living. 「そのしゃべり棒をこっちにくれ、皿洗くん!」 - Hand me the rap-rod, plate captain! 「興奮と冒険とめちゃめちゃにすごいことがばってるんだよ。」 - There's going to be excitement and adventure and really wild things! 「ごくつぶし」 - scum; good-for-nothing 「害虫」 - vermin 「ぼんくら」 - zeeb; twerp
It gets even better when Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged (無限引き伸ばされワウバッガー) shows up in the next book, 宇宙クリッケト大戦争 (aka Life, the Universe and Everything)...more