I don't live in an English speaking country and the way people from the US or UK talk about translated books is so baffling to me. When I walk into a bookshop probably 70% will be translated books, most from English but also other languages. It's just perfectly normal. But sometimes it seems like people think translated books are automatically "difficult" or too out there? I don't really get it. Imagine someone in Germany being like "ugh this JK Rowling, sounds interesting but I'm not sure, it might be hard for me to understand because she's FOREIGN"(some) English-native speakers (aka Jack):
Oh my god, you UNLOCK SOOO many new books when you read books from another country! Such a wild concept, the genre of translated fiction!such an exciting entirely new concept!! and did you know these books were not written with English-speaking readers in mind? Can you imagine we are not the center of the universe and not every single piece of fiction is written specifically to cater to English-speaking audiences???
100% his grief will be losing his dream of going to Oxford.Just watched the haul vid and got vaguely annoyed that he said he's writing about grief in his book (and is reading Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to learn about grief). He makes it sound like (and from what he's shared) he's never really had to deal with grief, so it makes me feel like he won't be equipped to write about it. Not to say you can only write about things you've experienced but in my experience, people our age (I'm around Jack's age) don't know shit about grief and bereavement unless they've personally experienced losing someone close to them. Idk not trying to be too negative, he might do a great job but I've just had so many bad experiences with people being extremely insensitive around grief that I got a bit annoyed at that
This, so much.7 books in 7 days.... except he's already discussed reading some of these books months ago. Goodreads confirms he started reading these in February. I used to really like Jack and his content, but the constant lying just makes him insufferable now.
Yeah, I've always found this odd. I've had friends that have acted like they're the smartest people in the world because they've read a book that's been translated. You didn't translate them yourself, calm down.I don't live in an English speaking country and the way people from the US or UK talk about translated books is so baffling to me. When I walk into a bookshop probably 70% will be translated books, most from English but also other languages. It's just perfectly normal. But sometimes it seems like people think translated books are automatically "difficult" or too out there? I don't really get it. Imagine someone in Germany being like "ugh this JK Rowling, sounds interesting but I'm not sure, it might be hard for me to understand because she's FOREIGN"
I can't stop thinking about how awkward it must be to set up a camera to film yourself reading and fake crying and then to sit there and watch it several times to edit? like he had to sit there, maybe do several takes, watch it several times and after editing watch the entire thing all the way through and go "yup, i'm uploading this" and then actually upload it? could not be meAlso, what the bloody hell was that fake crying at the end of his video? I've seen better acting in GCSE drama classes.
idt a lot of folks read translated fiction outside of me and the book accounts and lit fic fans I know..I'm really perplexed by his last video. Like is it just Jack being Jack or is reading non English books not a thing in like the USA, UK and AUS/NZ? I thought everyone had read translated books, like he makes it sounds like it's something super rare and out there to do, im just confused
Ikr, i would at least expect him to be familiar with russian literature since it holds a great importance among world literature im not russian but im familiar with many authors.I'm really perplexed by his last video. Like is it just Jack being Jack or is reading non English books not a thing in like the USA, UK and AUS/NZ? I thought everyone had read translated books, like he makes it sounds like it's something super rare and out there to do, im just confused
Exactly, like here reading a translation is nothing to brag about. When you're able to read a book in its original language then it's impressive, and even then it depends who you're talking to cause some people think reading a book in English isn't that impressive even if it's not our native language.His approach to reading translated books is like he is reading the books in the original language
Oh that is completely jack, it's all about protecting a certain academic literary image. He has been trying to cultivate it since he began youtube, problem is though (like so many youtubers) it doesn't come across as authentic. Some people, the insincerity just oozes out of them, and jack is one of those people. Everything he does, whether its book reviews or just smiling or doing an 'honesty post, nothing feels genuine.He always talks about translated fiction like it's way harder to read than books originally written in English and I always find it so weird. Also comes across pretentious af but that might just be Jack himself
Can you imagine the size of his ego on the day he'll finally read a book written in French? He says he wanted to read books like "at night all blood is black" someday but I think he doesn't realize the amount of work this would require. I already have a hard time believing that he read it in English from the description he made of it ("about the physchological undoing of a man", no, this is about a whole generation of young Senegalese being sent to a war they had no business going to and their descent into madness and their traumas being represented by the mc, but hey, this would recquire to read the book and some light researches on the side so...)Exactly, like here reading a translation is nothing to brag about. When you're able to read a book in its original language then it's impressive, and even then it depends who you're talking to cause some people think reading a book in English isn't that impressive even if it's not our native language.
Well said. It's giving "white boy discovers other cultures and languages!!".Honestly it would've even been fine to make a video about "7 books from 7 countries" or something like that, just without the "they are not originally in English and NOBODY ever reads translated fiction so i am super unique and literary" part of it all. He could've just said that books from non-English speaking countries don't get enough hype in the UK (or in English-speaking online spaces like booktube and booktok), so he wanted to specifically make a video about them. Could've made the same points about translation and cultural differences without stroking his ego so much. He probably would've found a way to make that all about him too but in theory, I like the idea of him showcasing books from different countries (well someone in that English-speaking booktube space with an audience as large as his showcasing them, maybe not Jack specifically lol)
I think it's impressive to read a book in any second language tbh.and even then it depends who you're talking to cause some people think reading a book in English isn't that impressive even if it's not our native language.
Is this some sort of 4D Durham-level translated-fiction-readers-only line?The jokes are getting worse too. 'I feel like I've just eaten an eleven course meal. I need to leave in...two minutes ago for the actual meal I'm going to eat.'
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