has anyone read 海上花?

[mr. fanglang]

Has anyone read this in the original chinese? a recent article in New York Times give a positive review of the english translation (Sing Song Girls of Shanghai). See link below.

www.nytimes.com/2005/11/20/books/review/20downer.html?emc=eta1

[ala]

The original Chinese is in the Shanghainese (Wu) vernacular, very very difficult for Mandarin speakers to read.

Extremely popular around Shanghai when it came out at the end of the Qing, and remains today the most significant work in Shanghainese besides the Bible translated by Christian missionaries. Considered one of the masterpieces of Chinese literature (although rarely read by non-Wu speakers).

Excerpt:

进房即叫声「长大爷」，又问三位尊姓，随说：「对勿住，刚刚勿恰好。耐哚要是勿嫌龌龊末，就该搭坐歇吃筒烟，阿好？」

倒是王莲生说道：「耐请过去罢，贵相好有点勿舒齐哉。」

仲英道：「耐瞎说！管俚舒齐勿舒齐。」

莲生道：「耐覅实概囗。俚教耐过去，总是搭耐要好，耐就依仔俚也蛮好宛。」

仲英听说，方才起身。

莲生拱拱手道：「晚歇请耐早点。」

[gato]

But it's not harder to read than Wenyanwen (classical Chinese)? No? Is there a version with 白话 glossary?

Eileen Chang's Mandarin translation of the book is also available now:

张爱玲典藏全集:海上花落（译著 新版） 图书

·市场价： ￥19.80

·卓越价： ￥17.80

【作　　者】 张爱玲

【出 版 社】 哈尔滨出版社

【版次印次】 2003年10月第1版 【ISBN书号】 7806990399

【国　　别】 中国大陆 【页　　数】 309

http://www.joyo.com/book/detail.asp?prodid=bkbk309078&uid=qssm4nk5197aaq5ua7s7sgw57

A little about the translation:

http://www.white-collar.net/01-author/z/03-zhang-al/041.htm

[ala]

Wenyanwen is not too hard to read for people trained in it.

Same here, if you know Wu and can understand Wu characters then it's not hard either. Also, lots of people can read a foreign language but not speak it (especially those who deal with philosophy or history).

[gato]

Here Roland Soong of ESWN gives his impresion of the book and its translations:

http://www.zonaeuropa.com/20040210_1.htm

Finally, in the Wu dialect Chinese version, it is in fact difficult to read visually. This is the one and only Wu dialect novel that I have ever come across. So it makes for difficult visual reading due to the strangeness of some of the words. Some of these words were appropriated from standard Chinese just because they have the same sounds, and other words are completely made up because no such word exists in standard Chinese. Going through this book, the Wu dialogue in fact requires the words to be read out aloud by the reader. When read aloud, the gentle sounds of the Wu dialect all of a sudden illuminate their speakers and provide for a truly delightful experience. The only problem is that I can't read this book in public, because I need to find a quiet room to read (and laugh) aloud. And I count my blessings for knowing the Wu dialect.

[Ah-Bin]

The copy I've seen of it in a library has a glossary of the main wu terms at the beginning of it. Can you still buy this book easily, and in a traditional character version? Maybe this would be good to put in the non-Mandarin Chinese box too. I'm sure some people were asking about books in non-Mandarin Chinese.