zlacker

The writing style seems to be unnecessarily complex, and, in my mind, dilutes and obscures the message of this piece.

>>cgoeck+(OP)
I think this is because it's an awkward translation from Polish. It's funny because PKD's own prose was very clear and unpretentious.

>>cgoeck+(OP)
I think this can be a matter of taste and usage. Personally I find this perfectly readable. However, modern style favours short sentences and a minimal use of sub-clauses. For example these two sentences:

"What the absence of such model works leads to is shown, more plainly than by any abstract discussions, by the change of heart which Damon Knight, both author and respected critic, expressed in SFS #3. Knight declared himself to have been mistaken earlier in attacking books by van Vogt for their incoherence and irrationalism, on the grounds that, if van Vogt enjoys an enormous readership, he must by that very fact be on the right track as an author, and that it is wrong for criticism to discredit such writing in the name of arbitrary values, if the reading public does not want to recognize such values."

Might be rendered:

"We can see what happens when there are no model works to refer to. Damon Knight's recent change of heart illustrates it best. Mr Knight, an author and respected critic writing in SFS #3 said he had been wrong to attack the work of van Vogt for their incoherence and irrationalism. He conceded that van Vogt's popularity proved that the author was on the right track. He now feels that criticism is wrong to discredit such writing in the name of arbitrary values, if the reading public does not want to recognize such values."

I think most modern readers probably prefer that style (which I may not have done justice)...but actually I follow the flow of Lem's thought better in the long, connected sentences which seem to make the thought all of a piece and I find I absorb the meaning in a single uninterrupted ... blob.

>>cgoeck+(OP)
This is due to poor translation - Lem is generally regarded as a master of style. Polish sentences tend to be longer, not unlike German, because highly inflective grammar allows for it. It is not the case for languages with simpler grammar like English, of course.

>>the_af+J
Yeah. This is littered with stuff like:

"This is, be it said forthwith, apposite as a castigation of historiographic diagnostics..."

I don't know Polish, but it seems suspect that all of "forthwith," "apposite," "castigation," "historiographic," and "diagnostics" have direct 1:1 equivalents, leading me to believe that we're getting more of the translator's voice than Lem's.

See also the (controversial?) retranslation of Solaris a few years ago:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jun/15/first-direct-t...

>>mensse+9b
I’m just beginner polish so I can’t really comment on the translation itself but polish has a very strict grammar and even some common ways to subordinate sentences simply don’t exists. You have to unpack them into single sentences, fit them in the strict subordinate order they have or restructure them whole to match the original tone.

>>alkyon+ea
Partially, yes. But I'm a native Polish speaker who reads a lot, and still consider Lem a challenging writer. He did like long and complex sentences with diverse vocabulary.