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TRUTH IN TRANSLATION

Name: TRUTH IN TRANSLATION
Author: A. Frances Werner
ISBN: 978-0-9789763-1-6

ACCURACY AND SURPRISING BIAS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

by A. Frances Werner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 15, 2008

There’s truth to Werner’s translation, but the whole should be taken with a grain of salt.

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A look at how English-language Bibles compare to the original ancient Hebrew and Aramaic, including her new Old Testament translation: the â€œAncient Roots Translinear Bible” (ARTB).

Werner sets out to show statistically how well 20 major English translations of the Bible match up to the ancient biblical languages, her ideal being where every ancient word would match up consistently with the same, single English word. She explains why she believes the format of ancient Hebrew makes this method of translation necessary. While her new translation might be extreme and oversimplify the difficulties of translation, her highlighting of certain inaccuracies and biases are well-researched and thought-provoking. It is often easy, though, to bend the truth with numbers. Werner’s one-sided statistics and occasionally incorrect syllogisms make her argument only partially convincing so that even valid points will generate two probable responses. First, some readers will take Werner’s arguments at face value and turn the ARTB into, quite literally, their new Bible. Second, some readers who would be invaluable in answering Werner’s call to arms to improve biblical translations in general will be skeptical. Werner often refers to Jason David BeDuhn’s Truth in Translation: Accuracy and Bias in English Translations of the New Testament. BeDuhn inspired Werner’s own work, but he had the advantage of a background in religious scholarship and, without his own translation in the mix, greater impartiality. In fairness to Werner, while her scientific methods show the ARTB to be statistically the â€œbest,” she does note some faults and concludes by calling on others to take her findings and continue to improve the Bible-translation and -publishing industries. How having a patent pending on her method will help in this effort remains a question. The author attempts, and to some degree succeeds, in making her work accessible to the everyday Bible reader, but in-depth knowledge of both linguistics and theological study are useful when unearthing the veracity in Werner’s arguments.

There’s truth to Werner’s translation, but the whole should be taken with a grain of salt.

Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2008

ISBN: 978-0-9789763-1-6

Page Count: 160

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.