>>25194386
that's just how chinese translates

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>>25194426
This is basically what it all sounds like to me, im really trying to enjoy it but its really difficult to read it

>>25194443
vgh the unmatched lyricism of the Chinese language.......

>>25194386
>It seems like the author literally translated ancient chinese slang into modern day english
That's just what you get with an amateur, literal Chinese translation.

>>25194386
Can you post the specific passages that you found difficult to read/understand?

you get used to it
pro tip: the names and the concepts don't matter, you can just skip over them.

Yes, I know that the author said that "the unfathomable demonic banner and its myriad ancient spirits are enough to allow a foundation builder to contend for an incense stick of time against an old monster half a step from the third level of the nascent soul realm," but the truth is that the author will never mention the banner again by the time the MC impacts the realm barrier between the third revolution of his (seventh patterned) golden core and the fourth coalescence of his divine sense (i.e. in ten chapters).

By your third xianxia you should be able to tell what they mean at a glance. Besides it's not like the MC will ever be in a difficult situation.

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>>25195212
>the names and the concepts don't matter
>it's not like the MC will ever be in a difficult situation
this nigga could not be more wrong

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>>25194386

Translation is an art by itself because it is so trick to transpose the multitude of information, feels, meaning and context, which among other things can be easily bent out of shape, specially when language structure context and culture are as different and diverse as say, Chinese and English.

This arouses me though, like, there's beauty in the sense of venturing into the unknown and in my own way, I'm off for that.

>>25194426
It's up to the translator how it translates. When translating literature you have the semi-competing pressures of fidelity and sounding natural in the target language.

>>25195693
how many chinese novels have you read translations of?

>>25196113
Not many, but then I read Chinese.

>>25196122
congrats. the original and the translation are two different beasts. I've read at least a dozen, classical and modern, and they all "suffer" from the same problems. Chinese and English are just too different for a smooth translation, especially with the chinese love for idioms.

>>25194386
Googled this sloppa out of curiosity and it’s banned by the Chinese government? That has me interested but 2000+ chapters doesn’t seem worth it

>>25196148
Or you can try obsessing a little less with literalness and try for "how a native English speaker would express the same concept".

>>25196154
why are you telling me this? I don't translate chinese books.

>>25196156
I mean impersonal/generic "you"

>>25194386
The pacing is god-tier not too slow and not too fast, just right, obviously the entire story is pretty much about MC saying lmao to all the rules and groups and factions then almost dying then lmao then doing impossible things then almost dying then lmaoing then doing impossible things while monologuing about how he alone is the strongest but that's the beauty of it

>>25196154
there has to be a reason so many different translators don't.

Basically everything Chinese is poorly translated. I'm sure it's not easy to do, but reading Chinese fantasy novels is an absolute slog because of that. Lord of the Mysteries isn't hard to understand or anything, but everything just sounds so clunky.

>>25196153
Read 200 chapters, that's the first book.

>>25196154
it's impossible when half the text is made of chengyu. might as well rewrite the book

>>25196215
And how much of English text is made up of idioms and allusions?

>>25196216
much less

>>25196217
Depends on the text, though generally yes.

>>25196148
I have not read the original and frankly I don't care too much about muh idioms. It may be a big thing in Chinese (though I don't think it is) but in English it's not. If some (or all) idioms are missing and where replaced with English text that conveys similar meaning, or even if translator took liberties and changed the text, maybe added English/western idioms to convey the idea I am ok with it. I've seen "green behind the ears" used in translated xianxia, definitely not a Chinese saying but it was likely used in place of one.

>>25194443
There are people here that actually read this cancer? Learn chinese or skip this.

>>25196608
Those are just words in random order.

Not wanting to be trampled on, there are two ways. One is to become strong, strong until no one dares to step on you. Another is to turn into dog shit, something no one would want to step on.

kids game compared to finnegans wake, git gud fattie

>>25197920
Finnegans wake lacks a Dao.

I keep seeing this Reverend Insanity book mentioned here, and for the record I have to say that it is one of the most off-putting titles I’ve ever seen, and I seethe a little every time I read it. It’s uniquely retarded in the way only an oriental could imagine of.

>>25200515
What makes you think it's the original author that came up with that title rather than the translator? In Chinese it's 蛊真人.

>>25200525
蛊真人, now that has a nice ring to it.

>>25200525
true gu dude

>>25200515
I feel stupid and gay and retarded whenever I say it

>>25200532
I guess 蠱 doesn't really have a straightforward English translation.

>>25200541
Correlation does not equal causation in this case however

>>25200558
Forced but witty. 5/10

>Spectral Soul Demon Venerable handled matters and conflict with basically one method.
>That was to kill!
>You do not relent? Kill!
>You are an eyesore? Kill!
>His own mood was bad? Kill!
>He was bored? Kill!
Spectral GOAT is the true main character of the setting.

>>25200515
It'a cool title. Are you a religious christian, does the use of the word reverend offend in some way?

>>25201068
Yes, I think that has something to do with it, anon, aside from the grammar. Though, if there was a character from, say, JoJo Star named Reverend Insanity, I would just think it’s funny and not cringe.

>>25201483
Like others have already explained the title Reverend Insanity does not have any connection to the story/plot/characters within the novel. I am not entirely sure why the original translator used this title desu

my favorite part is when the reverend of insanity says "it's reverend time" and insanities all over the place

>>25201691
Is that before or after you take your meds?

>>25196113
About 10

>>25201691
“Let’s REVEREND the fuck out of this” - reverend Insanity if it were written by Andy Weir

>>25204055
That's insane.

>>25194386
You have to stick with it. Eventually you realize its pretty straight foward story about a guy relieving his previous life with all the knowledge of what happened previously, collecting pokemon and cultivating his power level like DBZ. 40,000 pages of it.

Reverend Insanity speaks to me on so many levels. It is a title which invites us to stop and ponder: is there such a reverend, named insanity? Is there such a thing as a reverent insanity? Or is Mr. Reverend Insanity a normal, unassuming man, considered insane by the world for his love of the Gospel of Christ? There are but a few of many contemplative avenues in regards to Reverend Insanity

>>25194386
Chinese has a certian "tone" you need to read it it, just get used to it over time and change your mindset into that of the chinese equivalent of a european medieval person should help. RI is a truly unparalelled piece of chinese fiction.

Chinese stories are usually more realistic, absolutely 0 of that pathetic goody goody japanese shit you're likely used to.

>>25206075
>chinese stories
Im so chinese I just call them stories.

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I read chinese raws by running them through chrome's browser mtl function.
The trick isn't to raise your literacy rate enough to understand the chinese, but to lower it enough to understand the chinese. MTL chinese prose and english prose now read as mostly similar to me - no, actually, chinese prose is more comfortable. English prose is usually bloated with too many unnecessary descriptions, it's hard to stomach now.
Brevity is the soul of wit, kings could only exist when the masses were illiterate! Illiteracy is king!!! Illiteracy is king!!!

>>25206947
>kings could only exist when the masses were illiterate! Illiteracy is king!
Based and peasant-pilled

>>25206947
>English prose is usually bloated
This anon knows...

>>25205476
Sounds based, I wish more novels were like that.

>>25196196
Lotm is clunky even in Chinese.

>>25194386
The thing to keep in mind is the first third or so of it is pretty directly a parody of popular chinese fantasy fiction c. 2010. As it goes on it starts leaning less on that but if you don't know chinese fiction tropes you'll probably be lost well before that.

>>25213754
What tropes?

>>25213461
Currently in Volume 2 chapter 278, it's lowkey lame and boring, i prefered Vol1...can i speedrun or watch a summary up to an interesting point then resume reading? like, am sure all this bs am going through won't matter much later on and i'll forget most of it.

>>25214937
Literally all of them.

e.g. the infamous bear scene. Rape used to be the go-to move for demonstrating that a villain is super evil in low quality 2010's era china slop. The entire first half of the chapter is a bait and switch to make you think Fang Yuan is going to rape the girl. Obviously he does not and does the bear thing instead.