Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

James got a letter. From a dead person. Oh dear.

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Joseph
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Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by Joseph »

Title preety much explains it all.
http://otakunoeiyaku.blogspot.com/2011/ ... ter-1.html
This is not my own work, I just found it would be interesting to share it with you. Up to now, only the first 3 chapters have being translated, but hopefully the rest of them are close to being uploaded. Until then, enjoy the beginning of a more descriptive synopsis of Silent Hill 2's myth! :wink:
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Aleister
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by Aleister »

Oh wow that was a good read, nothing new as far as what has been digested in regards to the whole silent hill 2 mythos but great read however. Thanks for the link.

Putting it on my favorites.
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Xerophan
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by Xerophan »

That was great, getting to read parts of the novel based on a video game we all know and love. I really wish we could get a translation of the novel based on the first game, though. I've been dying to read that for quite some time, but to my knowledge it's still only available in Japan.
2 Favorite Quotes:

"[color=#0000FF]I was weak. That’s why I needed you.... Needed someone to punish me for my sins.... But that’s all over now.... I know the truth.... Now it’s time to end this."[/color]--James Sunderland

[color=#BF0000]"It doesn't matter if you're smart, dumb, ugly, pretty....It's all the same once you're dead. And a corpse can't laugh."[/color]--Eddie
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Aerith Gainsborough
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by Aerith Gainsborough »

Thank you so much for sharing this. :D
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by Lady-ducky »

Xerophan wrote:That was great, getting to read parts of the novel based on a video game we all know and love. I really wish we could get a translation of the novel based on the first game, though. I've been dying to read that for quite some time, but to my knowledge it's still only available in Japan.
I'm almost done with SH2, then I will be starting on SH1 :D
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Xev
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by Xev »

Very nice, let us know when you start on the first.
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Lady-ducky
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by Lady-ducky »

Will do :D
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Yoshata
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by Yoshata »

Great. I can't wait to read your translation of SH1 and I am really enjoying reading the translated SH2 novel (chapter 5 is loooong!). Thank you so much!
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by Lady-ducky »

Yoshata wrote:Great. I can't wait to read your translation of SH1 and I am really enjoying reading the translated SH2 novel (chapter 5 is loooong!). Thank you so much!
I know DX That's why it took three months for me to have it up. And As you would expect, chapter 6 is even longer >_<
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by The Adversary »

Thank you, Lady Lucky, for your work. I've been putting off reading anything past the first chapter until it's completed.

I do have a question, though: When there are memos, are they identical, or are there slight changes? I understand it might be tedious to go through and translate what seems the same as in the game, but sometimes subtle differences might not mean anything to some people while they're incredibly significant to others.

Thank you again.
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Lady-ducky
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by Lady-ducky »

Sometimes. Most of the time the memos are identical to those found in the game. But if I suspect there might be something different in it, I just translate it myself. The only thing that has been hugely different from the game is the newspaper article about the Little Baroness (in the book is has a 2 extra paragraphs talking about two other related cases).

But I will usually partially translate something until the point where I can determine if it's the same or not.
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by Silent Fantasy »

There's a few lines and things in the novel I don't like. Like James' "bring it on!" attitude to the monsters and even Pyramid Head later. Also how he compares himself to Eddie and makes it all so obvious. Or how he talks about his sanity and other things, like they were really trying to dumb it down. He says some things and brings them up so obviously and often times, out of nowhere. Other than my few nit picks and cringe worthy lines, its a very good read. Still kinda wish whoever wrote it (forgot his name) wouldn't have given James the gung ho attitude he has at times and would've been a bit more cryptic, or hell, human.
Oh, and good job with the translation Ducky. Cant wait to read more. 8) (Even with all my bitching.haha)
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by PoemOfTheLastMoment »

Chapter 5 is out...you learn A LOT about Angela in this chapter.Things like where she worked and the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of her father and brother are discussed...

There's also a little extra information about the identity of the man who was shot in the leg by Eddie...the revelation is startling!!!! :shock:



http://otakunoeiyaku.blogspot.com/2011/ ... ter-5.html
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by AuraTwilight »

It was then that a particularly absurd thought came to mind: What if Eddie's just another representation of my own madness? Another me…or another personality? In other words, he might be a bundle of hatred and rage that could lead to suicide or self-injury in the real world… As crazy as the idea was, he had come to the point where he could no longer deny the possibility.
Goddammit.
Suddenly, James was clutched by dizziness as an apparition appeared before him. Hands tied tightly behind his back, he was standing atop the wooden platform... The jailors, acting in place of a judge, were reading aloud a list of charges. All of the accusations were directed at James.

“You are lying to yourself by fleeing from the truth. Because of this, your sentence is to be put to death!” At those words, the executioner appeared, a giant man wearing a rust-caked, triangular metal helmet. Grabbing the noose, he quickly pulled it around James’s neck...
Goddammit!
Eventually, memories started going missing, swept away by the vacant flow of time...but, there is one thing I’ve learned. While wandering through an unknown town, I discovered that there’s someone else living inside me. A person neither man nor woman, who is healthy and energetic, and yet longs for death. I don’t know the boundaries anymore. Is that person me? Am I that person? Who was I to begin with?
Goddammit!
Slowly, James rose to his feet, feeling like little more than the empty husk of a soul. He gazed vacantly over Maria’s lifeless body. On closer inspection, he noticed a hole in her chest that looked to be a gunshot wound. This was no accidental death, and she certainly didn’t die of illness... But then, who killed Maria? Who would have a reason to shoot her to death?
GODDAMMIT!
“Yeah, Eddie. Whatever you say.” James nodded compliantly, trying not to anger him. However, this only served to provoke Eddie further.

“I knew it. You, too… You're just like ‘em, James.”

“Eddie, I didn’t mean anything…”

“Don’t bother. I understand. You’ve been laughing at me all along, haven’t you? Ever since we first met. I’ll kill you James!”
GOD-FUCKING-DAMMIT

This novel is total bullshit.
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by alone in the town »

It is my nature to only talk myself up when I'm being completely facetious about whatever I'm talking up.

However, and this is in no way a criticism of the translator, I did the same thing Sadamu Yamashita did: we both took the same game and transcribed its contents into novel form.

Having read a fair portion of his work, I am left with the honest impression (narcissistic as it sounds), that I did a much better job. And, that's even acknowledging the fact that my effort is certainly not anybody's idea of literary genius. There are stylistic decisions I made which make me groan, especially all the profanity, and I probably could have trimmed it down quite a bit in length. But, this novelization lacks any real substance. I've read many novelizations of various works, and this is one of the kind I hate: the kind which is little more than an inflated walkthrough. The writing style is vacant, it lacks any sense of reality. It tells the story from James' perspective but gives only simple insight into his thoughts, the kind which were already obvious to anybody who played the game. Little effort is made to fill in the gaps necessarily left by the story being in a video game format.

I guess that review sounds a little mean. I don't consider it competition to mine; hell, I finished five years ago and have spent most of that time not thinking much about it. I've attempted one comprehensive edit and one full re-write, and finished neither. It's a task I can't prioritize above other pursuits. And, I've gotten more than my share of praise (some of it much more lavish than was deserved). What it is, really, is that I've been interested in seeing what the official counterpart was like, and I really expected a lot better than this.
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Kenji
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by Kenji »

Oh, I wanna be honest, but I don't wanna sound like I don't appreciate all the hard work that went into translating this novel for us. So, I think I'll just defer to those who share my general opinion, like AuraTwilight and alone in the town.
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peronmls
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by peronmls »

What about 3? D=
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Kenji
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by Kenji »

Vincent Smith is a... stockbroker, right?
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by alone in the town »

Vincent beat Stock Market on Hard Mode by age 25 and decided to... fuck around with hillbilly demon cults. Then he died and became the greasy-haired patron saint of Silent Hill fangirl masturbation fantasies.

What's not to believe.
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Lady-ducky
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Re: Silent Hill 2: Official novel translated

Post by Lady-ducky »

AuraTwilight, I'm not entirely clean on what problem you're seeing. Could you explain a little more?

As for the complains about the novel's plainness, I honestly think a lot of it just has to do with the language. A lot of what you read in the translation (as far as adjectives and descriptive sentences) where things I had to add in myself because that's the way the Japanese language is; everything is presented in a very straightforward way. Then of course, I've never been particularly confident of my own writing abilities either...

So I'm sorry if it's not what you expected. Whether it's the author or the language barrier, it is what it is and all I can hope to do is present it in the best way I can.
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