English to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
English term or phrase:The book has been damned because it is so carefully dreamed."
At the same time, the poems, many of them confronting the bleakness of West Virginia and Ohio mill towns, were intensely personal: "I was trying to write about a girl I was in love with who has been dead for a long time, I tried to sing with her in that book. Not to re-create her; you can’t re-create anybody, at least I can’t. But I thought maybe I could come to terms with that feeling which has hung on in my heart for so long. The book has been damned because it is so carefully dreamed."
Explanation: This is a bit of guesswork in the absence of further context, but IMO the author would more likely say 'doomed' if he meant that it was bound to fail. My understanding is that it has been harshly or severely criticised (e.g by book reviewers) for having too much of a dream-like quality, and possibly that the author thinks that the criticism is unjust because his intention was to give it a dream-like quality and he put considerable effort into achieving this result.
It's a bit hard to imagine that an author would say that his own work was ruined by something done carefully.
OK. I guess my headache is not helping :) I meant I DISAGREE with Ken Cox and I Agree with Orientalhorizon. I am so sorry I messed this up:) I am calling it a day now and switching off my computer.
To orientalhorizon: I am so sorry- my comment was not for you. Actually I agree with you
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Answers
1 hr confidence: peer agreement (net): -1
the book has been damned because it is so carefully dreamed."
the book has been ruined because it is so carefull dreamed
Explanation: it has been ruined and not stand up to the standard desired in dreams. The dreams have been so subtle and perfect that it's not really easy to reduce them to a book completely.
orientalhorizon China Local time: 23:08 Native speaker of: Chinese PRO pts in category: 8
the book has been damned because it is so carefully dreamed."
book has been severely criticised because...
Explanation: This is a bit of guesswork in the absence of further context, but IMO the author would more likely say 'doomed' if he meant that it was bound to fail. My understanding is that it has been harshly or severely criticised (e.g by book reviewers) for having too much of a dream-like quality, and possibly that the author thinks that the criticism is unjust because his intention was to give it a dream-like quality and he put considerable effort into achieving this result.
It's a bit hard to imagine that an author would say that his own work was ruined by something done carefully.
Ken Cox Netherlands Local time: 16:08 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 88
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peer agreement (net): -1
