每小时翻译字数

J.H. Wang wrote:

《大亨盖茨比》似乎是目前得到的最佳译名。

Loise wrote:

The great Gatsby 中的 great 不是名词，而是形容词。在 great Gatsby 前加了一个the的意思是说：本书的Gatsby是诸多名为Gatsby的人里的某个特别不同凡响的人物。如果真要按字面翻译的话，应该说：那个了不起的盖兹比。
我觉得说盖兹比是个大亨很传神，因为大亨有点负面、不道德、俗气的意思，非常符合作者对盖兹比的两面评价：既正又反。

[Edited at 2013-04-27 05:06 GMT]

J.H. Wang wrote:

《大亨盖茨比》似乎是目前得到的最佳译名。

Fargoer wrote:



“大亨”一词形象鲜活，但精神层面的承载力较弱。尤其是正面的肯定比较欠缺。“伟大的”、“了不起的”这些词可以涵摄多种精神气质，但
“大亨”就是大亨。形象是鲜活的、具体的。可以活灵活现，却很难让人喜欢。“大亨”一词起源上就与物质排场有关，用今天的话来说，是炫富的产物，精神上先天不足。

我这样说，是不是有点仇富心结？可能有点。:p

Loise wrote:

Gatsby the Great, Gatsby the Fat, Gatsby the Tall, Gatsby the Young 等用法不过是 epithet 的特殊倒装用法：将人的名字放到article "the" 和 形容词 Great、tall、fat、young的前面。这里的 Great、tall、fat、young 都是形容词，意思为：the great (fat, tall, young) Gatsby。

Fargoer wrote:



这个字应该读“谢”的音。

After the Buchannan's dinner party, The Great Gatsby is again and again filled with excess. In fact, every one of the seven deadly sins (pride, envy, wrath, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lust) is well represented. None of the characters, including Nick, are free from the deadly devices, which, at least in times past, have traditionally marked the downfall of a community. It is interesting to note that although the seven deadly sins are depicted time and time again by the people in The Great Gatsby, the theological counterpart to the seven deadly sins, the seven cardinal virtues (faith, hope, love, prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance) are nearly invisible. Gatsby, of course, has more hope than all the others put together, but in the end, that one thing, no matter how strong, can't save him.

Although countless acts of questionable integrity can be found within the pages of The Great Gatsby, the final and most blatant acts of immorality, of course, come near the book's end. Daisy shows her true self when she runs down Myrtle without even stopping. Gatsby becomes the target for another man's murderous rage when he is gunned down by Wilson (assisted, through association, by Tom). And finally, the last great act of disregard for one's fellow human comes in perhaps the most surprising and disturbing form of all: the lack of mourners at Gatsby's funeral. Despite how people had clamored to be associated with him in life, in death he became useless to them, and so their interests took them elsewhere (with, of course, the sole exception of Nick).

Fitzgerald uses the acts and actions of his characters to convey a sense of growing moral decrepitude, but he compounds his message through other means as well. First, there is the giant billboard, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, which, as George Wilson reveals, represent the eyes of God, which can be interpreted in two ways. On one hand, he could be suggesting that a watchful presence overlooks society all the time, and will hold the world accountable for its actions. Given this interpretation, Fitzgerald seems to be urging readers to remember that they themselves are being watched, so they had better prepare to account for their actions. On the other hand, George's statement may be taken as a testament to his skewed judgment. Has he fallen so far away from standard religion that he does, in fact, believe the enormous eyes watching over the valley of ashes are the eyes of God? Does he interpret the eyes literally, as opposed to metaphorically? If so, Fitzgerald is offering a less uplifting message, suggesting that society has fallen so far away from traditional religious teachings that people have lost all faith and can only misread the significance of the material world around us.

Finally, Fitzgerald uses geography to represent his message of spiritual dysfunction, beginning with the distinct communities of East Egg and West Egg. Granted, their differences are largely socioeconomic, but when looking at the inhabitants of each Egg, the West Eggers stand somewhat above the East Eggers (albeit not by much). Whereas no one in East Egg has any virtues to redeem themselves, West Egg does have Nick, the one character in the book who has a fairly good sense of right and wrong. Just as Fitzgerald favored one Egg over the other (despite it being perceived as the less fashionable Egg), he also pits regions of the country against each other, with similar results. There is no denying that Fitzgerald sees the Midwest as a land of promise.

He acknowledges it is less glamorous and exciting than the East, but it has a pureness about it that the East lacks. All his characters come from the Midwest, and in the end, the East does them in. As Nick says, "we possessed some deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable to Eastern life." Nick is the only one to realize this, however, and so after he has become completely disillusioned with life in the East, he heads home, presumably to a land that is still connected to the basic tenets of human compassion and charity.

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald presents a world in which value systems have gone out of balance. He is not espousing a heavy-handed Christian message, but rather he is encouraging readers to stop and take inventory of their lives. Although some may see Fitzgerald as implying a return to God is necessary for survival, the text supports something far more subtle: Fitzgerald is urging a reconsideration of where society is and where it is going.

wherestip wrote:



http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/great-gatsby/character-analysis/jay-gatsby.html

J.H. Wang wrote:

从上面链接的评论中：

“Gatsby is in many ways, as the title suggests, great, but when looking at him critically, some of the things he stands for may not be so admirable.”

“However, all positive traits aside, there are aspects of Jay Gatsby that call into question that admiration. Gatsby's money did not come from inheritance, as he would like people to believe, but from organized crime. The story takes place during the time of prohibition and Gatsby has profited greatly from selling liquor illegally. ”

这说明盖茨比并不是清白的。

“In assessing Gatsby, one must examine his blind pursuit of Daisy. Everything he does, every purchase he makes, every party he throws, is all part of his grand scheme to bring Daisy back into his life for good. In one sense, this is a lovely romantic gesture, but in another sense, it perpetuates a childish illusion. ”

这点固然有浪漫的成分，但是说明盖茨比是不理智的。


再结合其结局，用“伟大的”、“了不起的”来描写盖茨比是不太符合事实的。倒是，用“大人物
”、“大亨”反而可以避免这个弊端，而且也符合原文事实。

J.H. Wang wrote:

只是借助这个人物，反映社会道德的堕落，呼吁道德的回归。

wherestip wrote:

I don't think there is any digging at Gatsby in the short title of the book