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Writer's pictureStone Bridge Press

The difference between Mark Gibeau's and Donald Keene's translation of Osamu Dazai's 'Ningen Shikkaku'

Updated: Apr 11


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A Shameful Life, Mark Gibeau's new translation of the Osamu Dazai classic, Ningen shikkaku is finally available. But many are wondering how different is Gibeau's version from Donald Keene's 1948 translation, No Longer Human?


Serdar Yegulalp from Ganriki.org has written an in depth analysis of the two and how they differ from each other, as well as to the original Japanese. 


"The first question people are likely to ask is: If I'm new to No Longer Human, should I start with this version? My short answer is "Probably." Keene's version is slightly more polished as a reading experience, but Gibeau's version is a slightly more faithful translation — there's more of a sense of how Dazai's original sentences and compositions came together on the page, even when they are not necessarily reader-friendly."







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