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The existence of another, competing translation is a good thing, in general, and only immediately discouraging to one person - the translator who, after one, two, or three years of more or less careful work, sees another, and perhaps superior, version appear as if overnight.

The problem is that it is difficult to translate.

The translator's task is to create, in his or her own language, the same tensions appearing in the original. That's hard!

If a translation doesn't have obvious writing problems, it may seem quite all right at first glance. We readers, after all, quickly adapt to the style of a translator, stop noticing it, and get caught up in the story.

It can bum you out when your intentions aren't, like, translated properly.

Language changes very fast.

With music, you often don't have to translate it. It just affects you, and you don't know why.

And I always read the English translation and always have conversations with my translator, for example about the names. I always have to approve it.

With a terrible script you hustle and try to make it better. But with a good script it can be trouble because you rest on your laurels, so to speak, you think it's going to translate easily.

I think the close work I do as a translator pays off in my writing - I'm always searching for multiple ways to say things.