IOP Journal 3

I've started my outline for the IOP. It's going well so far, I guess. It takes a while. Haha. Anyway, I've realized that Ward's translation is a very "Americanized" style of writing. Everything is blunt and to the point. Meursault is perceived as no-nonsense and very detached. This is seen especially when Meursault says, "When she laughed I wanted her again. A minute later she asked me if I loved her. I told her it didn’t mean anything but that I didn’t think so. She looked sad" (35). Meursault is so simple in his words. He portrays no emotion and the reader feels removed. In Gilbert's version, the translation is similar, but the reader recognizes emotion in his voice. It's easier to feel sympathy, or at least empathy toward Meursault. Gilbert romanticizes his words and Meursault comes off as a poet, detached from the world only enough to still retain the skill of speaking pretty.
When I read through the Gilbert translation, all I can think about is how much nicer the words sound and how Meursault doesn't seem half bad. I think the whole point of Ward's translation was to make the reader feel as detached as Meursault feels in the novel. Gilbert's translation doesn't accomplish that, but maybe it's going for something else. It seems more like he's just trying to tell a well-worded story. In Ward's version, the story is only half of the equation. The actual language adds to the tone and the mood.