第九届CASIO杯翻译竞赛英语组原文及参考译文.pdfVIP

第九届CASIO杯翻译竞赛英语组原文

MeansofDelivery

ByJoshuaCohen

SmugglingAfghanheroinorwomenfromOdessawouldhavebeenmore

reprehensible,butmorelogical.Youknowyou’reafoolwhenwhatyou’redoing

makeseventhepostofficeseemefficient.EverythingIwaspackingintothis

unwieldy,1980s-vintagesuitcasewasavailableonline.Idon’tmeanthatwhenI

arrivedinBerlinIcouldhaveorderedmoreLevi’s510sfornext-daydelivery.Imean,

Iwaspackingbooks.

Notjustanybooks—thesewereallthesamebook,multiplecopies.“Invalid

Format:AnAnthologyofTripleCanopy,Volume1”ispublished,yes,byTriple

Canopy,anonlinemagazinefeaturingessays,fiction,poetryandallvarietyof

audio/visualculture,dedicated—click“About”—“toslowingdowntheInternet.”

Withtheirbook,thefirstinaplannedseries,theeditorscertainlysucceeded.They

wereslowingmedowntoo,justfine.

“InvalidFormat”collectsinprintthemagazine’sfirstfourissuesandretails,

ideally,for$25.Butthe60copiesIwascouriering,inexchangeforacouchand

coffee-pressaccessinKreuzberg,wouldbegivenaway.Forfree.

Untillatelytheprintedbookchangedmorefrequently,butlesscreatively,than

anyothermedium.Ifyouthought“TheQuotableRonaldReagan”wastooexpensive

inhardcover,youcouldwaitayearorlessforthesamecontenttogosoft.E-books,

whichmadetheirdebutinthe1990s,cutcostsevenmoreforbothconsumerand

producer,thoughastheInternetexpandedthoserolesbecameconfused.

Self-publishedbookpropertiesbeganoutnumbering,ifnotoutselling,theirtrade

equivalentsbythemid-2000s,asituationfurtherconvolutedwhentheconglomerates

started“publishing”“self-publishedbooks.”Lastyear,Penguinbecamethefirst

majortradepresstogovanity:itsBookCountrye-imprintwillleg