Too Real?

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Takoren

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Well, the only guy who saw through him was a psychic, so I'd say he was pretty subtle.
In universe, yes, but there's no way a guy could campaign like that in real life and not be a laughingstock. I'm talking about running around like a maniac on the platform and throwing hot dogs at the crowd. It would have been more realistic if he'd had a sort of soothing, calming manor that seemed to make people instantly want to trust him. Even in universe, they seemed more amused by him than ready to trust him.
 
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Gerald

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Reading the biography of Peter Hurkos, it does seem likely that he's an inspiration for the novel... he may even be mentioned in the book itself, I don't remember....

I just found out about Hurkos. Even though he's from my country I don't think I'd heard of him before - he was in tv-specials, but it may have been just before I was old enough to watch/understand such things.

He was also studied in Maine and had the same publisher as King, Doubleday, which may have peaked SK's interest.

I don't think he was mentioned in the novel, but I also wasn't looking for him when I read it of course. But if he was, it must have most likely have mentioned he was Dutch and in that case I would surely have remembered - you remember when your country is mentioned in a book by a favourite writer.
 
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Gerald

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The way Hurkos developed his powers, after a head injury from falling and going into coma, is identical to the novel. I would say the chance King thought of this independently is pretty slim.

There weren't a lot of researchers who though his powers were real though. Mainly the one who studied him in Maine: Andrija Puharich - Wikipedia

His son followed in his father's footsteps: Peter van der Hurk

Actually my idea about psychics would be that they have a very strong intuition, and on top of that use high probability guesses.
 
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Bev Vincent

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I just found out about Hurkos....I don't think he was mentioned in the novel, but I also wasn't looking for him when I read it of course. But if he was, it must have most likely have mentioned he was Dutch and in that case I would surely have remembered - you remember when your country is mentioned in a book by a favourite writer.

Wiezak mentions Hurkos and Edgar Cayce to Johnny. There's also a fake excerpt from Newsweek that calls Johnny "The new Hurkos," but in that article Hurkos is erroneously described as "German-born".
 

Gerald

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Wiezak mentions Hurkos and Edgar Cayce to Johnny. There's also a fake excerpt from Newsweek that calls Johnny "The new Hurkos," but in that article Hurkos is erroneously described as "German-born".

That's why it didn't stand out to me. Germany and Netherlands are often intermingled in fiction. In some American movies and tv when a scene is supposed to take place in the Netherlands German is spoken, although this is mainly in older movies, nowadays it's more often correct.
 
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Gerald

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No, they could have easily called it 'Dode Zone'. No clue why they didn't.

Under the Dome could also be easily translated as 'Onder de Koepel', but it was changed to 'Gevangen' (which means 'trapped').

It seems to me they want to make titles often seem more 'gripping' in translation, to sell more copies perhaps. A dilemma seems to imply more tension than a zone. With trapped it seems the same - there are not just people under a dome, but they're trapped there.
 
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Bev Vincent

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Under the Dome could also be easily translated as 'Onder de Koepel', but it was changed to 'Gevangen' (which means 'trapped').

It seems to me they want to make titles often seem more 'gripping' in translation, to sell more copies perhaps. A dilemma seems to imply more tension than a zone. With trapped it seems the same - there are not just people under a dome, but they're trapped there.

The German titles of King novels are (almost?) always just a single word -- maybe the Dutch publisher is following that trend.
 

Gerald

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The German titles of King novels are (almost?) always just a single word -- maybe the Dutch publisher is following that trend.

No, not at all. Of course the ones that originally are one word (like Carrie, Christine, Misery etc.) remain one word, as the ones that are people's names remain the same - Dolores Claiborne too actually.
Salem's Lot is changed to Bezeten Stad, which means Possessed City, which never sounded good to me, because possession seems more attributed to a person than a place.
Firestarter actually becomes three words: Ogen van Vuur, which means Eyes of Fire.

Needful Things becomes De Noodzaak, which is a wordplay, because 'nood' means 'need' en 'zaak' means 'shop', but together it's also an existing word meaning 'necessity'.
The Stand becomes De Beproeving, which means The Ordeal, as there isn't a good translation for 'a stand', I think.
Thinner could have been done literally, but becomes De Vervloeking, which means The Malediction (or Curse).
Pet Semetary could have been done literally, but they would have to find a way to do the spelling wrong too, and it became Dodenwake instead, which is Wake or Vigil.
The Tommyknockers is probably untranslatable, so it becomes De Gloed - The Glow.
Gerald's Game, like Needful Things, is done as a wordplay here: De Spelbreker, which means 'the spoilsport' (which refers to Gerald I guess, because he 'leaves' the 'game', although through no fault of his own), but it has the word 'spel' in it, which is 'game' from the original title.

Skeleton Crew is a wordplay too and can't be translated literally, so it becomes Duistere Krachten (Dark Powers), which is also used as the title for the story Word Processor of the Gods, which could have been translated literally.
Night Shift is named after one of its stories too, Children of the Corn, which could have been translated literally, but was changed to Satanskinderen, meaning Children of Satan. Again to make it more gripping, I think, corn in itself doesn't sound very scary or threatening. There is (or was) this tendency sometimes with translations of horrortitles from writers like King, Straub etc. to make them sound quite sensationalistic, like trashy novels or movies, and this is such a case.

Some are quite close, but with a slight alteration: Different Seasons becomes 4 Seizoenen (Four Seasons), Duma Key becomes just Duma, The Dark Half becomes De Duistere Kant which means The Dark Side rather than Half.

Then there are some that are literally the same, like Cell (Mobiel here), or, especially many of the later ones (and The Shining only of the earlier ones, although when it first came out it had a different title), where they keep the original English title: Desperation, Dr. Sleep (dr. rather than doctor here), Joyland, Revival, Mr. Mercedes.
Also nowadays I think more people are able to understand English here, because of things like pc's becoming more general, than when his books first came out.
But in the end, it's hard to find a solid reasoning behind the translations of the titles, it's just what the publisher liked most at the time it seems.
 
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Gerald

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I always wondered if Rose Madder is a pun or wordplay in English?

Here it is called 'Rosie', although the main character is called Rose rather than Rosie (maybe Rosie was her nickname, can't remember). Madder refers to a plant of the genus Rubia, the root of which is used in dying, so it refers to the painting. I assume?
But there is also the word 'mad' in it, although Rose isn't the one who's mad, it's her husband who is rather, so I never get the title...
 
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GNTLGNT

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I always wondered if Rose Madder is a pun or wordplay in English?

Here it is called 'Rosie', although the main character is called Rose rather than Rosie (maybe Rosie was her nickname, can't remember). Madder refers to a plant of the genus Rubia, the root of which is used in dying, so it refers to the painting. I assume?
But there is also the word 'mad' in it, although Rose isn't the one who's mad, it's her husband who is rather, so I never get the title...

Rose madder is the commercial name sometimes used to designate a red paint made from the pigment madder lake, a traditional lake pigment extracted from the common madder plant Rubia tinctorum......but the word play very well could be intentional....
 
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Gerald

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Rose madder is the commercial name sometimes used to designate a red paint made from the pigment madder lake, a traditional lake pigment extracted from the common madder plant Rubia tinctorum......but the word play very well could be intentional....

So 'Rose madder' is basically one word. I took it as only the 'madder' part referred to the plant and paint. That makes more sense. So it doesn't really play on the word 'mad' that much, but mostly the name of the character and the paint?
 
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GNTLGNT

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So 'Rose madder' is basically one word. I took it as only the 'madder' part referred to the plant and paint. That makes more sense. So it doesn't really play on the word 'mad' that much, but mostly the name of the character and the paint?
....indeed it represents the paint, but your thought of the "mad" being a play is pretty good....
 

Gerald

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....indeed it represents the paint, but your thought of the "mad" being a play is pretty good....

Would 'madder' be the correct superlative form of 'mad'? Like mad, madder, maddest. Or would you say 'more mad' rather than 'madder'?

Mad not only means crazy, but also angry. Could it refer to her anger at her husband? Out of all his titles, I find this one the only that's confusing.
 
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GNTLGNT

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Would 'madder' be the correct superlative form of 'mad'? Like mad, madder, maddest. Or would you say 'more mad' rather than 'madder'?

Mad not only means crazy, but also angry. Could it refer to her anger at her husband? Out of all his titles, I find this one the only that's confusing.
...since English is such a confusing language, both ways would be appropriate.....
 
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