Demian

My first official work of translation has been out now 🤩🤩🤩

Initially, I expected that there would be a thousand-word post for this special event when the very first book translated by me is released. But now, I’m speechless. It’s such a painstakingly meticulous project for me as an amateur translator. At least, I’ve realized one of my lifelong dreams to be a real translator after several obstacles when working on this project.

I’m so grateful to my big family and my teachers for their success in educating such a fastidious kid =)))) Also, a special thank-you note should be sent to my youngest uncle who sponsored me this book (I mean the original English version) without considering the profitability of my random project. But for his support, both mentally and financially, this one wouldn’t be possible now. Besides, I must show my heartfelt appreciation for my first readers who gave me constructive feedback to better the translation: my maternal grandpa, my aunt-in-law, my sister, my mother, and some of my close friends. Though my mom was a little down when reading this depressing but worth reading book, I firmly believe that she’s pretty proud of my hard work and resilience. BTS – the one who cheers me up through their music and lets me know about this book cannot be left out from the list of my thank-you list. Last but not least, I owe a debt of gratitude to Ms. Dao Mai Ly and the crew at Tre Publishing House for trying so hard to make this Vietnamese version accessible to the public despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

I translated this book when being down-in-the-mouth =)) I was about to give up on my study, and my career as a teacher of English. I once found it hard to move on, let alone live. Then I wondered why we had to live? And I’ve found the answer in this book. Because of this book, I’ve turned down several job offers. But I don’t regret it. I don’t mean that I look down on money, yet I can make money whenever I want to *touch wood* However, the opportunities for me to try new things and to experience new challenges are quite limited. Therefore, I spent a few months translating the book without any connection in the publishing field, which means all of my efforts can be a wild goose chase one day if there is no one that agrees to sign a contract with me to publish this book in Vietnam. Fortunately, I got the approval from Tre Publishing House among several polite turndowns and even bitter silence from others.

Working on this project, I had to face my past wounds which I had always tried to ignore. Nevertheless, I finally overcome all of those invisible hindrances, and be a better version of myself. This has taught me a lot. Whenever I wanted to give up, I just told myself: “Keep on going! If you can make it to the end, you can do everything!”. And ultimately, I did it! Feel like I’ve passed the test of endurance with flying colors, so I hope this can be a training course to get over every hardship in my life. This is a testimony to my blood, sweat, and tears =))

Once again, I’m so grateful to the people making this possible 😍Thank you all for your support, dedication, and effort! I hope this impressively red color can somewhat contribute to brightening the gloomy days of this virulent pandemic.