As a mild fan of Murakami, I was a bit surprised to know the difficulties involved in translating Murakami's work - as I was familiar with how he had an expose with Anglo-American culture as well as his rich references to Jazz and whiskey and Western music in his texts.  Furthermore, he's also known for his rhythmic style of writing, which I thought makes the translation to English smoother and not quite difficult.

However, now I see that the "ease" of translating Murakami's work into English is precisely what makes it difficult, as Murakami's unique style of writing can be lost in the process of translation. Thus, this is where translators also get their creative decision/interpretation during their translation, much like how we see Jay Rubin translating an accurate translation, whilst Birnbaum tends to maintain the playfulness and the jazziness present in the native, original text.

My important takeaway was how reader's perception of an author may vary depending on the translators - when one criticizes the artistic style or the phrasing of a literature, one could be criticizing the translator, and not the author themselves. I also found the interview question of "Whether a translated work can surpass the original" interesting - I personally think that it is not possible, as translated work is a completely new piece of literature in my mind, making them incomparable to the original text. However, seeing cases where the authors try to improve or cut out certain parts of the narrative was refreshing as that is a prime example of where translated work is objectively "better" as it conveys the authors message and thoughts more articulately.

Marcus