One interesting point I found was Jay Rubin's idea in Making Sense of Japanese that "Japanese is more imprecise and mysterious than English." Japanese is considered a "high-context language." As a Japanese learner, in the beginning it was very hard to understand who is the subject. Often in conversations, the tone and context conveys who is the subject, whereas in English we use words like "I" or "you" almost all the time. I relate to Rubin's point, but I also like Gabriel idea that Japanese is in fact a very clear and precise language.
Another interesting question is that "Is it possible for a translation to improve on the original?" I think this depends on the goal of the translation. If the goal is to retell the original story as closely as possible, then this question is meaningless because the criteria are different. Whereas if the original book is a comedy book, and the translated version happens to be even funnier, then one could argue the translation is an improved version of the original.
In the interview with Gabriel, he mentions that the authors he translate are still alive, thus he can ask for comments or suggestions. In the other article, Gabriel said how some authors will ask him to delete certain sections and even add new sections for the translation because the authors are trying to improve on their published work. So perhaps the translation could improve on the original.
I read sections of Murakami's "The Elephant Vanishes", in both English and Japanese, and I liked how he gives clear descriptions of the environment (sound, mood, location). When the protagonist talked about the case he is solving, the elephant that vanished, there is something very absurd and surreal about it, like how the elephant's shape was bending and getting smaller. I thought the English translation captured the energy and feeling of the original pretty well, just like how Rubin and Gabriel said about Murakami's work being relatively straightforward to translate.
-Allen
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