Reading the original version or translated version of a book Reading not only wises people up but also broadens their insights, but there's a translation lost in books written by foreign authors. It's undeniable that reading translated version is economical in time and energy, but no matter how good a translator is , he/she will, to some extent, lose something entrenched in the original written language, like the beauty or rhythm of the language. For a totally unknown language, the solution is easy- just reading translated version. However, a reader with intermediate level of a foreign language, it's ironically hard to make a choice sometimes. I've been learning English for many years, so I can read English books and understand the content much if not most. But not to mention it's energy costing, that 1% misunderstood part really militates against the enjoyment of a book, which really ticks me off. Facing “Sophie's choice”, I prefer reading the English version, which devastatingly slow down my reading speed and efficiency, but it's the blessing in disguise that I could feel the real, authentic message the author want to convey rather than more or less subjectively changed one by the translator.