葛浩文是近年来翻译中国当代文学作品数量最多、贡献最大的西方学者。他所指,乃厄普代克今年5月9日刊于《纽约客》杂志的长篇书评《苦竹》(Bitter Bamboo),其中论及葛氏所译苏童的《我的帝王生涯》和莫言的《丰乳肥臀》两部中国小说。“读者尤其要怀疑翻译中的迷失。”厄普代克说。他援引了葛氏的译文例句,如“I knew then that I had truly fallen into the
chrysalis of what transpires between a man and a woman”(苏童原文为“我知道现在我真正陷入了男女之情的大网”),“Her lips looked like a dead fish as they nibbled their way
up my coiling dragon robe,producing a cheerless soughing sound”(原文为“她的失血的嘴唇像一条鱼,自下而上喙着我的衮龙锦袍,发出一种凄怆的飒飒之声”),厄普代克称,“葛教授大概在努力迎合汉语文本,”但是在“So it was a certainty that Duanwen was now licking
his wounds in the residence of the Western Duke,having found safe haven at last”(苏童原文为“几乎可以确定,端文现在滞留于西王府邸中舔吮自己的伤口,他终于找到了一片相对安全的树荫”)一句中,“英语里的陈词滥调便好像太过令人厌倦了”。