Translations
Amazon in particular is TERRIBLE about translations. You often have to read READER COMMENTS, for gosh sake, to find out who the translator is. Worse yet, I have seen books listed with ratings COMBINED for different translations, so you can't tell which translation is liked and which is not, unless a reader happens to be so specific -- and let's face it, many readers seem translation-oblivious.
It is probably the publisher's fault, ultimately, but really -- it's not a big secret that many great classics ARE NOT WRITTEN IN ENGLISH!! Amazon should realize that, and as a reader service, should insist that publishers specify that information.
I don't care if the translation is hundreds of years old, the identity of the translator is essential artistic information, unless the tranlator is unknown, in which case THAT should be explicitly specified.
In the case of The Trial, the Project Gutenberg version doesn't seem bad, though it's probably not the best out there. It's the one I'm reading for this goround.
|