That's a good point. I've never done it myself but I understand it's a whole other experience reading "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" in the original Greek compared to reading it in English for example. Some things don't translate as well as the original language presumably. The same with the Bible I understand. In some parts you will have the same word (in English) though if you know enough to go to the original Greek you find it was two different words with (perhaps) similar meanings. It's like saying "he threw out the idea" and "he threw the man out of the bar." Both have to do with throwing something or someone, but one has to do with expressing an idea for others to hear and the other to do with removing a disruption from a room. Same action word (i.e. threw) but different context.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Not at all. My question was, how do you know how much of the original author you're reading, and how much of the translator? If you read an English translation of "War and Peace" and think it's boring, is it Tolstoi that's boring, or the translator? I find it difficult to see how one can critically judge a book in translation because you don't know what it is that you're reading. Has the translator made a bad book good, a good book bad, a poor book terrible, a mediocre book reasonable, or some other combination? How do you judge?
I'm not taking about reading for pleasure here, but using translations when judging the merit of a book as a work of literature. Can you make an informed jugement of, say, Tolstoi, if you only read his books in translation?
|