Quote:
Originally Posted by gollu
That's an absolutely hilarious thought, that only a native English speaker can think of. Imagine, Harry, that one's mother tongue is not English. That same person should automatically conclude all English written books are non-classic.
|
No, that's not what I said; please read my post more carefully. What I was asking was whether, on the basis of reading a
translation, you were in a position to judge whether or not the
original (which you have not read) was or was not a classic.
I'll give you a practical example. I can read both Latin and ancient Greek. There is no translation of either Homer's "Iliad" or Virgil's "Aeneid" which can even begin to give you the "feeling" of the original Greek or Latin hexameter verse. It just cannot be translated. No English translation of the Iliad can put you in a position to judge what the Greek original is actually like. You can translate the "story", but the result is not the same at all.
That is why I am casting doubt on whether or not it is possible to form an accurate appreciation of a book by reading a translation of it. All that you can pass judgment on is whether or not the translation is any good, but the translation may be very different to the original.