Quote:
Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel
that sounds really interesting, i would love to read it. is there a version in french ?  |
Yes, there is.
And the translation should be good, as I suppose he took extra care in translating this work. Plus he is fluent in french as he translated some of Raymond Queneau's work in italian (Exercices de style).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ea
You don't say. Oh, my! 
I'm actually holding back a little with Eco, because I really don't think it's an improvement if I, as a Dane, read him in an English translation. But I can't read Italian either - and his overall 'wordiness' creates quite heavy books..  So... what to do. |
From what I've read in this essay, I would tend to think that the translations of his work are good ones.
I haven't compared the french translations with the italian originals, as I read some of his books in french before I had a sufficient fluency in italian. This essay is his first work I read in italian.
Nothing jumped at me as being badly translated in the french version. Then again, he speaks french so that helps.
I suppose the english translations are been carefully done too, as they have been widely disseminated and he is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
If you can't read italian or french, I think you should go ahead and read his books in english.