MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Difference between the dozens of versions of Public Domain books?

cmdahler · 02-28-2010, 07:32 PM

I would echo that sentiment about the updated translations. The classics here on MR are obviously the free public domain versions, most of which were translated decades ago, if not more than a hundred years ago. The example of The Count of Monte Cristo is a good one: the recent translation by Robin Buss is excellent and updated and includes numerous footnotes to the text that bring much context into the story that a recent reader would not understand about the original text. Same thing with Don Quixote: the translation by Edith Grossman is excellent and includes hundreds of footnotes to the text.

I would say that if all you want is the same text that everyone read back in high school or college of these wonderful classics and have no interest in the context or added information provided by numerous researched footnotes, then the versions uploaded here on MR are obviously fine and there is no reason to pay anyone for the same thing one can find here for free. But there can be a valid reason for paying for an updated translation that is both excellent and provides much of interest in additional notations.

P.S.: I've been searching for a good epub of Buss' translation of Monte Cristo; Sony doesn't have it for sale at the Sony store. Amazon has it, but I don't have a Kindle. I found a epub of this translation at ebookmall.com for only $2.99, but I'm skeptical because it's so cheap. Anyone have any experience with that website? Anyone know if this really is the Buss translation, and does it include all the footnotes in the print version?

02-28-2010, 07:32 PM	#15
cmdahler Addict Posts: 292 Karma: 24688 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad	I would echo that sentiment about the updated translations. The classics here on MR are obviously the free public domain versions, most of which were translated decades ago, if not more than a hundred years ago. The example of The Count of Monte Cristo is a good one: the recent translation by Robin Buss is excellent and updated and includes numerous footnotes to the text that bring much context into the story that a recent reader would not understand about the original text. Same thing with Don Quixote: the translation by Edith Grossman is excellent and includes hundreds of footnotes to the text. I would say that if all you want is the same text that everyone read back in high school or college of these wonderful classics and have no interest in the context or added information provided by numerous researched footnotes, then the versions uploaded here on MR are obviously fine and there is no reason to pay anyone for the same thing one can find here for free. But there can be a valid reason for paying for an updated translation that is both excellent and provides much of interest in additional notations. P.S.: I've been searching for a good epub of Buss' translation of Monte Cristo; Sony doesn't have it for sale at the Sony store. Amazon has it, but I don't have a Kindle. I found a epub of this translation at ebookmall.com for only $2.99, but I'm skeptical because it's so cheap. Anyone have any experience with that website? Anyone know if this really is the Buss translation, and does it include all the footnotes in the print version? Last edited by cmdahler; 02-28-2010 at 07:37 PM.