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#1 |
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Kobo version of War and Peace
I have decided that it's high time I read War and Peace. I am in my mid 40's and it's been on my "to be read" pile for 20 plus years so I've decided to follow some advice I read to "live it" and I'm going to read a chapter a day.
My question is, has anyone read the kobo version that comes in the 100 free books? I am loath to open it in case it has terrible formatting or the chapter breaks are wrong - and I don't fancy paging through to the end! Is it a reasonable translation with minimal errors, or am I better to buy one or source a better version? And if anyone wants to join me, I'd love to have some company...we can live War and Peace in Russia for the next year! |
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#2 |
himself
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Regarding Tolstoy, the content matters. Read his works however
they are formatted. Aside, I'm not sure how some Russian styles might sound in English. Deminutives are common, so be prepared. |
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#3 | |
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I can't comment Kobo's version of War and Peace myself, so just generally speaking:
Quote:
I think the Kobo version is from Project Gutenberg, which appears to be the Maude translation. There are various other translations available (some for purchase), including Garnett, Briggs, Bromfield, and Pevear-Volokhonsky. The newest and most modern translation is by apparently the tour de force Pevear-Volokhonsky, whose translation of Anna Karenina made the Oprah Book Club and seems to have made their efforts flavour of the month. Bromfield's is a controversial translation that purports to be based on the 'original' (there are apparently a few different versions of W&P). Garnett's is seen as rustically Victorian but with an easy style. The Maudes apparently knew Tolstoy and were fervent promoters of his works. Unfortunately, most ebooks available for purchase don't seem to specify the translator. Of course, if you don't care for translations that much, just try the public domain one and see if it reads naturally for you. In any case, sorry for the info dump... I've been wanting to read War and Peace myself, and since the translation is fairly important to me, am having trouble deciding on one. ![]() Last edited by viviena; 02-09-2011 at 05:19 AM. |
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#4 |
himself
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#5 |
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Heh, one from the original, that would be the goal, yes.
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#6 |
Wizard
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Isn't the original in both French and Russian?
As far as formatting goes, check and see if there is an edition in the library here. Most classics seem to be there, and even if it is in a different format like .mobi, you might get a better formatted version once you convert to .epub with calibre. -- Bill |
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#7 |
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Thanks everyone, I'll try the kobo one - which is gutenburg according to the kobo site. I'd forgotten that Anna Karenina was the first book I ever read on my kobo and it seemed fine - although all the "russian" and "french" words in it were not italicised, instead they were formatted as _word_ which was a bit annoying, but I'll see how it goes. I'm a member of the Victorians group on Goodreads so love the older style of writing anyway. And, viviena, why would a translator modernise the style? Isn't that changing the original too much?
There was an online group who read it last year (or perhaps 2009). The Pevear-Volokhonsky version was the one the moderator used for that. But I'm not really that fussy as long as it isn't full of errors. I downloaded Sister Carrie from Gutenberg a month or so ago and it was full of errors - "of" instead of "or", names spelt differently in different places, spelling errors, incorrect sentence structures - not just standard ebook errors, these made in unreadable. I ended up buying a $2 copy that was perfect (and it was a good read too if you like Dreiser). Anyway, thanks everyone and Viviena, hurry up and source a copy and we'll do it together! |
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#8 | |
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Quote:
I'd love to read the original Russian or French, but unfortunately I was educated in the Anglo Saxon school system which didn't emphasis languages at all so I wouldn't get past the first word! I'm all for the European system where they became fluent in several languages at a very young age - us English speakers assume everyone else speaks English. ![]() |
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#9 |
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We didn't assume that... we worked very hard to make sure that the British Empire and then the American Sphere of influence were so powerful to ensure that everyone would learn English
![]() -- Bill |
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#10 | |
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Quote:
http://tinyurl.com/6avjy7u How can you resist? – Ron |
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#11 | |||
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Anyway, yes yes, I've settled on the Maude and have downloaded a copy from FeedBooks! ![]() Last edited by viviena; 02-09-2011 at 09:29 PM. |
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#12 | |
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#13 | |
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Quote:
Great to see that you are going to join me. I had two library books come in this morning that I have been waiting ages for - but I am going to read War and Peace at the same time as other books, or at least try it this way and see how it goes. |
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#14 |
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I have to say, that if I only had that paragraph comparison to go on, the decision would be for the Maude translation every time. But that is just me
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#15 | |
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Quote:
![]() And I've started War and Peace - up to Chapter 4 |
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