11-16-2017, 04:12 AM | #46 |
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11-16-2017, 11:07 AM | #47 | |
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Last edited by drofgnal; 11-16-2017 at 11:09 AM. |
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11-16-2017, 08:04 PM | #48 |
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My, er, extensive Russian vocabulary comes from reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Heinlein.
Wait, I think "gospodin" was in there, too. Who says SF isn't educational? |
11-18-2017, 05:38 PM | #49 |
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It seems the P&V translation hews close to word for word and is a little stiff. Is there another translation that leaves the French untouched?
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11-19-2017, 12:47 AM | #50 | ||
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From Notes on Text and Translation Quote:
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11-19-2017, 07:47 AM | #51 | |
o saeclum infacetum
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11-19-2017, 07:57 AM | #52 |
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Very interesting article - thanks for posting the link! I don't see, though, that it makes the P&V translations any less good if one member of the partnership does a word-for-word translation, and the other paraphrases into good English prose. Having read their "War and Peace", I found it to be an excellent translation, however it came about. I certainly found it more readable than the Maudes' translation, simply because it's written in modern English, and hence flows better for the modern reader.
Last edited by HarryT; 11-19-2017 at 08:01 AM. |
11-19-2017, 09:40 AM | #53 |
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You are both welcome.
It depends also in what you are looking for when you read translated work. I have read both Tolstoy and Dostoevsky translation in my own language, and when I first read P/V translations it seemed to me just as Harry called them - paraphrased text. But I much prefer translations truer to the real novels, including for example Ignat Avsey's translation of Karamazov Brothers. I have read in my language paraphrased Shakespeare translations (the target was mainly young readers, so it was made in modern language), and when I read the more serious ones I liked them much more, I have to admit. The language closer to those times, and not modern, made me feel more like I went back to the times it was written in, or rather to the times the plays take place in. |
11-19-2017, 04:14 PM | #54 | |
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I suspect if one wants to read the book as it really is one has to read the Russian. For myself I just accept the translations as they are and not concern myself about the various academic or overly pedantic arguments regarding accuracy and tone. It is said that Tolstoy personally approved of the Maude translation but I don't know how well he could have made a judgment about that. He was obviously fluent in French but it may have been that he was not so in English. For example in Wilson's biography Tolstoy he makes comments such as Tolstoy's English was just passable, One wonders how well he understood spoken English, and referring to a reading of Dicken's A Christmas Carol he says Tolstoy’s English was not up to understanding the famous dramatic renderings which Dickens made of his own work. Last edited by AnotherCat; 11-19-2017 at 04:18 PM. |
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11-19-2017, 11:05 PM | #55 |
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Went to Barnes and Noble this weekend and while we were there, I checked out the various editions of Was and Peace. While I'll most likely try the Signet edition, my friend (who isn't much of a reader) preferred the Pevear and Volokhonsky edition because it was big and meaty and imposing. I doubt she'd actually read the thing if she bought it, but it did impress her.
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11-20-2017, 05:50 AM | #56 |
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It just depends on what you want to get out of reading the book. If you want a fascinating story, read signet classics so you don't have to worry about linking to French passage translations. If you want to understand something of the time, both historical and cultural, read P&V's translation.
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