/lit/ - Literature

>>10576027
Who the fuck does that ?

It's like taking meds without reading the instructions

>>10576027
>>10576038
I do this

Problem, fageuttes? JAJAJAJA

>>10576060
Yeah, you lazy ass nigga

yoooo shaq

>reading translations

I only read the original author's introduction first. Translators I might read after

>>10576073
>reading

>>10576082
>Re

>>10576027
Depends on who wrote the preface desu.

How does it feel to translate wordplay, and rhyming that doesn't fly in the other tounge?

>reading the afterword first

>Preface to the German edition of 1872
>Preface to the Russian edition of 1882
>Preface to the German edition of 1883
>Preface to the English edition of 1888
>Preface to the German edition of 1890
>Preface to the Polish edition of 1892
>Preface to the Italian edition of 1893

>>10576141
>Preface to the preface of the preface of the preface of the preface of the preface of the Original(TM) preface.

I'm not looking to have the whole book spoiled

>Reading the author's introduction

>>10576027
>read introduction
>openly spoils what happens throughout the novel

>>10576218
>reading for the plot

>>10576027
>anthology has a "celebrity" introduction

>>10576226
>not reading for the plot
you should stick to cliffs notes. They don't even take as long as a whole book either! all the themes, plot, characters, they're all there!

>>10576092
>

>>10576092
>REEding

I have yet to read a single comment explaining how it is okay to read translations, ever. Do you think Proust ever thought "no I should use this word, it'll translate into English better"

>>10576141

>Author's preface to the 1901 edition
>Author's preface to the 1908 edition
>Author's preface to the 1918 edition
>Author's preface to the 1945 edition
>Author's preface to the 1967 edition
>Author's preface to the 1995 edition
>Author's preface to the 2001 edition
>Author's preface to the 2014 edition
>Author's preface to the 2020 edition

>>10576378
Im not going to learn Russian to read Dostoevsky you miserable insect

>>10576027
I used to look down on that. Then I read a bunch of books in a row where halfway through the preface/introduction/etc they just start laying out point by point what happens in the book, how, why, etc. I don't give a shit about some hack summary of the book, just let me fucking read it myself. I do go back when I'm done to read those, though.

>>10576092
>>10576082
>>10576247
>>10576253

>>10576027
>Cover Designer's Introduction

>editor preface of book in native language is over 300 pages long
fuck off

>>10576934
What the FUCK are you reading?

>>10576027
>Needing the translator's preface to understand the book

>>10576141
Communist Manifesto.

>>10576027
>preface
>introduction
>afterword
>citations
only the epilogue is worth considering and I wont

>the editor to reader
>it's actually part of the novel

>>10576242
back to Peddit you fucking genre fiction nigger

>>10576027
>mfw my edition of Bely's Petersburg has a 50 page introduction

>foreward
>introduction
>prologue
zinc ain't gonna read 30 pages about the school the author taught in since it doesn't affect the contents.

>>10576027
Half the time the translators preface spoils the plot of the book. And I know you're not supposed to care about plot at all, but god damn just let me enjoy it blind the first time, okay?

>>10576027
>translator spends 20 pages bashing previous translations for overusing prepositional phrases

>>10576027
skip it then read it at the end.

>>10576027
>read the translator's preface
>it's eight pages of "I couldn't think of a good word for this so I just translated it literally and gave it a footnote."

>>10579445
>>10577031
high quality

>>10576027
>Prefacing the skipper’s translation

>>10579445
>translator still includes footnotes pointing out when their diction is unconventional compared to commonly accepted translations

>the translator tries way too hard to come up with new terminology as a way to distinguish themselves from the canonical renderings and now you cant understand the secondary lit because it takes for granted you read the standard translation

>translator's preface implies the original work is untranslatable

>>10576226
That's goalpost shifting and you know it

>>10576027
Give me a good reason to, I just want to read what the author has put out there. Prefaces are just boring to me and not what I came for.

>>10576027
>translator leaves untranslated words in the text

>translator's preface is them whining about their college years and has nothing to do with the book

I usually just read the ISBN a few times to commit it to memory and then marathon the author photographer's preface.