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/lit/ - Literature

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11718202 No.11718202 [Reply] [Original]

I fell for the P&V meme and am reading their translation of Notes From Underground, but now I'm hearing that they actually aren't the definitive translators because one speaks bad English and the other speaks no Russian. So first of all what are the actual best translations for Tolstoy and Dosto's biggest works (I'll finish Notes with P&V) and second did I fall for other meme translations by having Fagles' Odyssey and Grossman's Don Quixote on the list?

>> No.11718377

>>11718202

Every intelligent reader knows Tolstoy and Dostoevsky survive even the worst translations so if you aren't enjoying them because P&V "ruined" him then you are a pseud.

>> No.11718384

OP you are a disgusting cowardly mongoloid fuck. I hope you fucking die.

Imagine not being able to form your own opinions on what you read. Kill yourself.

>> No.11718390

>>11718377
I never said I wasn't enjoying it, but in future if there is a better translation I would rather read that

>> No.11718394

>>11718384
How can I form an opinion on which translation is best before I've read them? Of course I could read every translation and then decide but other people have already done that, and those people can probably read the original language version.

>> No.11718408

>>11718394
>morgan_freidman_pointing.jpeg
He's right you know

>> No.11718417

>>11718202
ah bloo bloo

>> No.11718420

>>11718394
>>11718408
You shouldn't be reading it to find out which translation is best you fucking cretin. You're not an academic, and you don't even know russian.
Read the work as it is, and form an opinion on said work.
Middlebrow scum like you have no business reading literature.

Nobody on /lit/ is anywhere near qualified to judge which translation is superior, most don't even have a proper metric for determining it--if you think knowing the original language, and reading a few translations suffices, then you are a moron. Just read fucking books and stop being such middlebrow fucks. Or fuck off to /fit/ or /mu/ and stop chasing your ideal self-image as well rounded jack of all trades intellectual.

>> No.11718437

>>11718420
so you're not capable of determining which translation is better if you can fluently speak the languages of both the original and the translated, and have translated works and the original to compare them to?

what the fuck does it take then?

>> No.11718443

>>11718437
Being academically qualified in both languages, literature, and translatology.

It's not the business of dilettantes on /lit/.

>> No.11718457

>>11718443
I'm a professional translator and can confirm that this is absolutely horseshit.

And we call it 'translation studies'.

>> No.11718462

>>11718443
But there are very few translators that have the academic qualifications in language, literature, and transatology.

>> No.11718469

>>11718457
um sorry sweetie but we call it 'Translation and Interpreting Studies'

>> No.11718471

>>11718420
Yeah but if you like a certain translation better for some reason then just fucking read that one. Don't stick with some translation that you think has bad prose of something just because you're not sure you're qualified to really make a judgment on these things. Read what you like, shit on what you don't. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this (unless your opinions are stupid, of course, but I like to give people the benefit of the doubt)

>> No.11718479

>>11718462
>he thinks translators are traductologists

>>11718457
I've got a masters in traductologie, we call it traductologie

>>11718471
Flaming aside, my point is to just read books. People on /lit/ spend more time being middlebrow and talking about books than actually reading them

>> No.11718480

>>11718469
Only if it includes interpreting, which is a specialised field. Translators and interpreters are not the same.

>> No.11718485

>>11718479
>traductologie
We call it that in French.

>> No.11718496
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11718496

>>11718420
>>11718443

>> No.11718537

>>11718420
Jesus Christ what the fuck is wrong with you? I never said I was reading it to try and find the best translation, it's just that I would rather read a better translation than a worse one. >>11718377 made the same point that I think you're trying to make, that the specific translation isn't all that important (which is fair enough and answers my question) much more concisely with less rabid autism
>>11718479
>People on /lit/ spend more time being middlebrow and talking about books than actually reading them
That's fair enough, but if I was really going to go full autismo on this then I would have put down Notes and stopped reading until I got a /lit/-approved translation. I didn't do that because I am enjoying it. If I wasn't enjoying it I would have come to the conclusion that I didn't like Notes From Underground, not that I need to go through every translation until I magically like it. But I haven't read any of the others I mentioned in the OP and I'm not reading them right now so I might as well know that I'm getting a good translation when I do read them

>> No.11718620

>>11718537
While with most things it doesn't matter too much which translation you'll read, there are some works where it really makes a huge difference. Having read 2 different translations of the Tale of Genji and parts of the original, for example, I have seen just how much of a difference it makes in the case of a book like that.

>> No.11718627

>>11718620
I'd be very interested to hear more about that experience.

>> No.11718842

Is Jane Kentish's translation good?

>> No.11718844

>>11718842
yes it has prose mmmm yes the prose the accuracy

happy now?

>> No.11718849

>>11718844
mmmmm yes literally cumming right now mmmmm yes the prose mmmm that's right pevear mmmmm moan like the little bitch you are

>> No.11720562

>>11718620
Which translations of The Tale of Genji did you read? I recently read the Suematsu translation of the first 17 chapters, and I thought it was great. There was a very strong Japanese feel to its prose, something which I have no problems with. I have the Tyler translation as well, but I've only read the first few pages, and I feel like it's very conventional English-language prose. There's nothing all that special about it. I've seen a copy of the Waley translation of the Tale of Genji over at my university's library, and I thought it was very well-written, although it feels very strongly removed from its Japanese roots.
I eventually plan to experience the original text in Japanese, although it might still be more than just a few years before I'm at that level.

>> No.11720575

>>11718377
Honestly this, I can't believe we still have threads about this. Should be ban-tier.