[ 3 / biz / cgl / ck / diy / fa / ic / jp / lit / sci / vr / vt ] [ index / top / reports ] [ become a patron ] [ status ]
2023-11: Warosu is now out of extended maintenance.

/lit/ - Literature

View post   
File: 186 KB, 908x1424, crime_and_punishment.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
14270577 No.14270577 [Reply] [Original]

Is the Constance Garnett translation of this worth reading?

>> No.14270648

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2554/2554-h/2554-h.htm

make up your own mind ffs

>> No.14270669

>>14270648
I already own a physical copy of the translation, I was just wondering if it was worth reading or if I should just invest in another translation instead.

>> No.14271081

>>14270669
d/l other translations and compare for yourself

here's a defence of Garnett fwiw:

>https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/the-pevearsion-of-russian-literature/

>> No.14272375

>>14271081
>posts a buzzfeed tier lit site

what did he mean by this

>> No.14272385

I read it and I didn't think it was that bad. Not like Garnett was entirely unfaithful.

>> No.14273097

>>14270577
Just don't get the P&V translation and you'll be alright.

>> No.14273191
File: 471 KB, 1600x2429, 000684543.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
14273191

>>14270577
>Is the Constance Garnett translation of this worth reading?
Nope, read David McDuff or Jessie Coulson instead.

>> No.14273195

>>14270577
I had no issue with it. Given it was all done in like the 1910's it reads kinda like victorian english, but the Garnett translations of Dosto were basically the go-to ones for decades, those are the translations you're probably gonna find if you're getting a public domain e-book or something. I've heard Dostoevsky's native russian has an almost lyrical quality to it, and if that's so, I didn't get that at all from the Garnett translation. I don't think this was much of an issue because of how commanding the plot and character interactions are to the novel over just say, the aesthetic characteristics of the prose. Then again, maybe that's just because I didn't know what I was missing. I think Garnett's translation can be broadly defined as being utilitarian, it gets the point across. I very much enjoyed reading it.

>> No.14274359

This is the one I read and I got a lot out of it

>> No.14275109

just read it. i got a garnett copy from a thrift store and knew nothing about different translations

looking forward to re-reading the book by a different translator one of these years

>> No.14275119

>>14270577
No translation of it is worth reading. It's not worth reading in Russian either. It's a vastly overrated book.

>> No.14275752

>>14270577
This book is so overrated.

>> No.14275813

I happened to pick up all of Dostoy's big four and three were translated by her and one (demons) was McDuff. All four of them were very enjoyable. The only translator(s) I would suggest avoiding (based on Master and Margarita by Bulgakov) is(are) P&V

>> No.14275837

>>14275752
I got a kick out of it, there's a lot of great scenes in it. Anything involving that detective or judge or whatever was very well written supspense

>> No.14277124

>>14275119
>>14275752
He asked if the translation was worth reading not the book

>> No.14277320

does Garnett do Notes well?

>> No.14277340

>>14277124
Upvoted

>> No.14277483

>>14277320
Garnett revised by Matlaw is the best

>> No.14277512

>>14273195
>reads kinda like victorian english
In a way it should do. He's the Russian contemporary of Dickens or Trollope, so it makes sense he'd have a similar style

>> No.14277549
File: 90 KB, 546x943, garnett vs pevear.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
14277549

>>14270577

>> No.14277551

>>14270577
I know Russian pretty well and compared it with Garnett. No. She takes more questionable liberties than any other translation in existence.

>>14277512
Wrong. Dosto has a distinct style of messy, repetitive and imbalanced sentences that she pretties up and streamlines way too much.

>> No.14277665

>>14277551
>Wrong
It's not wrong, it's just a different approach to translation. Of course if you think absolute fidelity is the important thing you won't like it

>> No.14277988

>>14277549
Tfw halfway through a P&V translation of The Idiot when I read this abject fucking garbage and realize I have to start over with a different version.

>> No.14278162

>>14270577
P&V is the only acceptable translation of any Russian book

>> No.14278766

>>14278162
Are you drunk? Their translations for Bulgakov and Tolstoy are very subpar, their Dead Souls translation wasn't much to write home about as well.

>> No.14279456

>>14277124
How could the translation possibly be worth reading if the book is not worth reading? The only possibility I can see is if it had been done by Captain Burton.

>> No.14279461

>>14273191
Isn't that Slater? Oxford's translations are always good though.

>> No.14279518
File: 116 KB, 882x1339, 61NwFakBKpL.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
14279518

>>14279461
Slater is the newer 2019 edition:
https://www.bookdepository.com/Crime-Punishment-Fyodor-Dostoevsky/9780198709718

Jessie Coulson is the 2008 edition and one of the Norton critical editions as well (the other being by Michael Katz):
https://www.bookdepository.com/Crime-Punishment-Fyodor-Dostoevsky/9780199536368

https://www.bookdepository.com/Crime-Punishment-Fyodor-Dostoevsky/9780393956238

https://www.bookdepository.com/Crime-Punishment-Fyodor-Dostoevsky/9780393264272

>> No.14279537

>>14270577
It's very elegant I'd say yes, anything but P&V.

>> No.14279542

>>14278162
terrible bait