/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.17988356]

Rejoice, ladies and gentlemen! Not everyone has succumbed to The Invisible Hand, and there's still opposition to the evil idea that quality of the work doesn't matter if it's marketed well.

https://johnmcwhorter.substack.com/p/pevear-and-volokhonsky-are-indeed

A nice addition to The P&V List:
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/the-pevearsion-of-russian-literature/
http://www.thinkaloud.ru/feature/berdy-lan-PandV-e.html
https://www.librarything.com/topic/260074
https://readingroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/29/the-art-of-translation/#comment-206
http://languagehat.com/the-translation-wars/
http://languagehat.com/more-translation-wars/
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/06/23/socks-translating-anna-karenina/
http://languagehat.com/janet-malcolm-vs-pv/
https://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/why-i-dont-read-pevear-and-volokhonsky-vtranslations/
https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2013/01/the-pevearvolokhonsky-hype-machine-and-how-it-could-have-been-stopped-or-at-least-slowed-down/

>>/lit/?task=search&ghost=&search_text=pevearsion

[Anonymous No.17988546]

>>17988356
>http://www.thinkaloud.ru/feature/berdy-lan-PandV-e.html
This one is really all that you need. They do not have a real grasp of the languages, or they don't even reread their own work to make sure it makes sense. I have no other explanation for some of those gems.
The weirdest detail is that Larissa's surname is rendered as if she were a man.

[Anonymous No.17988649]

>>17988546
Actually, I take that back. The article you posted is really good as well. Holy shit...
>Boт oтбилcя oт poты, вaшe блaгopoдиe; caм нe знaю, гдe. Бeдa!
>I’ve strayed from my company, Your Honor; I don’t know where myself. Worse luck!

[Anonymous No.17988713]

>>17988546
Anna Karenina is also Anna Karenin in some texts.

[Anonymous No.17988742]

>>17988713
Yes, in the old Garnett version, from 1901.

[Anonymous No.17988768]

Despite this being in the "austere" realm of literature, "hating on popular thing" is still the easiest way to get views and attention. Very cursory critiques of other Tolstoy translations show that they're riddled with mistakes and awkwardnesses, too, even beyond P&V. Yet people rush to decry the most popular translation.

It's a bit silly, all things considered. The idea that someone is getting some butchered translation from P&V -- or any of the popular Tolstoy translations -- is ridiculous. Unless you read Russian, it doesn't fucking matter.

[Anonymous No.17988819]

>>17988768
> quality of work doesn't matter, popularity is more important factor

[Anonymous No.17988826]

I wish there was more discussion about translations into languages other than English on this board.

German media, and some people here, have mentioned that Swetlana Geier's Dosto translations are great, but hardly any German translation ever provokes criticism as strong as P&V does, for example.

[Anonymous No.17989613]

>>17988356
B is for Bump and Book discussion.