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/lit/ - Literature

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2573294 No.2573294 [Reply] [Original]

How good are the English translations of Marcel Pagnol's work? Really want to get into it after I saw that movie about his childhood memories but it seems like a lot is lost in translation.

>> No.2573313

Sounds like a good occasion to learn french OP; the fuck you're waiting for?

>> No.2573320

Most really good literature is going to lose something in translation. Granted, translations are often better than not reading something at all, but you have an internet connection, so you have the opportunity to learn whatever language you want.

>> No.2573341

>>2573313
To be fair, you need more than beginner/intermediate level to fully appreciate Pagnol.
Also, as someone who actually lives in Provence, I can't imagine how anyone not familiar with Southern culture can even enjoy Pagnol, Giono or Ionesco. Or maybe it seems, I don't know, exotic or something to an outsider. In fact, this is probably why he's not that famous outside of France. In the south, this guy's bigger than Victor Hugo. EVERYTHING is named after him. Going to La Treille, Aubagne or the Garlaban is almost like a pilgrimage (it's worth it for the scenery alone).

That being said, I would never dissuade anyone from reading Pagnol, regardless of how intimate they are with this part of the country.

>> No.2573350

>>2573341

I have no idea how anyone not from Dublin can enjoy Joyce, but they seem to.

>> No.2573353

As a southerner who had to move to Paris, reading Pagnol is a home away from home.

Also:
>reading about 1900s Marseille and listening to my uncle's stories
Holy shit, Marseille is awesome
>nowadays it's a smelly dump, loud obnoxious people everywhere, tourist traps everywhere and the whole city is Sandniggers and crime general

feels badman

>> No.2574448

I read Picador's English translation of Water of the Hills and liked it. I don't know French, though, so I can't comment on the closeness of the translation. A major point in its favour is that it didn't have the stilted style that often makes translations off-putting.