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/lit/ - Literature

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6758451 No.6758451 [Reply] [Original]

Should I bother trudging through several hundreds of pages of the original Don Quixote or should I just get an abridged version? Which translation would you recommend?

This also goes for The Count of Monte Cristo by the way.

>> No.6758454

>>6758451
The original, en espanol. You'll be fluent by the end of the experience and you wont regret it

>> No.6758459

>>6758454
I don't speak Spanish?

>> No.6758468

>>6758459
>no lee el libro en su idioma original.
At least don't go abridged. Most really big books are rendered incomprehensible when the money men come in and cut it down.
If you really wanna be a piece of shit, you can skip stuff but don't ever buy an already cut up copy.

>> No.6758472

>>6758451
Abridged books are for kids and plebs who want to say they read classics without actually reading them.

>> No.6758473

>>6758459
Read studyspanish.com for a week and get a grasp for the basic grammar. Shouldn't take long. Then translate the vocabulary of Don Quixote as you go along. It should take about a year. You will speak, or at least read and write, spanish better than you do English by the time you're done.

>> No.6758475

>>6758459
He's saying you will by the end of it.
Read the full text. If it was a crappy book I'd say go with the abridged if at all, but this is a classic.
I may get to my copy this year.

>> No.6758476

Don't you EVER, EVER READ ANOTHER ABRIDGED VERSION AGAIN!! NOT ONCE!

If you can, get the 400 anniversary edition by the Royal Spanish Academy, or however the fuck you translate "Real Academia de la lengua spañola", full of useful notes on words, phrases and references. Is not very hard spanish, the unkown words or parts that dont make sense are explained, after all, is stuff from the 1600's

>> No.6758494

>>6758454
>>6758473
>>6758476
If I took Spanish throughout middle and high school (7 years) but forgot most of it will it be any easier than going into it without knowing any Spanish at all?

>> No.6758500

>>6758494
.... i... uh...

dude, obviously.

>> No.6758506

>>6758494
If you remember the grammar rules (I'm assuming you went over subjunctive and imperative by the time you were a senior) then yes. You will still have to look at a dictionary every sentence.

>> No.6758518
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6758518

I'm actually going to start reading this book. However, I am unsure if I should read the spanish or english version. I am 60% fluent in spanish, so I think I'll just read it in its original tongue.

Why do anons say that its better in spanish? this thread persuaded me to read it in the original formal, tbh

>> No.6758533

I've read both the Motteux and Grossman translations.

Motteux was a funnier translation, but was difficult to read at points, and didn't feel like it was written by a Spaniard, more like an Englishman making his own book.

Grossman was a breeze, read it more than twice as fast as Motteux's, but didn't feel as inspired, and seemed more dumbed-down.

Apparently the Raffel translation is very good, and I was thinking of picking it up soon. It's the Norton edition, so they're a bunch of academic nerds with lots of footnotes and, hopefully, true-to-the-source material.

Anyone expecting you to grind yourself against this book to learn Spanish is being a little unrealistic... you don't learn English by reading Shakespeare. If you're looking to learn the language, then do so first, and only then read the book.

Whatever you end up doing, enjoy the book. And when you're done, kiss the enjoyment you get out of reading goodbye, because this fucker here is king. There's nothing else like it.

>> No.6758543

>>6758518
Oh yeah, this.
Why do anons say that?
I'm fluent in Spanish, but only read lit in English, should I bother with the original language?

>> No.6758550

>>6758518
You're really better off reading any book in its native language, so you can know exactly what the author meant to write.

If you read a translation, you're at the translator's mercy. If they fucked something up, you're not reading Cervantes anymore. And you have no idea what they're fucking up and what they're getting right.

I'm always paranoid reading a translation. If you're so close to being fluent, you might as well go for it and use a Spanish-English dictionary.

>> No.6758572

>>6758518
Like to other anon said, it is always better to read text in its original form (of course this is impossible in every case). I'd add to this if you're 60% fluent, it will still be tough to get through but if you stick to it all the way you'll be able to read el mundo in the morning.

>> No.6758634

Hate to hijack, but what's a Spanish novel I can read to brush up on the language that ISN'T in centuries old antiquated prose?

>> No.6758647

>>6758634
Pick up a spanish translation of 50 shades I guess? The prose was already atrocious in English so it's probably really basic in any other language.

>> No.6758648

>>6758451
You'd probably be better off with a great illustrated classic, OP.

>> No.6758655

>>6758476
>Don't you EVER, EVER READ ANOTHER ABRIDGED VERSION AGAIN!! NOT ONCE!
what about the chinese classic novels huh

>> No.6758904

>>6758655
what about them? They're not that long to be fair. But get a good translation, asian languages were translated to english pretty willy nilly for a long time.

>> No.6760199

bampers

>> No.6760207

>>6758451
Overrated piece of trash. A reminder that nothing good ever came out of Spain.

>> No.6760217

>>6758533
>you don't learn English by reading Shakespeare

sorry m8 romans learn latin by reading aeneid :^)

>> No.6760264

>>6758451
spanifag here

If you have a good understanding of Spanish then you should read it in Spanish, but there is nothing special about the prose in this book IMO. Of course if you have the opportunity you should read everything as it was written but if you struggle better use a translation.

A good test would be reading some texts from Ortega; if you find beauty in his prose then you should read it in Spanish, otherwise it's pointless.

http://www.esi2.us.es/~fabio/mision.pdf

>> No.6760287

>>6758494
>if I have a little knowledge is it better than having no knowledge at all?
Are you an imbecile?

>> No.6760300
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6760300

>>6760264
Fuck. So I just went and checked my Monte Cristo copy I read in high school and it turns out it's abridged. Should I get the full text translated because I really the version I have. pic related

>> No.6760335

>>6758451
You're a moron if you skip over huge portions of such a masterpiece.
Don Quixote is one of the most underrated works of all time.

>> No.6760365

>>6760335
I don't think you know what underrated means.

>> No.6760378

>>6760335
If one evaluates the book using quantitative and qualitative methods one can objectively determine that one could take preventative measures to protect one's time by tossing this book in the fucking fire. how's that for skipping pages? straight to the end, gayfag.

>> No.6760419
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6760419

>>6760264
thanks, tio. this really clarified it for me. my spanish isn't good enough, tbh

>> No.6761189

>>6758494
No. Your knowledge of Spanish will be only enough to give you bias and make you think you understand the surface meaning of the words, while not being enough to convey the essence of the words.
Someone who's never studied Spanish before can get away with a crash-course for this book, as anons said, but in your case nothing less than full mastery will do.

>> No.6761291

there's a lot of dumb pointless sidestories so i'd go for an abridged version.

>> No.6761375

>>6758451
original. but there are parts that are annoying as fuck. then do abridged after. it's what I do for les miserables.

>> No.6761424

>>6758451
>Should I bother reading Don Quixote?


Go back to /tv/, /sp/ or whatever other board you came from.

>> No.6761430

Is the Project Gutenberg edition worth the time?

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/996

>> No.6761438

>>6761424
>muh genre shit
pleb as fuck

>> No.6762042
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6762042

>>6761430
pls respond

>> No.6762061

>>6760300
I have this too, wasn't paying attention in the used bookstore and thought it was the real deal

>> No.6762089

I just finished the Grossman translation and I thought it was a really fun read!

>> No.6762612

>>6758634
Cien anos

>> No.6762680

>>6758451

Listen to the George Guidall narrated audiobook.

It is fucking hilarious.

>> No.6762931

>>6758647
Even if it is from the 1600's it isn't antiquated prose. Cervantes's Spanish is closer to modern Spanish than Shakespeare's English is to modern English

>> No.6763039
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6763039

this is honestly one of the best threads I've ever seen on /lit/

>> No.6763085

>>6763039
Why?

>> No.6763099

>>6762680
Or you could just read the grossman translation yourself, pleb. This isn't bed time. Mummy isn't going to tuck you in.

>> No.6763159

>There are people in this thread RIGHT NOW that don't believe knight-errants really existed

>> No.6764265

Bump for interest. I'm reading the Gutenberg project version as well and am finding it pleasant to read.

>> No.6764290

Was honestly disappointed when I realized I actually bought an abridged version of Monte Cristo just halfway throughout the book. You should probably get the original with Don Quixote too.

>> No.6765687
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6765687

Just started this one today. What am I in for?

>> No.6765712

>>6763159
>muh amadis of gaul
>muh dulcinea of toboso
>muh giants

back to /lamancha/, pleb

>> No.6766273

>>6765687
One of the funniest and memorable works in literature.

>> No.6766576

Youre seriously asking this, on lit?

>> No.6766775

>>6760335
>Don Quixote
>Lauded as the greatest work of fiction ever written and the forebear to the modern form of "the novel" as we know it

>underrated

>> No.6766792

I have the penguin classics robin buss translation of the count of Monte cristo. It's perfect. Don't get anything else, especially not abridged.

>> No.6766796
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6766796

>>6763159
>he thinks Sancho is going to lash himself

>> No.6766901
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6766901

"and here we would pardon the captain if he had not brought it to Spain and translated it into Castilian, for he took away a good deal of its original value, which is what all who attempt to translate books of poetry into another language will do as well: no matter the care they use an the skill they show, they will never achieve the quality the verses had in their first birth."

-Don Quixote

>that feel when I'm reading the translated version

>> No.6767096

Now I'm going to make Don Quixote in Spanish my project for next year and bought a Benito Perez Galdos novel to sharpen my high school level spanish.
Thanks, you gaping assholes.

>> No.6767158
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6767158

I read this; i'm spanish.

IMO it didn't deliver the hype that this book got. I think that I didn't tackle el Quijote properly; perhaps because I want to adquire knowledge instead of just have fun.

>> No.6768980

Bump

>> No.6769430

>>6758451
>considering abridged

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

No, but seriously, great authors are great for a reason, every sentence is there for a reason.

Even that aside, do you really trust some editor to decide what you should and shouldn't read?

>> No.6769785

>>6758634
Niebla
El árbol de la ciencia
Ficciones