barnaby Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Hello everybody, Please can you recommend me a good translation for the Brothers Karamozov. I have read most Dostoyevky novels in the Penguin classic versions and have enjoyed them. I did read the Devils in a different translation, which escapes me now (I was travelling at the time) and remember it not feeling as authentic as the others. I do normally like getting my books from second hand or charity bookshops but always have such a hard time finding Karamazov. I have recently found a copy translated by Constance Garnett but it is an American publication. I have no preconceptions about that but it doesn't quite seem to have the authentic use of language I am after. Could anyone recommend a translation that is as close to the original as possible? thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 As far as I'm aware, the Penguins Classics with the black covers are some of the best translations out there, swiftly followed by Vintage Classics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Mines Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I can vouch for the Penguin Classics edition of Crime and Punishment translated by David McDuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marty Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 You can pretty much depend on any Constance Garner translation. I read Brothers Karamazov last summer and Crime and Punishment yesterday and loved them both. I have heard good things of the Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky translations also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Mines Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 (edited) ^ Don't you mean Constance Garnett? If so, it might pay to bear in mind that his translations have been energetically panned by numerous distinguished Russian authors, including Vladimir Nabokov. According to Wikipedia, Brodsky notably criticized Garnett for blurring the distinctive authorial voices of different Russian authors: "The reason English-speaking readers can barely tell the difference between Tolstoy and Dostoevsky is that they aren't reading the prose of either one. They're reading Constance Garnett." Still, I enjoyed his translation of War and Peace. But then I haven't read an alternative translation and so don't have a basis for comparison. Edited July 5, 2009 by Ben Mines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marty Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 ^ Don't you mean Constance Garnett? If so, it might pay to bear in mind that his translations have been energetically panned by numerous distinguished Russian authors, including Vladimir Nabokov. According to Wikipedia, Still, I enjoyed his translation of War and Peace. But then I haven't read an alternative translation and so don't have a basis for comparison. My mistake, I did mean "Garnett". That's very interesting fact. Regardless, Dostoevsky became one of my favorites through Garnett's translations, and I preferred his work to the Penguin classics edition. I'm still curious if the new translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky is decent, I've been meaning to try it out. I would suggest, barnaby, to try that one and see if you like it, since Nabokov, Brodksy (and Ben Mines, by proxy) believe Garnett's translation to be less authentic. Maybe the newer Penguin Classics version is quality, I don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 ^ Don't you mean Constance Garnett? If so, it might pay to bear in mind that his translations have been energetically panned by numerous distinguished Russian authors, including Vladimir Nabokov. According to Wikipedia, ^ Don't you mean her translations?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Mines Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 ^ Don't you mean her translations?! You're right. Last time I checked Wikipedia she was a he. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Mines Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 It did seem a pretty unfortunate name for a man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I thought so too - that's why I Googled. I wouldn't have had a clue otherwise. Sorry, I couldn't resist a little tease - no offence meant. Tbh, I thought I'd changed my mind about posting in case I seemed rude. I've yet to read any Russian literature, although I do have Lolita on my 'to read' pile (no idea who translated that one). According to Wikipedia, the translations by Garnett continue to be popular, despite the criticism of her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Mines Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I thought so too - that's why I Googled. I wouldn't have had a clue otherwise. Sorry, I couldn't resist a little tease - no offence meant. Tbh, I thought I'd changed my mind about posting in case I seemed rude. And none taken! I'm glad you corrected me. I've yet to read any Russian literature, although I do have Lolita on my 'to read' pile (no idea who translated that one). Actually, Nabokov wrote that in English, but, interestingly, later translated it into Russian just as he himself translated all his early Russian novels into English. What an annoyingly clever man! According to Wikipedia, the translations by Garnett continue to be popular, despite the criticism of her. Yes. Like I said, I enjoyed her translation of War and Peace. But no doubt it is infinitely better in the original to which these Russian literary lights are comparing it unfavorably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Actually, Nabokov wrote that in English, but, interestingly, later translated it into Russian just as he himself translated all his early Russian novels into English. What an annoyingly clever man! Indeed. I must say, I do resent the ability some people have to translate themselves; I've tried and I must say knowing two languages from infancy is of no help whatsoever - the reason being, you're bound to me more of a perfectionist about your own work than someone else's, and throw your towel down in despair when confronted by the impossibility of transferring the many nuances of sentence x in language a. into sentence x in language b. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Mines Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 What other language do you speak, BookJumper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 (edited) I'm an Italo-Brit, so Italian's my joint first language. I write in English (a natural consequence of the fact that I read mostly in English) and while I'm a decent translator of other people, I found the task of trying to translate my own work far too nerve-wracking. Edited July 14, 2009 by BookJumper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Mines Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 That's cool. I remember you saying you didn't really care for The Name of the Rose. Just out of curiosity, did you read it in the original? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Indeed, I (tried to) read Eco's "Il Nome della Rosa" in Italian. Which reminds me, I've got his voluminous volume on how to translate (dissertation research - I am crazy and attempting to translate Shakespeare) waiting volturously for me on the shelf... then again I've been told that as a critic and theorist he's a lot less dry than as a novelist (some achievement), so it might not be so bad after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirinrob Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 The point made by Nabokov and other literary lights bears examination. In my view they are being a to a degree self-righteous. They are making an assumption about the reader of the translation that maybe fallacious. They seem to assume that a given reader other than themselves has not got the linguistic ability to decide if a given rendering is felicitious to the target language. I know from personal experience that certain translations do not ring true and conversely other translations do. I maybe in a small minority here, but im very sensitive to nuances of language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 I can vouch for the David McDuff translation of Crime and Punishment too. Amazing book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted September 23, 2009 Share Posted September 23, 2009 The point made by Nabokov and other literary lights bears examination. In my view they are being a to a degree self-righteous. They are making an assumption about the reader of the translation that maybe fallacious. They seem to assume that a given reader other than themselves has not got the linguistic ability to decide if a given rendering is felicitious to the target language. I know from personal experience that certain translations do not ring true and conversely other translations do. I maybe in a small minority here, but im very sensitive to nuances of language.I agree. Precisely because my Russian is next to non-existent, the Italian/English translations being all I have to latch onto Dostoevskij, un-felicitous renderings that make no sense/lack emotion/what have you in my language(s) will jump out at me and significantly diminish my reading pleasure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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