Best Translations of Foreign Literature

[sabotai]

Need a little help here. I've got a list of books I want to read that are originally in other languages.

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo
Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyesky
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyesky
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyesky
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The Cossacks by Leo Tolstoy

For all of these, I can find free versions on the Kindle (in fact, I have already downloaded all of the above), but they are all old translations. For example, I've heard not so good things about Garnett's translation of The Brothers Karamazov. I've heard good things and a few bad things about Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky's translation (available on Kindle) and good things about the new translation by Susan McReynolds Oddo (Not available on Kindle - I would prefer to stick to Kindle books). I would also prefer to stick with the free versions (for obvious reasons....they're free!), but I don't mind paying if a newer translation warrants it.

I also saw this on Wikipedia on translations for Les Mis:

"Norman Denny. Folio Press, 1976. A modern British translation subsequently published in paperback by Penguin Books, ISBN 0-14-044430-0. In the very strictest sense this edition is not quite an unabridged translation: Norman Denny explains in his introduction that he moved two of the novel's longer digressive passages into annexes, and that he also made some abridgements in the text, which he claims are minor."

I want to stay away from any kind of abridgement of the text. however minor. And I definitely want to stay away from any versions that move text around.

I would very much appreciate any advice on which versions of the the above books I should go with.

[britrock88]

Although I don't have any answers for you, I admire your dogged pursuit. Without remembering which translation of Les Mis I read, I would think it reads terrific in any competent translation. And, since I'm in the middle of The Brothers Karamazov, I'll let you know if I notice anything interesting about the translations of it that I read.

[Izulde]

Best Don Quixote translation IMO is Edith Grossman's: Amazon.com: Don Quixote (9780060934347): Miguel De Cervantes, Edith Grossman: Books

Don't remember the translation of Karamazov I read, but I remember it dragged in the middle of the book to the point where I stopped reading.

[Izulde]

dola, if nobody has any other specific recommendations, a general rule of thumb is that Penguin Classics or Norton Critical Editions will at least get you a decent translation.

[sabotai]

Thanks guys.

I generally do stick with Penguin Classics, but a lot of them aren't available on the Kindle. The translation I read for Count of Monte Cristo was from Penguin Classics and it was pretty good (but it was the only version I read so there may be a superior version).

[Autumn]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Best Don Quixote translation IMO is Edith Grossman's: Amazon.com: Don Quixote (9780060934347): Miguel De Cervantes, Edith Grossman: Books

Don't remember the translation of Karamazov I read, but I remember it dragged in the middle of the book to the point where I stopped reading.

I haven't read other translations, but I read that Grossman one and did enjoy it.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by sabotai

Thanks guys.

I generally do stick with Penguin Classics, but a lot of them aren't available on the Kindle. The translation I read for Count of Monte Cristo was from Penguin Classics and it was pretty good (but it was the only version I read so there may be a superior version).

The Count of Monte Cristo was the unabridged Robin Buss translation, right? If so, that is the best translation IMO. Buss was a great French translator.

While we're on the subject, I think one of the best translations of the 20th/21st century is David Tod Roy's translation of The Plum in the Golden Vase (naughty Chinese literature whose original English translation put the saucy bits in fucking Latin). Still one or two more volumes of it to be released, unfortunately, as we're only up to volume 4 and I think there's 6 volumes if I remember right. Interesting and entertaining societal critiques implicit in it too,

[Autumn]

Also not on your list but translations I suggest to anybody (not as some literature expert, but just for interested readers) are Stanley Lombardo's translations of The Iliad, Odyssey and Aeneid. The Iliad in particular I recommend. His translation is geared in some ways towards the American vernacular and I found the Iliad riveting reading in this format, unlike other translations which had mostly turned me off.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Izulde

The Count of Monte Cristo was the unabridged Robin Buss translation, right? If so, that is the best translation IMO. Buss was a great French translator.

Yup, that's the one.

Originally Posted by Autumn

Also not on your list but translations I suggest to anybody (not as some literature expert, but just for interested readers) are Stanley Lombardo's translations of The Iliad, Odyssey and Aeneid. The Iliad in particular I recommend. His translation is geared in some ways towards the American vernacular and I found the Iliad riveting reading in this format, unlike other translations which had mostly turned me off.

I tried reading The Iliad a awhile ago and I didn't like it at all. It read very awkwardly. I'll check out Lombardo's translation.

[sabotai]

One word of advise when ordering off Amazon, though I'm sure many who order lots of Kindle books know this by now. The Kindle version that is linked to a paperback isn't always the same. What I gather from googling is that the Les Mis translation put out by Signet Classics is one of the best ones, but the Kindle book that is linked to it on Amazon is not the same version.

Very annoying....

Just noticed that there's a + sign next to the Kindle edition that links to multipled versions. NoScript (or something) was stopping it from working...

[Autumn]

Originally Posted by sabotai

I tried reading The Iliad a awhile ago and I didn't like it at all. It read very awkwardly. I'll check out Lombardo's translation.

Lombardo's thing is that the Iliad was meant to be read out loud, and he not only strove for that in his work, but actually performs it vocally. So it's much more easy on the tongue than other translations.