How hard can it be for translators to just “get it right”? Quite hard, since there’s no single objectively correct equivalent for a lot of the words and expressions they handle. Consider any idiomatic expression, such as an informal term of endearment, and you’ll quickly see how hard it can be.
Time marches on. Should we cast aside older translations in favor of newer ones? Sometimes they seem to have all the advantages! But do they really?
“The Idiot has merits that equal, and, in some cases, surpass those of Dostoyevsky’s other masterpieces…. The Idiot was also Dostoyevsky’s personal favorite.” —Gary Rosenshield
I found so much information on translations of The Three Musketeers that I had to split this post into two! Part 2 focuses on 9 translations published from 1950 to 2018, and gives information about a few related books.
I found so much information on translations of The Three Musketeers that I had to split this post into two! Part 1 of this post talks about the enduring appeal of the novel and gives information about 7 translations published from 1846 to 1903.
Unabridged Audiobooks are available for three different English translations of Crime and Punishment.
There are several reasons the edition of a book might matter to a reader or book collector. (Don’t forget legibility!)
I found so much information on translations of Madame Bovary that I had to split this post into two! Part 2 focuses on 7 translations published from 1992 to 2011, including the popular Davis translation, and gives information about a few related books.
I found so much information on translations of Madame Bovary that I had to split this post into two! Part 1 of this post talks about the history of the novel and the challenge of translating it. The post gives information about 11 translations published from 1886 to 1965, including the original Marx-Aveling translation.
I found so much information on translations of Don Quixote that I had to split this post into two! Part 2 focuses on 7 translations published from 2000 to 2020, including the popular Grossman translation, and gives information about a few related books.
