What’s the best audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo?
Because of the weird translation history, it might be hard to get exactly matching versions if you want to read and listen at the same time. Still, you’ve got at least three good options!
What’s the best translation of Journey to the West?
If you are one of those people who say abridged classics are *always* worse than full-length versions, this extremely lengthy Chinese classic will test your conviction!
What’s the best audiobook of The Brothers Karamazov?
Unabridged audiobooks are available for three different English translations of The Brothers Karamazov.
What’s the best translation of Demons (Devils, The Possessed)?
So, you want to read Dostoevsky’s darkest and most hilarious novel, a controversial political satire, the title of which has been variously rendered as The Possessed, The Devils, Devils, and Demons? By all accounts, it’s intense! You’ve got five in-print English translations to choose from, seven in total.
What’s the best translation of The Nine Cloud Dream?
There’s an inherent contradiction in The Nine Cloud Dream. Or is there? Does this dream-journey undermine its supposed moral lesson? Or can an apparently hedonistic tale succeed in promoting transcendental Buddhist values? Read it and decide for yourself.
What’s the best translation of The Master and Margarita?
What does it mean to say that “Manuscripts don’t burn”? The publication history of Bulgakov’s black comedy reflects the difficulties artists face under authoritarian governments, yet justifies the author’s faith that no authority can stifle the creative flame.
What’s the best translation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame? (Part 2)
I found so much information on translations of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame that I had to split this post into two! Part 2 focuses on 7 translations published after 1900 and gives information about a few related books.
What’s the best translation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame? (Part 1)
I found so much information on translations of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame that I had to split this post into two! This part talks about the book’s title and “lost” chapters and gives information about 8 translations published before 1900.
Poll: What’s the best translation of Crime and Punishment?
Now you can vote on your favorite of the 14 English translations of Crime and Punishment!
What makes a translation accurate?
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.
