A few years ago you did a wonderful video where you read the first page of three Genji translations and went through that nuts and bolts comparison. To this day it’s one of my favourite videos you’ve done because it not only taught me about the importance of translation but also basic analysis of the text, both of which I really enjoyed.
I was so excited to hear Sigrid Undset mentioned! I think it's the first time I've heard her work talked about on booktube. I read Kristen Lavransdatter and loved it so much. Then I read Master of Hestviken which at first I wasn't enjoying as much but by the end I was even more moved by it than KL.
I agree about the current translation of "War and Peace", and also prefer the older "conservative" translations on the basis of an easier less clunky reading experience in English. As always a very thought-provoking and considered video. Thanks as always, Steve. I am awaiting a gsp in my reading schedule to reread, for the first time in decades, of Genji. I really can't wait. I love books that are displaying your name in the blurbs, it's a stamp of worth to me.
If I’ve learned the basic nuts and bolts of the language I like to read a translation while listening along with an audiobook in the original, like movie subtitles, but for books.
OMG, I thought you were recommending the P&V translation of W&P and I was certain we were gonna have to have a fight! I've read three translations and my favorite is probably the Edmonds, with Briggs still to come. But P&V made me want to throw the book into the pond in back of my house.
I agree, P&V are the most overrated translation duo of all time. Even their Bulgakov translation was a mess. Briggs' one feels very anachronistic at times but it's still my favorite.
For Finns, The Egyptian is right up there next to Väinö Linna's The Unknown Soldier and Under the North Star trilogy, one of the most loved books (it was actually voted the Finnish novel of the century in 2017). The English translation might be abridged, though.
Wow! What power we give to translators. Now I want to throughly learn the Russian of the 19th century in order to find the most accurate translation of War and Peace. And I suspect the accuracy would be influenced based on my frame of mind when reading.
Very interesting. I remember Waltari's book the Egyptian and also seeing the screen version with Edmund Purdon. I would have been about 12 or 13 years old at the time. I don't recall whether I read the book before or after seeing the movie. I was impressed by the movie. Not as impressed by the book and didn't learn till years later that Waltari was, I believe, Finnish. But I got interested in reading around this time. When I was 16 I read War and Peace in the Alymer Maude translation and loved it. I prefer to read novels in English translation if one is available. I did read Madame Bovary in the original French and was impressed with how simple the French seemed, and how fitting the choice of words. In those days my foreign language was German, but if you don't use your German you lose it over time, whereas, if you have 6-8 years of French, it stays with you all your life. I was told this by my Irish French teacher "Spike " Henessey at Boston English. And Mr. Henessey was right at least in my case, Because I do a lot of translating myself, I am interested in your views on translation which I've seen hints of several times since joining this channel a couple months ago. I think we seem to share the same approach. For example, I think you have to be fluent in both languages to judge whether the translation is accurate and therefore good in a technical sense that it closely follows the original work to the extent that is possible. Otherwise you are simply judging it by your reaction to the novel in English, as you would any other book written in English. You like it or you don't based on how you like it's style and how easy you find it to read. I think the easier you find it to read the better you will like it. Because for the last few decades students have not been taught in school to read or write long sentences, they have difficulty reading books written in the 19th Century even by English authors of that period. I think most readers don't really care too much about accuracy but do care about ease of reading and understanding.
I want to read Kristen and Genji. New subscriber to your channel, Steve. Great stuff. I just started Clarissa by Richardson this past weekend. Also, The Mahabharata translation from Bibek Debroy. The complete 10 volume set in Penguin Paperback! 🐧 When it’s summer hot 100 degree in AZ, I stay in air condition and read a lot. Do you have the recent penguin translations of Mahabharata and Ramayana ?
without a specific order, Crime and Punishment, Les Miserables, War and Peace, Jean de Florette & Manon des Sources (I am cheating here as this is a duology), 20.000 leagues under the sea (or the complete workks of Jules Verne?)
A few years ago you did a wonderful video where you read the first page of three Genji translations and went through that nuts and bolts comparison. To this day it’s one of my favourite videos you’ve done because it not only taught me about the importance of translation but also basic analysis of the text, both of which I really enjoyed.
I should do another video like that! I LOVE doing that -
@@saintdonoghue Please do!
Steve, I always find your intellectual honesty really refreshing!
I was so excited to hear Sigrid Undset mentioned! I think it's the first time I've heard her work talked about on booktube. I read Kristen Lavransdatter and loved it so much. Then I read Master of Hestviken which at first I wasn't enjoying as much but by the end I was even more moved by it than KL.
The Long Ships by Franz Gunnar Bengtsson. Great read. Original was in Swedish.
I’m supposed to be reading right now.
I agree about the current translation of "War and Peace", and also prefer the older "conservative" translations on the basis of an easier less clunky reading experience in English. As always a very thought-provoking and considered video. Thanks as always, Steve. I am awaiting a gsp in my reading schedule to reread, for the first time in decades, of Genji. I really can't wait. I love books that are displaying your name in the blurbs, it's a stamp of worth to me.
I agree with your wish for more Waltari. I've only read The Egyptian and really want to read the others. They are almost impossible to find.
So you're saying I'm 100% right about everything, all the time?
This was excellent. War and Peace is the only book here that I’ve read. I really need to read the others.
If I’ve learned the basic nuts and bolts of the language I like to read a translation while listening along with an audiobook in the original, like movie subtitles, but for books.
I Served the King of England was made into a wonderful movie, I can't imagine it as a book.
OMG, I thought you were recommending the P&V translation of W&P and I was certain we were gonna have to have a fight! I've read three translations and my favorite is probably the Edmonds, with Briggs still to come. But P&V made me want to throw the book into the pond in back of my house.
I agree, P&V are the most overrated translation duo of all time. Even their Bulgakov translation was a mess. Briggs' one feels very anachronistic at times but it's still my favorite.
For Finns, The Egyptian is right up there next to Väinö Linna's The Unknown Soldier and Under the North Star trilogy, one of the most loved books (it was actually voted the Finnish novel of the century in 2017). The English translation might be abridged, though.
Wow! What power we give to translators. Now I want to throughly learn the Russian of the 19th century in order to find the most accurate translation of War and Peace. And I suspect the accuracy would be influenced based on my frame of mind when reading.
I read Kristin Lavransdatter in Nunnally's translation earlier this year and loved the experience!
Very interesting. I remember Waltari's book the Egyptian and also seeing the screen version with Edmund Purdon. I would have been about 12 or 13 years old at the time. I don't recall whether I read the book before or after seeing the movie. I was impressed by the movie. Not as impressed by the book and didn't learn till years later that Waltari was, I believe, Finnish. But I got interested in reading around this time. When I was 16 I read War and Peace in the Alymer Maude translation and loved it. I prefer to read novels in English translation if one is available. I did read Madame Bovary in the original French and was impressed with how simple the French seemed, and how fitting the choice of words. In those days my foreign language was German, but if you don't use your German you lose it over time, whereas, if you have 6-8 years of French, it stays with you all your life. I was told this by my Irish French teacher "Spike " Henessey at Boston English. And Mr. Henessey was right at least in my case,
Because I do a lot of translating myself, I am interested in your views on translation which I've seen hints of several times since joining this channel a couple months ago. I think we seem to share the same approach. For example, I think you have to be fluent in both languages to judge whether the translation is accurate and therefore good in a technical sense that it closely follows the original work to the extent that is possible. Otherwise you are simply judging it by your reaction to the novel in English, as you would any other book written in English. You like it or you don't based on
how you like it's style and how easy you find it to read. I think the easier you find it to read the better you will like it. Because for the last few decades students have not been taught in school to read or write long sentences, they have difficulty reading books written in the 19th Century even by English authors of that period. I think most readers don't really care too much about accuracy but do care about ease of reading and understanding.
I want to read Kristen and Genji. New subscriber to your channel, Steve. Great stuff. I just started Clarissa by Richardson this past weekend. Also, The Mahabharata translation from Bibek Debroy. The complete 10 volume set in Penguin Paperback! 🐧 When it’s summer hot 100 degree in AZ, I stay in air condition and read a lot. Do you have the recent penguin translations of Mahabharata and Ramayana ?
Hi Steve, thanks for all the videos! Would you recommend 'War and Peace' translated by Briggs or the version translated by Maude?
without a specific order, Crime and Punishment, Les Miserables, War and Peace, Jean de Florette & Manon des Sources (I am cheating here as this is a duology), 20.000 leagues under the sea (or the complete workks of Jules Verne?)
But then there is Thomas Mann, and Kafka, and Dino Buzzati!
I'm not a big fan of P&V translations, their translation of The Master and Margarita was akward to me.