I bought my copy today at Borders; I ended up with the Penguin Classics paperback edition. It's been interesting to use the internets--a series of tubes--to learn about the different translations. Some of the popular ones are:
1. by a couple called "the Maudes," which was approved by Tolstoy
2. one by Rosemary Edmonds, first published in 1957 and revised in 1978
3. and one by Constance Garnett.
In 2005 a version by Joseph Briggs came out that used a more modern-day vernacular. It's controversial.
Another new translation is on the way this very month from Larissa Volokhonsky and Richard Pevear, a couple who are well-known for their English translations of Russian works; they won awards for their recent translation of Anna Karenina. Here's an article from The New Yorker about the various translations, and some interesting thoughts on what makes a "good" translation.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I have the Modern Library Classic
and it is translated by Constance Garnett.
The one I got, the Penguin one, is Rosemary Edmonds. I think it's interesting that all of the popular translations are either women alone or a woman & man team. I wonder if, in literature in general, there are any trends that link women with translating?
I have the Modern Library Classic one, too. Let the reading begin!
I ended up with the controversial Briggs version, a man translating alone, because it was the nicest copy at the library. Probably because it was the newest.... Still, to really make it through this book, I decided it was important to like carrying it around.
Hey! The New York Times is doing exactly what we are doing.... did you get the idea from them?
http://readingroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/11/on-books/
No, but that's a funny coincidence. Edwin and I came up with the idea at lunch at the end of September. I like to have a big book to read when the weather gets cooler, and so does he. I read and liked Anna Karenina a while ago (not the snazzy new translation by the husband and wife, but still really liked it).
Post a Comment