I'm genuinely confused by the Reddit and sometimes anon preference for P&V. In a bookstore the other day I read about the first 20 pages of their crime and Punishment and then McDuff's (I think it was his) translation and P&Vs seemed like utter shit comparatively, it was just ugly and vague. I haven't even read much fiction and the latter translation just seemed so much more immersive and airtight to me.
Theres nothing wrong with your judgement. Before their agent made their shit translations a meme they got brutally rejected by Random House and Oxford. The funniest part is that they supposedly were inspired to translate because of Magarshack but then made an even shittier translation.
This is an incredibly dishonest recollection of events. They initially got rejected because publishers didn't think new translations were needed, they made no comment on the quality of their translation; they then sent a sample of their Bros K translation to several slavic scholars which got a lot of support and letters of recommendation, which led them to get officially published and win a noteworthy translation prize, thus kickstarting their translation career. They have Joseph Frank's approval which is more than enough for me.
Lol nah, McDuff is just not good. Compare the opening lines of The idiot:
McDuff >Such were the damp and the fog that it was a while before daylight broke; at ten yards to the right and the left of the track it was hard to make out anything at all from the windows of the carriage.
P&V >It was so damp and foggy that dawn could barely break; ten paces to the right or left of the line it was hard to make out anything at all through the carriage windows.
P&V sounds way more natural and flows better. "Such were the damp and the fog" sounds moronic compared to the more obvious and simple "it was so damp and foggy."
>be me >buy Notes from Underground after reading a few pages on internet and liking them >starts reading the book, confused on why it doesn't read good >see it's from P&V and the one on internet was from Garnett
That's how as a IQfy newbie I learned about the importance of translations.
>it’s another thread where anons who don’t know the native language debate translations >it’s another thread where anons who have only fully read one translation give their opinion >it’s another thread about Russian translations >it’s another thread
They are old as frick and AI can translate on their level now so we dont have to suffer another subpar from them just because their israeli publishers dont want to pay royalties to superior translators.
I just emailed them asking for a translation of the Bible
They are the definition of a hack.
Why?
How's P's Italian translations?
Agreed. Their imitation of Russian in English simply does not work. I don't care how "accurate" it is
>Things that never happened here
You sure you didn't get that recommendation from reddit. I have only seen anons on here trash this couple for being hackjobs.
Their translations sound like the ESLs that post here. It would make sense that only ESLs seem to recommend them.
ChatGPT translations have better flow their schlock
I'm genuinely confused by the Reddit and sometimes anon preference for P&V. In a bookstore the other day I read about the first 20 pages of their crime and Punishment and then McDuff's (I think it was his) translation and P&Vs seemed like utter shit comparatively, it was just ugly and vague. I haven't even read much fiction and the latter translation just seemed so much more immersive and airtight to me.
Theres nothing wrong with your judgement. Before their agent made their shit translations a meme they got brutally rejected by Random House and Oxford. The funniest part is that they supposedly were inspired to translate because of Magarshack but then made an even shittier translation.
This is an incredibly dishonest recollection of events. They initially got rejected because publishers didn't think new translations were needed, they made no comment on the quality of their translation; they then sent a sample of their Bros K translation to several slavic scholars which got a lot of support and letters of recommendation, which led them to get officially published and win a noteworthy translation prize, thus kickstarting their translation career. They have Joseph Frank's approval which is more than enough for me.
Lol nah, McDuff is just not good. Compare the opening lines of The idiot:
McDuff
>Such were the damp and the fog that it was a while before daylight broke; at ten yards to the right and the left of the track it was hard to make out anything at all from the windows of the carriage.
P&V
>It was so damp and foggy that dawn could barely break; ten paces to the right or left of the line it was hard to make out anything at all through the carriage windows.
P&V sounds way more natural and flows better. "Such were the damp and the fog" sounds moronic compared to the more obvious and simple "it was so damp and foggy."
Everyone in the world who ever translated:
>I am a sick man... I am a spiteful man.
P&V:
>I am a sick man... I am le wicked man.
are you suggesting P&V is a mainstream psyop intended to warp our understanding of classics into a conducive attitude akin to a reddit perspective?
Cope, I'm starting on P&V's War and Peace.
>be me
>buy Notes from Underground after reading a few pages on internet and liking them
>starts reading the book, confused on why it doesn't read good
>see it's from P&V and the one on internet was from Garnett
That's how as a IQfy newbie I learned about the importance of translations.
IQfy is the only place on the internet to recommend Garnett. Knee jerk contrarianism for the sake of being a contrarian
No one mentioned Garnett until you decided to shitpost reddit troony.
>Stop recommending this shit.
but i haven't read anything else
Penis & vegana 😉
Let's keep kvetching about translations instead of just reading the books
Meh, a bad translation can ruin a good book.
>it’s another thread where anons who don’t know the native language debate translations
>it’s another thread where anons who have only fully read one translation give their opinion
>it’s another thread about Russian translations
>it’s another thread
Rec me some good translations of Notes from the Underground, the Double and the Gambler. Don't want to read any Garnett. Not a big fan of her either.
Magarshack is the best for Dostoevsky
I really like P & V’s work on The Death of Ivan Ilyitch, but Constance Garnett is my girl
For me, it's Garnett.
their translation of Master and Margarita is pretty good, but I tried their translation of Demons and it was just unbearable
Seems kinda tasteless the way they mechanically pump out translations.
They are old as frick and AI can translate on their level now so we dont have to suffer another subpar from them just because their israeli publishers dont want to pay royalties to superior translators.