I've heard that Pevear and Volokhonsky, Jessie Coulson, and David Mcduff are the most popular ones. What are the differences of each?
What is?
I've heard that Pevear and Volokhonsky, Jessie Coulson, and David Mcduff are the most popular ones. What are the differences of each?
P&V is a lifeless dull translation that translates everything very literally. Either choose McDuff or Constance Garnett's translation.
/thread
>P&V is a lifeless dull translation that translates everything very literally. Either choose McDuff or Constance Garnett's translation.
>/thread
garnett is shit and is not dostoevsky, reads like dollar store dickens. p&v is how dostoevsky would read exactly in english, he was not a good prose stylist.
>you don't get it dude, it's SUPPOSED to be badly written
pretentious dimwit
We are talking about translations. The point of a translation is to give the same feelings the original does but in a different language.
i look specifically for p&v translations because they're generally the most accurate
garnett is the one I've heard bad things about
So Richard Peavers philosophy is that perhaps the author doesn’t want the prose to be “beautiful” you ever think about that? Why make something overly pretty when that wasn’t the intent of the author.
P and V is a great Dostoyevsky translation
There's a difference between not writing 'beautifully' and sounding like an ESL.
Read in original language or don't at all.
It doesn't matter what translation you read
I shouldn't have come to IQfy to find any type of consensus it seems.
I'm looking for something that sticks as much as possible to the original text while not being excruciating to read either.
>sticks as much as possible to the original text while not being excruciating to read either.
McDuff or Constance Garnett
The crime: writing this book
The punishment: reading this book
like pottery
Always Constant Garnett she is amazing
Do not read P&V, it fricking sucks.
Garnett or Revised Garnett imo.
Hm, I don’t feel the “roughness” people seem to critisize from the P&V translation here, but i see Garnett is quite enjoyable too.
I was partially convinced by this but then i saw the cover and it disgusted me. It feels too surrealistic of a cover.
I think I’ll go with Garnett or Mcduff, depending on which one my bookstore has
I find it funny how I had come to this conclusion before asking IQfy only to end with literally the same idea. Thanks for your help i guess
You can’t go wrong with any of the well-regarded translations and if you care about this stuff you’re gonna end up reading another translation eventually anyway (trust me, the curiosity does not die), so just pick one.
Oliver Ready’s translation got me to finally enjoy the book. Every P and V translation just felt dead.
Can personally vouch for the Ready translation--shit literally made me tear up at certain points, which is not something most books can do.
The only drawback is that it is very British, which can be jarring if you're not used to books written in that style. Imo this is still something of an advantage, though, since it helps convey different characters' social registers in a way that isn't as easy in American English.
Hands down Micheal Katz translations are all superior. P&V only gets shilled because of years of strategic marketing by publishing companies.
There's nothing remarkable about his prose, literally any one.
Vintage publishing P&V paperback covers look the best. Honestly the main reason I’m a P&V loyalist.