Is the Everyman's Library version of Les Miserable any good?

>>7695493
>translation

They have the GOAT Dante translation.

>>7695657
meh. depends on your perspective/needs

GOAT is definitely stretching it.

They're the goto publisher for Tolstoy.

They're Tacitus is excellent too.

>>7695493
No, it's the clunky Wilbour translation. The ones you want, depending on your personal translation theory, are Norman Denny (attempts to capture the 'spirit' and poetics of the original text over literalness, slightly abridged---though I think that content can be found in the appendix) or Fahnestock & MacAfee (literalness and fidelity to the original).

>>7695900
Fahnestock & Macafee are just an edited Wilbour

The Odyssey (Fitzgerald)
Montaigne (Frame)

And more controversially these days, it seems...

Dostoevsky (Pevear and Volokhonsky)

>>7696190
The owner of Everyman is the publisher for P/V.

They still use Maudes for Tolstoy though, who are (imo) the best.

>>7696190
Why are Pevear and Volokhonsky controversial? I've not read any of the Dostoevsky translations, just Tolstoy

>translation
Its fucking french, if you can speak english you will already know half the words

>>7696203
Their translations were praised for twenty years until their War & Peace became a bestseller and a few articles took shots at them. The 'consensus' was broken, launching /lit/ into a climate of translational anxiety. Some remained steadfast in their appreciation for P/V; others adapted by memorizing the contrarian article's points verbatim and echoing them at every opportunity. We continue to live in a fallen world and pine for the good old days when choosing a translation Russian novels in English was simple.

>>7696215
Ah right. I've only read their translations of War and Peace and Anna Karenina. They were good enough for me

>>7696203
I personally don't like them, I find them awkward and clunky.

Others don't like them as disliking them is a trend atm tho.

>>7696225
Who do you prefer?

>>7696227
For Dostoyevsky?

I'm no expert, so don't take me as an authority, but I did quite enjoy McDuff's.

Really, when it comes to translations, it's best to look at a few excerpts of each and pick the one that suits you best.

I read McDuff's House of the Dead and enjoyed it a lot. And although I'm not a P/V hater, their recent Notes From a Dead House seemed to suffer from comparison with McDuff, in my opinion. I mean, look at that title.