The Possessed/Demons/Devils

>>8839056
even the title is translated wrongly.

[this is now black] it's demons. [this black]

That's a good translation.

Another good option is David Magarshack.

>>8839399
my gal Garnett is good as well

>>8839056
god damn this book is soo funny. my favorite part is the scene where the main characters are hosting a revolutionary meeting disguised as a birthday party, and none of the guests are totally sure whether it is a revolutionary meeting or in actual fact just a birthday party. great situational humor yo

>>8839812
Look. It's time for you to be euthanized. Constance Garnett is an awful translator. We all already know this except you.

>>8839834

Garnett is an excellent translator.

>>8839834
Garnett's very good. In revised form, she's the best option for Dostoevsky.

>>8839834
Revised Garnett is top-tier and you're an edgy redditor trying way too hard to fit in

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>>8839399
DAVID MEGASHARK, RIPPING INTO RUSSIAN LIT SINCE 1899

>>8839858
>>8839905
>>8839917
Constance Garnett makes a variety of good Russian writers sound like exactly the same slightly autistic, no-sense-of-the-beauty-of-words, spluttery academic. Because that's what she is.

>>8839917
Yeah they had to revise her bc she was so shit

>>8839942

I disagree

>>8839056
Pevear and Volokhonsky

>>8839942
She wasn't even an academic.

And she was a great English stylist.

If you want to criticize her, you could say she made the Russians too English. But saying Garnett was a dry academic whose translations are dry is plain wrong.

>>8839948
No, scholars revise her because she made mistakes. One of the hazards of being a pioneer translator. When Ralph Matlaw revised Garnett's Karamazov for Norton, he did it because he had started his own version but then decided he couldn't do any better than Garnett.

>>8839952
stilted literalist garbage.

Revised Garnett, Avsey, and McDuff

>>8839952
This.
>>8839983
What the fuck are you talking about? The PV editions flow well. Translators like Garnett and Maude are garbage. I've read all of my Dostoevsky in PV editions, and the Russian professor (native Russian) who recommended them finds them to be the best. Reading alongside in the original Russian, I've saw myself that PV do the most faithful job.

>>8839056
OP this is causing too many arguments. Just learn Russian, for all our sakes

>>8839983
"literalist garbage"

Ooh faithful translations suck. If that's how you feel just go read some Dostoyevsky fanfic, don't claim to be reading the novel

>>8840007
Strongly agree. Cannot believe anyone is calling Garnett a "stylist" much less a good one. Garnett is the reason that Anglophones think Russian greats are stodgy

>>8840007
Of course your Russian professor recommend P&V, they're literalists, academics are the only supporters of PV translations, aside from those who have only read a PV translation.

I don't care what about a transliteration of Russian text, that's the best way to get the worst message, the spirit of Dostoyevsky's writing is lost. Translators who take the time to study Dosto's work and translate it into an English speaker's context rather than flipping words with a Russian-English dictionary make for a far superior translation.

Compare passages between P&V and Avsey

>>8840034
Look. Garnett is an awkward, painfully Victorian, clunky translator who couldn't even get her fucking work done right to make up for her awful style. Pevear and Volokhonsky are lyrical and stunning/ And they don't make every author they translate sound exactly the same.

>>8840034
Why are you acting like they're such literalists? Volokhonsky might be a bit of a human Russian-to-English dictionary (especially in the first round of drafts) but Pevear is all about spirit and style.

Do you know anything about their translation process?

>>8840034
Could you provide a specific passage? I have my PV copy right here. Copy an easily findable passage and I will copy the same text from PV. Prove me wrong-I really am curious.

>>8840046
Both McDuff and Avsey are better than P&V. In fact there are mass market editions I've preferred over P&V, notably C&P translated by Monas.

>>8840052
They are literalists. Thats not my opinion. That's a school of technique in translation.
And yes I know their methodology, Volokhonsky, who barely speaks English, transliterates from Russian to English. Then Pervear, who barely speaks Russian, polishes it and makes it more readable. It doesn't get more literalist than that. There's no translation of context, there's no study of the author's intention, he literally just smooths out the Russian.

This isn't a fucking /lit/ meme, look it up. And i don't mean chatting with your reddit pals, I mean read articles on it, it's a common sentiment for anyone who has compared passages

>>8840073
>Crime and Punishment Sec.2 Chpt.7(towards the end)
>"My name is Rodion, Polechka. Pray for me sometimes, too- 'and thy servant Rodion.' That's all."
>"I'll pray for you the whole rest of my life," the girl promised, and suddenly she smiled again, threw her arms around him, and again hugged him close
That's Monas

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>>8840075
>And yes I know their methodology, Volokhonsky, who barely speaks English, transliterates from Russian to English. Then Pervear, who barely speaks Russian, polishes it and makes it more readable. It doesn't get more literalist than that. There's no translation of context, there's no study of the author's intention, he literally just smooths out the Russian.


Am I supposed to find something wrong with this?

god i love russian lit translation threads. always a good rehash of the same ol things.

Constance Garnett fan here, P&V themselves said they respected Garnett and her translations are generally the best and most precise.
Proof:
https://youtu.be/H2ykytca6Y8?t=3832

So basically the answer is all of them are shit? Thanks /lit/

>>8839949
WRONG!

>>8840144
If these threads don't convince you to read them in their native language I don't know what will