Thread replies: 12
Thread images: 1
Thread images: 1
File: dostoevsky.jpg (303KB, 1400x2092px) Image search:
[Google]
303KB, 1400x2092px
Is there a better translation of the Brothers K? This one was highly recommended to me, but I just finished the Grand Inquisitor chapter and I'm so bothered by the prose at this point don't know if I made the right pick.
I have a hard time seeing how any people, Russian or English-speaking, could possibly converse like this; and based on the introduction that seems like the exact opposite that Dostoevsky's writing is supposed to have. I also find myself having to go over paragraphs multiple times to understand what is trying to be said, as it's needlessly wordy and somewhat robotic at points.
If these are actual features of Dostoevsky's writing style, I can deal with it. But I can't help feeling that there's a better alternative for an English speaker.
>>
>>9531869
That's actually the worst translation. Literalism is total shit. Try Garnett instead
>>
>>9531869
P&V are shite.
Avsey, MacAndrew, and McDuff are great contemporary translations that maintain the spirit of Dostoyevsky's message while crossing the cultural rift with fluid, readable dialogue and prose.
If you get the Garnett be sure and get one that's edited and revised because hers isn't perfect.
I read MacAndrew and it was excellent
>>
>>9531869
You chose the reddit translation.
Get Constance Garnett or Megashark.
>>
Those guys are just meming you.
Garnett was a hack. She made Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Checkov, and Tolstoy all sound exactly the same. She was the only translator at the time so her rushed sloppy shit is now public domain cancer.
>>
>>9531869
I spent 8 USD on Signet Classic Edition and it reads pretty comfy to me desu. Are you a literature or linguistics professor/researcher? Otherwise just get the Signet Edition.
>>
>>9532058
>I'm 19 and fell for the P&V viral marketing campaign. I also don't speak a word of Russian
>>
>>9532290
Sorry, I guess I never paid attention to the translator, but it's Garnett. So yeah, you've been getting good advice.
>>
>>9532058
Yeah but P&V all sound exactly the same as well.
In fact, in translation Russian seems pretty similar because of the emphasis on silly, animated characters the parodying of stereotypes or trying to portray emotion by painting grandiose images.
But P&V REALLY muddying it up with their google translate esque nonsense.
>>
>>9531869
i read the P&B translation of BK a few years ago and felt the same way. i expected to the grand inquisitor bit to be pretty dense but it didn't seem to match any of the dostoevsky's style at the beginning of the novel.
right now i am 3/4 through avsey's translation of the idiot and i found everything clicked a lot better in his version.
>>
>>9532406
p&v**
Thread posts: 12
Thread images: 1
Thread images: 1