RaptorQuiz Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I know the term "best" is nebulous when it comes to something like this BUT here goes anyway: I have finally decided to read War and Peace, originally by Tolstoy (in Russian and, to a lesser extent, French). However - there are many translations available. I am trying to find the "best" English translation. To me, best means staying close to the original Russian, but allowing for enough "leeway" to make it an exciting read in English as well. Also - I need a 100% translation. Meaning, I've heard some translate the Russian but leave the French in French. I can't have that. I need 100% English. Thru my own research, I am leaning toward the "Penguin Classic" version, as translated by Rosemary Edmonds. However, I have also heard good things about the "Norton Critical Edition", as translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude. Do any of you have any insight? I'm looking at you, AstroEric, abc, etc. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroEric Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I've heard good things about the new Viking Briggs translation, but I'm not a Russian lit. scholar. The Maudes' version seems to be the classic scholarly translation that the experts use, though it seems a few younger profs. are now using the Briggs.... Check out this link for a side-by-side comparison of a passage translated by multiple authors.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medric822 Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 This may not be the right place to say this, but I'll bet you didn't know that the origional title was "War, What is it good for?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pujols Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Haha. Seinfeld reference FTW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaptorQuiz Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 Medric. You silly b4st4rd. lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medric822 Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 OW! The knife in my already scrwed up back! lol. I know your fooling, right? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaptorQuiz Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 OW! The knife in my already scrwed up back! lol. I know your fooling, right? Of course! I just thought it was funny. Also - thank you very much for your help, AstroEric! Anybody else have any insights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillerBs Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I'm looking at you, AstroEric, abc, etc. What? No KillerBs? I personally would use the Briggs, but if I were you I would listen to AstroEric over me any day of the week and twice on Sundays. I hate you Medric, now I have that stupid Edwin Starr song stuck in my head. Waah! Huh! Yeah! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medric822 Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 What? No KillerBs? I personally would use the Briggs, but if I were you I would listen to AstroEric over me any day of the week and twice on Sundays. I hate you Medric, now I have that stupid Edwin Starr song stuck in my head. Waah! Huh! Yeah! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing! Thanks, love you too. lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillerBs Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 That song ticked off me so much back in the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean O Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Best of luck Raptor, I made it a good 250-300 pages when I just couldn't take it anymore. Dostoevsky I have no trouble with, and Anna Karenina being part of a class made that doable (but highly unenjoyable; so much freaking farming), but War and Peace takes about 800 pages to get going apparently. Crime and Punishment, Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot were easy, but Tolstoy and I do not mesh. Dostoevsky packs so much brilliance into the books that they seem far shorter than they really are, while Tolstoy makes his points far more obtuse. Good. Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medric822 Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Do what High Schoolers do, rent the movie. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaptorQuiz Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 Best of luck Raptor, I made it a good 250-300 pages when I just couldn't take it anymore. Dostoevsky I have no trouble with, and Anna Karenina being part of a class made that doable (but highly unenjoyable; so much freaking farming), but War and Peace takes about 800 pages to get going apparently. Crime and Punishment, Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot were easy, but Tolstoy and I do not mesh. Dostoevsky packs so much brilliance into the books that they seem far shorter than they really are, while Tolstoy makes his points far more obtuse. Good. Luck. Ack. Are you trying to dissuade me from reading one of the most famous works of literature in the world? The English teachers among us will surely faint. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaptorQuiz Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 Do what High Schoolers do, rent the movie. Somewhere, James Joyce just rolled over in his grave. And bumped into Keats, Vonnegut, Tolstoy, and numerous others. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medric822 Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Ah, they would have just produced a movie if they had the option back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroEric Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Ack. Are you trying to dissuade me from reading one of the most famous works of literature in the world? The English teachers among us will surely faint. Not me. I concur wholeheartedly with SeanO here. I've never made it through W&P either (I was using the Maude translation), but I love Dostoevsky. Chekov too for that matter (I want to write a story one day with a pistol in it called the Chekov ACT-3. This gun will never be fired.). Besides, in the ancients v. moderns debate, I'm a modern guy all the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abc006 Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 A side note, why do you hate "War" so much, KillerB's? Hopefully it's just the melody or something and not the fact that its promoting non-violence and the mere destructions of innocent lives. I mean, the lord knows there's got to be another way. (YAAAAAAH!) I'm flattered that you think me a literary type. Well, opposed to other people, I guess so. Maybe it's the grammar that doesn't. And the capitalization. Well, I don't know much at all about particular translations and stuff, but I do have advice on how to judge if a book is boring or not. (At least for me.) Books that describe Victorian curtains and the origin and the process of making someone's foot-tall hat in full detail is not going to be very interesting. Everything else shouldn't be too bad. Actually, I was reading this essay by Stephen Jay Gould who was also a huge baseball fan. I can't find the particular couple of sentences, but basically every noun or adjective in the sentence was at least 11 letters long, and I had no idea what they meant. (Not just "big" words, actual specific semi-scientific, hasn't-been-used-in-a-real-life-dialogue-in-40-years type of word.) However, I was able to read the whole essay despite a few of those words here and there, and it was pretty interesting. Basically, (not necessarily talking to your Raptor) don't shy away from a book or piece of writing because of a few strange words. :? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medric822 Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 If I had to grow up in that era, I'd hate the music too. As James Earl Jones said in Field of Dreams- "Peace, Love, Dope! NOW GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abc006 Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 If I had to grow up in that era, I'd hate the music too.What? Yeah, shows how much you know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KillerBs Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 I'm not sure exactly when it came out, but I was in Vietnam at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medric822 Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 You were in Vietnam? Hmm.... Learn something new every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleD Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 Maybe it's the grammar that doesn't. Hehe, that made me giggle. Not flaming you, happens all the time to me ('saying' in your head what you're typing as you type it, and then typing the wrong thing because it sounds similiar), I just found it funny that it happened in the sentence you talk about how well you type your posts But anyway, since Raptor got his questioned answered, what about turning this into a general literary thread? I used to read ALL the time as a kid, hours upon hours every day. But as I got older, I was out-growing the books (Thinks like Goosebumps and such), and stopped really reading in middle school, and haven't really gotten back to it even though I've wanted to. I mean, I read the required books in the couple years I was in high school, and I've read a few assorted detective mysteries that my mom let me borrow. But I've really wanted to really get back into reading, but it's hard to find something that tickles my fancy, and I'm stuburn to the point where it's hard for me to start reading something because I hate wasting time on things I won't enjoy (This isn't just reading, but all forms of media...movies, music, shows, ect). But I'm hoping some of you lit guys can help me And recommend some authors/books based on my taste. Well, the only work I've been really able to get into was Chuck Palahniuk's earlier work. If you aren't familiar with him, the movie Fight Club was based off his book. But while Fight Club really is an amazing movie, the book's atmosphere is different and really makes the two two different entities. From wiki on his writing style: "Palahniuk's books prior to Lullaby have distinct similarities. The characters are people who have been marginalized in one form or another by society, and who react with often self-destructive aggressiveness (a form of story that the author likes to describe as transgressional fiction). Through these tales, he attempts to comment on the current problems of society, such as materialism." However, there's more to it then just that. He has this black humor aspect to his work that makes them so enjoyable and entertaining to read. So while things like Farenheit 451, Brave New World, and 1984 follow in the same way of pointing out society flaws, I'm also not look for pretentious work like them. I don't know, it's really hard to explain his books if you haven't read them, but if you guys can throw out anything, I'd be really grateful. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaptorQuiz Posted May 5, 2007 Author Share Posted May 5, 2007 Just in case anybody was interested (which I highly doubt)... ...I went with the Penguin Classics, Deluxe Edition: Briggs Translation. LINK: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/014303999...4447191-9183913 Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean O Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 I have no idea about the Briggs translation, but any thoughts about the best for Crime and Punishment? I read some random off-the-shelf edition, but I didn't find it as clear as I believe it should have been. Since it's a comparatively more popular and wide-read, I figured some may have an opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroEric Posted May 6, 2007 Share Posted May 6, 2007 Two of my professors/colleagues are partial Dostoevsky scholars (though they don't publish in the field of Dostoevsky studies), and both agreed that Coulson is the standard in academic circles, but that translations by McDuff and Pevear are, in some places preferable. I've read the Coulson (Norton Critical Edition) and it's decent, surrounded by lots of essays and criticism. Looking over excerpts, if I had to read it over, I'd go with Pevear (who is also apparently working on War & Peace). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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