Re: Brothers Karamazov

Well, can't argue with that, John :).

Jim

PS Nice analogy, Daniel. I think that the difference between English
and foreign languages vary with the language. The little bit I studied
of Greek taught me that English translations are more like a black and
white film compared to viewing the scene with the naked eye...while
comparisons to Spanish may be more like watching a scene on color film.

John P Baumgardner wrote:

>Gee wiz, you guys are getting way too into this. As someone who simply
>enjoys reading and is in no way a scholar of English or any other language,
>etc., I just want something readable and true. There's bound to be losses
>in translation. There's even going to be losses in our own language when
>it crosses generations. As for novel reading, I just want it to flow be as
>true as possible. If it's the best literal translation and reads like my
>Constance so-and-so translation of the Brothers Karamazov, I'm not even
>going to read it, so what's the point.
>On the other hand, there's poetry. What I love to do with foreign (to me)
>language poetry is get as many translations of the same poem and read and
>reread them all. This seems to me the best way to enjoy and understand the
>beauty of, say, a Rilke poem.
>
>JPB
>
>

-
* Unsubscribing? Mail majordomo@roughdraft.org with the message
* UNSUBSCRIBE BANANAFISH
Received on Wed Apr 16 12:16:43 2003