Re: Marquez and translation
Malcolm Lawrence (malcolm@wolfenet.com)
Mon, 26 Jan 1998 22:59:33 -0800
EEver73319 wrote:
> Yes, the whole idea of translation in novels worries me too. I'm currently
> reader Brothers Karamazov, and the translation I'm reading bugs me. I've seen
> other translations that look much better...<sigh>
I remember reading a translation of one of Dostoyevsky's shorter works where it
read "Waking up the following morning he said 'What is this bad thing that has
happened to me?' " <sigh> Sure makes the poignancy of dramatic tension almost
farcical when you have to deal with translations like that. Still, if it means
forsaking great world literature just because of bad translations, I'd much rather
just keep plowing through anyway, and hopefully eventually be able to find some
readers who have read superior translations that they can advise you on.
And I'm sure JDS has a sense of this too. Like that bit in Zooey where Buddy asks
in the letter "have you ever seen a truly great production of The Cherry Orchard?
Don't say you have because you haven't. You've seen good productions, but none
that could equal the author's intent word for word."
I hear that new translation of The Odyssey is supposed to be the best in years.