I just bought this translation of The Brothers Karamazov. Did I goof?

I was told that P&V were overrated, and since I already owned a Penguin Dostoyevsky book (NFU), I went with this version.

Other urls found in this thread:

commentarymagazine.com/articles/how-to-read-crime-and-punishment/
commentarymagazine.com/articles/the-pevearsion-of-russian-literature/
twitter.com/AnonBabble

Would you trust someone who can't speak fluent Russian to translate a Russian novel?

Then why would you trust Richard Pevear?

P&V is actually quite good

I've read this edition, it's good

Go with Garnett

Because of his wife obviously

P&V
"Book I: A Nice Little Family

Alexei Fyodorovich Karamazov was the third song of a landowner from our district, Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov, well known in his own day (and still remembered among us) because of his dark and tragic death, which happened exactly thirteen years ago and which I shall speak of in its proper place. For the moment I will only say of the "landowner" (as we used to call him, though for all his life he hardly ever lived on his estate) that he was a strange type, yet one rather frequently met with, precisely the type of man who is not only worthless and depraved but muddleheaded as well—one of those muddleheaded people who still handle their own little business deal quite skillfully, if nothing else."

Penguin, McDuff
"Book I
The Story Of A Certain Little Family

Aleksey Fyodorovich Karamazov was the third son of a landowner in our district, Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov, so noted in his time (and even now still recollected among us) for his tragic and fishy death, which occurred just thirteen years ago and which I shall report in its proper context. All I shall say now about this 'landowner' (as he was called among us, though for most of his life he hardly ever lived on his estate at all) is that he was a strange type, one that is, however, farther often encountered, namely the type of man who is not only empty and depraved but also muddle-headed - belonging, though, to the class of muddle-headed men who are perfectly well able to handle their little property affairs, and, it would seem, these alone."

it's up to you, but I know which one I got
P&V

Damn, I don't know any Russian and I thought their M+M seemed really bad, but I think P+V have the upper hand there.

Best translation imo is Andrew MacAndrew's, if you can find it.

“Alexey Fyodorovitch Karamazov was the third son of Fyodor Pavlovitch Karamazov, a land owner well known in our district in his own day, and still remembered among us owing to his gloomy and tragic death, which happened thirteen years ago, and which I shall describe in its proper place. For the present I will only say that this “landowner”—for so we used to call him, although he hardly spent a day of his life on his own estate—was a strange type, yet one pretty frequently to be met with, a type abject and vicious and at the same time senseless. But he was one of those senseless persons who are very well capable of looking after their worldly affairs, and, apparently, after nothing else.”

Here's Garnetts

If anyone knows, how are the wordsworth translations generally? I once bought a bunch because they were so cheap.

P&V > Garnett > McDuff
ye?

I have found McDuff underwhelming (a little--it's not horrible), but I consider P&V's work to be indefensible.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Ignat Avsey yet. I would consider him the best of the recent translators.
As for older work, David Magarshack is the best I think; much more diligent than Garnett.

>MacAndrew
His is looser but also very good

thus far i feel inclined to agree, but i'd really like to see more translations and different samples

>translation

Is there any good spanish Karamazov translation?
I'm not gonna waste 5 years learning slavglyphs.

No one has mentioned the avsey translation yet?

It's by far the best.

i'm glad this meme is still going

C

David Megashark is pretty decent. I'm reading his translations of Dostoevsky's short stories. His notes from the underground uses the word spiteful instead of wicked like p&v. It seems more apt.

I have read the Avsey translation of tbk and though it was very purple-prosey I am pretty sure Dostoevsky was hard to read in Russian so it's probably an accurate translation of style. I managed to find a copy of Avsey's idiot as well but I haven't read it yet.

>Megashark

>His notes from the underground uses the word spiteful instead of wicked like p&v. It seems more apt.
Precisely. In their Introduction P&V make their use of 'wicked' a key point of their translation, and yet they still put the reader on completely the wrong trail in understanding the character. I think it's a choice indicative of the greater problem of P&V: each individual's weaknesses in their non-native tongues, doubled instead of halved by their pairing.

Here are two relevant articles relating to the translation of C&P:
>commentarymagazine.com/articles/how-to-read-crime-and-punishment/
>commentarymagazine.com/articles/the-pevearsion-of-russian-literature/
>megashark

Tfw, dont have to bother looking for good Dostoevsky translation, because translating from one Slav language to another is pretty easy.

Having read multiple translations, it honestly doesn't really make a difference which one you read, especially with Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.

Translators are probably more important for other authors, but I honestly felt all the major translators did fine without any being especially bad or good

OP here. I cancelled my order since it was still in Processing on BD and ordered the P&V version.

hey fellow anons, I bought a secondhand paperback copy of the Crime and Punishment (pic related) a while ago but haven't gotten around to reading it. I don't have it on me at the moment, so I don't know who the translation is by, can anybody discern from the cover which translation it is? Has anybody read that particular version? Did I botch it? it only cost $2, I think.

A little searching doesn't yield (me) a specific translator. My guess would be Garnett, but there were a few others available when that was published (c. 1967 it looks like). It's not a waste of $2 unless it's Sidney Monas or Frederick Whishaw.

>cancelling McDuff in favor of P&V
You goofed, OP

someone explain the hate towards P&V

What's wrong with Monas? Literally reading that right now

Read the "pevearsion" article linked above. It's actually kind of shocking.

It has a reputation for being awkward compared to what else is available and even unduly difficult at times

>P&V
>&V
>V

But her English isn't good enough, presumably. Honestly mate they're a joke.

But user, all the nice editions are P&V.

Lol, fair enough. I read that Pevearsion article linked above and yeah, I'm convinced.

Depends on the branch, no? Easier between east slavs than say, translating from russian to serbian or bulgarian? Any examples?

Fuck no.

Garnett is the worst. I don't want to read Garnett, I want to read Dostoevsky.

Any thoughts on Ignat Avsey's translation?

I have no grounds for this claim but personal enjoyment, but Cátedra's was quite good.

love this meme

Lol

Lol

I'm reading Monas' C&P and at times comparing it to my McDuff that I also have, and sometimes P&V when I'm at the bookstore.

I actually prefer Monas to McDuff(so far) because while McDuff captures the spirit of Dostoyevsky in the fluidity of the dialogue and prose, Monas I think captures better what he is trying to convey thematically. Also McDuff often drops archaic terms(I understand its a pretty archaic translation itself) and that pushes me out of the immersive experience a bit. Given what little I've compared between Monas, P&V, and McDuff, I dont regret going with Monas at all, although if I reread I may try McDuff

*Garnett.
dammit I meant Garnett, not McDuff

P&V being shit is a meme on this board. They're perfectly acceptable. Dosteovsky was never a stylist, so it doesn't matter very much.

I would NEVER read them for Tolstoy though.

Shit for the most part. They only pick translations they don't have to pay for.

I think they go for Garnett, who is the one person I can say who misses the mark on Dostoevsky a bit.

Their Tolstoy translations are ok, because they use the Aylmer Maude translation, which was the first, the best and is also public domain. It's still unreadable though, as they text is fucking tiny.

Dostoevskys Russian (according to a Russian friend of mine) is very modern and every bit as clunky in Russian as translations make it seem. If it's not clunky it's not Dostoevsky. But it is easy to read.

How's Soskice for Dostoevsky?

Clunky? I only know of klunky-chan. caч кeйзec.

Dostoyevsky's Russian sounds more natural to Russian ears than the English of Charles Dickens but I guess the reason is that English isn't a flexed language and doesn't give many other options for varied prose than using, say, rare phrasal verbs right from the dictionary.

>P&V being shit is a meme on this board
Have you tried their Master and Margarita? Except for a few nice descriptive passages, it pretty much made my eyes bleed.