About to start reading, is it worth?
Its good, but way too short.
>>7756078
it's so worth.
Will it make me cry and laugh at the same time?
>>7756098
probably not.
still brilliant though.
>>7756078
Not OP, but will taking Spanish in college up to "Intermediate Spanish II" prepare me to read Don Quixote in Spanish, or do you need to actually minor/major in the language to get to that level?
i want to kill people like you
Just finished that translation today.
It's absolutely worth it if youre interested in the history of the novel. It's also hilarious, though it drags on a bit.
>>7756634
I don't think there's a translation that can help with the dragging-on-a-bit.
>>7756636
It reads like a neverending novel. Around page 750 I was frustrated, but it's all worth it by the end. I teared up a bit.
>>7756078
>tfw you bought this book but dogs ripped it up
>>7756078
>grossman
looooooooooooooool
>>7756736
haha ya :)
>>7756736
>not having both smollett and grossman editions for the lels
>>7756746
smollett is all you need, senpai
>>7756754
well, of course, but if you found grossman for 50 cents at your local thrift store, i doubt you'd turn your nose up at it
>>7756078
Yes,except it can be boring sometimes...
Imo the best book I've read. I haven't read the meme books.
>>7756119
I'm Spanish, and it's kinda hard to read even for most Spaniards because, it's centuries old and people don't speak/write like that anymore. I guess the same thing happens with Shakespeare. Try to read the first pages anyways, it's maybe the best book ever written.
>>7756736
Whats wrong with Grossman?
>inb4 wimin
>>7757427
modern translation, essentially.
>>7756119
>will taking Spanish in college up to "Intermediate Spanish II" prepare me to read Don Quixote
No
>>7757427
it's translated by a 70 something year old woman. it has absolutely none of the fun or subtle humor in it
>>7757432
>modern translation, essentially.
As in "it's modern so people say it sucks" or "it translates it all into modern English without any bearing on how this affects the novel"?
>>7757469
well, the modernization of the language sometimes interferes with the atmosphere of the book. something about living in the cellphone age that leaves an indelible mark on whatever it touches. smollett was a huge fan of don quixote and he even used the style to write a few well known novels of his own. it's not close enough in time to be considered a period translation, but it's pretty darn close. plus he was a funny guy so the wit was captured as best as he could manage.
>>7757467
Simply not true. It's hysterical. Deemed one of the funniest translations
>>7757498
What? Grossman's language is independent of the cell phone's influence, what a ridiculous assumption. Also, it's fallacious to assume that period translations are the most accurate simply because the language is more closely related. Dryden's Aeneid, for instance
>>7757606
>simply not true.
i guess you have shit taste in humor then
The banter starts even before the actual novel:
Diálogo entre Babieca y Rocinante
-¿Cómo estáis, Rocinante, tan delgado?
-Porque nunca se come y se trabaja.
-Pues, ¿qué es de la cebada y de la paja?
-No me deja mi amo ni un bocado.
-Andad, señor, que estáis muy mal criado,
pues vuestra lengua de asno al amo ultraja.
-Asno se es de la cuna a la mortaja;
¿queréislo ver? Miradlo enamorado.
-¿Es necedad amar? -No es gran prudencia.
-Metafísico estáis. -Es que no como.
-Quejaos del escudero. - No es bastante:
¿Cómo me he de quejar en mi dolencia
si el amo y escudero o mayordomo
son tan rocines como Rocinante?
It's good but I advise against Grossman. I went with her myself and it was alright but afterward I looked up some comparisons and realized how bad I fucked up. Grossman's got no sense of comedic timing, which is pretty fucking important when translating a comedy.
>>7757606
The interference of cell phone culture is something so subtle as cannot be ignored. I'm not implying she has the don texting dulcinea his passions but rather her entire mental state has been effected inexorably by not only technology but even modern influences in culture in general. To say otherwise is to be needlessly obtuse. The fact is that smollet is unaffected by modernity as well as being a fantastic author in his own right.
>>7757664
Adopting this mindset would suggest that modern, yet accurate, translations are inevitably impossible. This seems extreme and needlessly cynical, on top of not actually being an apt reason as to why a translation fails.
>this translation is flawed because it just came out
Seems absurd
>>7758137
instead of offering valid reasoning, you're simply saying "that doesn't make sense to me, so it's obviously false". Don't bother commenting further if you don't have anything to add to the conversation.
>>7758139
The burden of proof isn't on me. Asserting thag a translation *fails* is a condemnation that warrants proof.
>this translation fails because modern translations must fail
Seems like shit proof. No need for the knee-jerk smokescreen, we can stop arguing if youd like
>>7758157
I'm not suggesting that Grossman's translation has failed. I am suggesting that it is simply not the most appropriate translation for this instance. I named other reasons for Smollett being the superior translation than the time period, the very skill of the author himself is by far the main reason, however, pointing out the modernity of the translation, under the hands of a clumsy translator, can be a clear problem for someone who wants to enjoy this book.
look, i'm not shitting on grossman's effort. I just prefer Smollett, and that's why. In fact, I've considered writing her a letter to beg her to translate Guzman De Alfarache, and I would read it joyfully, regardless of the issues i stated. In this situation, I have the luxury of a choice, and one seems a better choice to me than another.
>>7758170
If you think the translation failed due to the translator, that's absolutely fine. That warrants a seperate argument that I can't participate in. I merely had an issue with the seemingly blanket assertion that this 'age of the cell phone' renders superior translations impossible.
>is it worth it
not if you're going to read the fucking Grossman translation
>>7756098
perhaps the only book that is capable of that
>>7758851
>not if you're going to read the fucking Grossman translation
The translation is good and the footnotes are absolutely brilliant. You are shitting on a translation that doesn't deserve it.
>>7756119
Comparable to learning Greek then thinking you can read the untranslated epics.
>>7758903
Agreed, I loved the footnotes.
>>7758393
>if you think the translation failed
>can't read
i'm sorry, but you're simply not listening, that might be why you're missing out on the subtleties i was talking about.
>>7756078
>About to start reading, is it worth?
Depends on if you're a boobie who wouldn't want to read the greatest work ever made.
>>7761058
>the greatest work ever made.
Calm down, champ: let's not go this far.
>>7762152
Not him, but why can't he made that claim? I agree it's hard to just pick one. Almost impossible to be honest. But if there are some works that deserve such title, Quijote is definitely up there.
>>7762226
>But if there are some works that deserve such title, Quijote is definitely up there.
What's so great about it?
Can you quote some really beautiful excerpt?
>>7756078
This is the most authentically funny book I've ever read. There are parts I had to stop reading just to laugh.
Its really a masterpiece.
>>7762295
Its just really fucking funny. Situational comedy.
Don Quixote is such a bafoon. There's a part where he's so deluded that he challenges a traveling barber to joust in single combat, beats him, and steels his barber's basin which he mistakes for a helmet.
You have to read it to get the real impact ofc, but I found it hilarious.
>>7762295
I don't think you understand what a great work of literature is.
>>7762910
More than you, you can bet your ass.
>>7762295
In a village in La Mancha, the name of which I cannot quite recall, there lived not long ago one of those country gentlemen or hidalgos who keep a lance in a rack, an ancient leather shield, a scrawny hack and a greyhound for coursing. A midday stew with rather more shin of beef than leg of lamb, the leftovers for supper most nights, lardy eggs on Saturdays, lentil broth on Fridays and an occasional pigeon as a Sunday treat ate up three-quarters of his income. The rest went on a cape of black broadcloth, with breeches of velvet and slippers to match for holy days, and on weekdays he walked proudly in the finest homespun. He maintained a housekeeper the wrong side of forty, a niece the right side of twenty and a jack of all trades who was as good at saddling the nag as at plying the pruning shears. Our hidalgo himself was nearly fifty; he had a robust constitution, dried-up flesh and a withered face, and he was an early riser and a keen huntsman. His surname’s said to have been Quixada, or Quesada (as if he were a jawbone, or a cheesecake): concerning this detail there’s some discrepancy among the authors who have written on the subject, although a credible conjecture does suggest he might have been a plaintive Quexana. But this doesn’t matter much, as far as our little tale’s concerned, provided that the narrator doesn’t stray one inch from the truth.
as if a book that starts like this could be anything but perfect.
>>7763042
Which tranny is this
>>7763046
Rutherford. Not a fan of it by the looks of it so far, Not horrendous though.
>>7756119
I got up to AP Spanish Lit in high school (about five years of classes) and we were able to read it. It wasn't easy for reasons other posters have already pointed out, but the edition I read had in-line annotations to help with particularly difficult vocab/grammar/etc. It's basically the Spanish equivalent to "thou shalt" kind of language. At any rate, it's worth the effort to read the original.
>2011+5
>reading
>worth it
>>7763042
Spaniard here. It loses too much in translation
>>7763049
>You're looking stupid. Stop.
How so?
>>7760142
sigh. failed relative to Smollett. I suppose I'd also be on the defensive after laying down the juvenile assertion that cell phones have doomed translations. moron.
>>7762295
>I haven't read it but don't say it's the greatest work ever
>>7763135
not that anon but vaguely referencing your ability to appreciate literature after dismissing Don Quixote without reading it is probably what he's talking about.
You do look stupid.
>>7763167
I asked what translation the anon posted.
>>7762152
>Calm down, champ: let's not go this far.
If you've read the book and didn't get the joke
>greatest work ever made.
You're a fucking blockhead.
