Is the humor lost in the translations?
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Is the humor lost in the translations?
I found Demons pretty funny at times. Can't remember TBK, need to reread it.
I laughed numerous times while reading McDuff's translation of Karamazov.
Constance Gardner's dry shit.
No, I think for whatever reason Dosto's sense of humor translates better than Tolstoy's, probably because it seems a little more dependent on character and a little less on precise language.
>>7366161
Its like Kafka's humor. Its not for everyone
It translates well in most translations, just not P/V's.
No. "The Devil" chapter from the P&V translation is funny as hell.
>>7366161
P&V do so way better than McDuff.
ex. -
"...He was one of our sublieutenants, a very nice young man. First he wanted to marry her himself, but he didn’t because she turned out to be lame …”
“So you married a lame woman?” Kalganov exclaimed.
“A lame woman, sir. They both deceived me a little bit then and concealed it. I thought she was skipping … she kept skipping all the time, and I thought it was from high spirits …”
“From joy that she was marrying you?” Kalganov yelled.
vs
'That is correct, sir. They both hid it from me at the time, deceived me a little, they did. I thought she was jumping up and down ... She kept jumping up and down, and I thought it was because she was so happy ..."
"From joy at marrying you?"
one is kek, the other is not
I want to get into Dostoevsky. I'm Portuguese but fluent in English, would you recommend me to read an english translation or a portuguese one (if it's directly translated from the russian)?
>>7366614
I don't know the quality of Portuguese translations. I do know that the P&V is top tier.
>>7366614
no clue about the portuguese but if you read in English read the P and V translations, they are the most modern and I believe the most accessible to modern readers
start with Notes from the Underground then C and P, then The brothers K, then the Idiot, Demons, then short stories and house of the dead
Everyone gets caught up in what translation to read. I've read multiple translations and honestly if you're reading one of: Garnett, Magarshack, McDuff, P&V, Avsey or Oliver Ready you are fine. They are all decent translations. Try a couple to see what you like (or read multiple).
So far I've read
Notes: Garnett, P&V, magarshack
C&P: Ready and Garnett
The idiot: P&V and McDuff
Brothers: P&V and currently reading Avsey.
Short stories: magarshack and mcduff
>>7366598
>'That is correct, precious. They both hid it from me at the time, deceived me a little, they did. I thought she was jumping up and down ... She kept jumping up and down precious, and I thought it was because she was so happy ..."
>>7366685
Notes by Garnett is awful compared to P&V. I suggest you compare them side-by-side.
People itt discuss
>translations
I feel so elevated right now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEl59biItfY
>>7366653
If you're in Portugal just try to avoid the 3€ english editions you will probably find on bookstores, they're Gardner's dry as fuck translation.
I'm ~80% finished MacAndrew's translation of TBK. It's the only translation I've read, but I'm really enjoying it. I've noticed quite a few funny parts.
Garnett is best for Karamazov. I don't know why but I genuinely dislike P&V. He's super dry but I felt it added to the story and didn't dampen the humor at all.
Fyodor makes me laugh desu
No, it's definitely in the top ten of greatest books ever written.
>>7366161
Newfag here, what does P&V stand for and is the /lit/ approved translation
>>7366598
I wish you could read the original to understand how much either fails to capture the Russian humor.
>>7367886
Love that cover, most covers of his works are just Grim portraits of Dostoevsky sitting in a chair, like the book is telling me I'm in for a sad time.
>>7369751
pevear and volokhonsky
>>7369827
getting something thats not P&V is retarded
>>7369830
Richard, please go
>>7369830
Not true at all. P & V is actually a pretty bad translation. The wife writes down the literal translation, the husband (who doesn't even know Russian) puts the words into a readable English sentence.
