Anna Karenina

xp nabokov published a multivolume translation of pushkin's eugene onegin that worked via a meticulous word-by-word literalism (according to nabokov's sometimes eccentric judgment) and had an aggressive disrespect for meter or beauty; wilson reviewed it, saying prob justifiably that this was a bad approach to translation, maybe justifiably that nabokov intended it as a kind of polyglot's attack on the idea of translation itself, and unjustifiably that nabokov's translation of this or that was Obviously Wrong, when it was usually at least not obvious; they exchanged furious public letters; the friendship didn't recover. they hadn't been seeing much of each other lately anyway tho i think.

nabokov's translation of this or that was Obviously Wrong

i think this was what did it btw. critical eminence or no, old friend or no, to the finland station or no, i don't know how a new jersey boy ever works himself up to the point where he comes at vladimir nabokov on points of exactitude in russian translation.

http://www.literarymanhattan.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/f-scott-fitzgerald-wiki.jpg
The Russians are different, Bunny.

Does Garnett's prose reflect the originals she's translated? The article linked to would suggest that she was familiar with the form of English prose that the Russian writers were heavily influenced by.
I'm wondering if my expectations of the Russian material are different to the reality. After reading about work elsewhere I'm now wondering if I expected it to be a lot darker than it actually was. So what I read as bowdlerisation or watering down could be a closer reflection.
In short does Garnett maintain the original feel of the Russian?

still there's a vivid goofiness to "shapify" -- the reader double-takes alongside stepan -- and without it the passage is staider. uglier no doubt but why would matvey speak with beauty, espesh when using the kind of florid neologism stepan would think was cool -- more importantly why would tolstoy of the omniscient+empathic prose style, post-war-and-peace, always and increasingly at inner ideological war w his own talent for/delight in beauty, want overridingly to write matvey's dialogue beautifully? it's still prettier in russian sure but you can't have everything.

no wai.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wy7SvZQfeBM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTO7WVxjz3A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knF5Nis1K3c

What is your favorite translation?
― Moti Bahat, Friday, March 24, 2006 1:05 PM (eleven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I hate you guys too.
― Moti Bahat, Monday, March 27, 2006 5:01 PM (eleven years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I got the Pevear and Volohosky. I was a bit underwhelmed by Middlemarch to tell the truth, so I hope I’ll enjoy this hella long novel. (The 700+ pager I read before that, “The Magic Mountain,” was, I thought, an incredible and transformative experience.

I feel like there's some sub-posting going on here...

Idgi. I just thought the first two posts were funny.

Sorry, bad joke. It's just that mordy revived the thread on War and Peace as well...

So you were sub-posting, like a sub-tweet. Get it? Get it?

Subtweets are veiled insults.

Yes

I like Mordy a lot, he’s one of the ilxors I talk to te most off board. I like Tolstoy too.