Eugene Onegin - Arion Press

CharlasFine Press Forum

Únete a LibraryThing para publicar.

Eugene Onegin - Arion Press

1jveezer
mayo 24, 2018, 10:44 pm

I just got the prospectus for the AP edition of Eugene Onegin and must say this one looks very good to me. Pushkin, Nabokov, and Brian Boyd seems like a winning combination. I like the layout of the page allowing a close reading of the Russian, the transliteration, and the translation line by line. Not sure about the illustration as that doesn't appear in the prospectus or on the website yet as stated in the prospectus. This one sounds like a winner. But unaffordable for me at $1650, so I can only hope to get to review it.

Also mentioned in the cover letter is that the next book is Exit Ghost signed by the author. I wonder if he already has said signatures in hand or...

2Rodomontade
mayo 25, 2018, 5:19 am

Wow, they're actually going with the Nabokov translation? Gutsy.

3dlphcoracl
Editado: mayo 26, 2018, 7:30 am

>1 jveezer:

I will take the opposite side of this review. I, too, received the prospectus and sample pages for Eugene Onegin and the page layout is anything but attractive. The pages are printed double column with the Nabokov translation (English) in one column facing the original Russian in the Cyrillic alphabet with English transliteration directly under each line of Cyrillic poetry. I suppose if one is fluent in the Russian language this is the Bee's Knees but, in reality, it is a thoroughly unreadable mess. I have absolutely no inclination toward reading Eugene Onegin in Cyrillic, a language and alphabet I have no affinity for and it is a waste of space and effort, making each page confusing and cumbersome to read. The Nabokov English translation is cramped into a tight column that is anything but a joy to peruse.

What has become clear from the past decade of Arion Press publications is that it is time for Andrew Hoyem to step aside and let someone with imagination, vision, and (most of all) TASTE - take over the reigns before he runs the Arion Press into the ground. A steady succession of terrible aesthetic and book design decisions have rendered the Arion Press subscriber model as untenable and the books are ungodly expensive on top of all this. To briefly review:

1. Bouvard and Pécuchet by Gustave Flaubert - a plotless, tedious read if ever there was one. This is the literary equivalent of letting your fingernails overgrow and then scratching them up and down a slate blackboard.

2. What the End is For - a selection of poetry from Jorie Graham. A book with a generous selection of poetry from an important contemporary American poet desecrated with a series of garish and irrelevant illustrations by Julian Lethbridge.

3. The Little of our Earthly Trust, poetry by Elizabeth Bishop. See #2 - and yours for the price of $1,200!

4. The Bridge by Hart Crane. A major 20th century poem presented in a fragile, unreadable scroll that is more bother than it is worth - all for the price of $2,500 ( a relative "bargain" for subscribers at $1,750.00). Frankly, they cannot give this pooch away at prices varying between $1,000 to $1,250 on eBay!!

I had been eagerly anticipating the Arion Press edition of 'Eugene Onegin' but after glancing at the sample page I shall take a pass on this as well, especially at the asking price of $1,650. What a shame! What a waste of time and effort!

4astropi
Editado: mayo 25, 2018, 3:40 pm

3: What has become clear from the past decade of Arion Press publications is that it is time for Andrew Hoyem to step aside and let someone with imagination, vision, and (most of all) TASTE - take over the reigns before he runs the Arion Press into the ground.

I have to agree, for the most part. I'm surprised that AP is still standing considering their books the past 8 or so years. I have to say, if you go to 2011 and earlier, you find some great books at arguably reasonable (still pricey of course being letterpress) prices:

The Sundial by Shirley Jackson - full price $500 - gorgeous illustrations...
http://www.thewholebookexperience.com/2011/07/26/the-sundial-by-shirley-jackson-...

South of Heaven by Jim Thompson - full price $500 - like The Sundial, one those books that goes under the radar and is truly worth the royal treatment
Note that the Arion Press website did very little to make the book look attractive - I don't have it, but I've seen it, it's a beautiful book
http://www.arionpress.com/catalog/090.htm

The last truly "great" production they had IMO was Leaves of Grass
http://www.arionpress.com/catalog/100.htm
Which sold out thanks in large part to the publicity they got. Regardless, even without the publicity, many noted it was just fabulous.

They have had other gorgeous books too, to be fair, but they're just not affordable to mortals. $500 for a book is expensive to 99% of the population of book lovers, but over $1000? yeah, it appears that Hoyem is appealing to the most wealthy and elite. New leadership would be good I think.

5Sorion
mayo 25, 2018, 4:34 pm

>3 dlphcoracl:

Largely I have to agree with you. I would take exception to The Little of our Earthly Trust as I love it. But I also understand I'm the exception and not the rule.

I see you saw me trying to sell my copy of the Bridge on eBay! It was so frustrating. What a waste of money.

I'd also add that Pedro Paramo was a fantastic publication worthy of the name Arion Press.

Having not seen the prospectus yet I'll withhold judgement and hold out hope.

6dlphcoracl
Editado: mayo 25, 2018, 6:32 pm

>5 Sorion:

I thoroughly agree regarding 'Pedro Paramo' and I purchased a copy. Unfortunately, Arion Press editions of this nature and quality have become the exception rather than the rule.

Unless you are fluent in Russian, I think you will have a similar reaction to the new edition of 'Eugene Onegin". In the two-page sample, Nabokov's English translation will be cramped into a single column occupying one half of the page and the dense Russian language version in Cyrillic with English transliteration underneath each line of poetry - one more useless than the other, as BOTH are unreadable and unpronounceable - seems to draw one's eye preferentially to it because the type is darker and denser. It is a needless distraction. Pity is, the Nabokov translation is poetic and splendid and it should have been permitted to flow across the page, surrounded by wide margins to permit it to breathe.

Regarding your edition of 'The Bridge' in the Chinese-torture scroll, good luck with that. I cannot imagine anyone other than a Fine Art museum or the Special Editions departments of university libraries being interested in adding it to their collections.

7opto4
mayo 25, 2018, 5:34 pm

I’ll add a show of support for South of Heaven. They did a terrific job with that one.

8jveezer
mayo 25, 2018, 7:50 pm

>3 dlphcoracl: Yeah, I get that it does a number on the layout of the page. But as a lover of language, I love seeing bi(tri)-lingual translations en face, even of languages that I don't know and don't envision ever becoming competent in. As a yoga teacher and student of the yoga sutra, I live in exactly this world everyday, with the sanskrit, the transliteration, and the translation side by side, moving from one to the other or interleaving them depending on my intent at a given time. So I'm probably more tolerant of the clutter. I would envision reading the translation through with little attention to the other column, then going back for a close reading and maybe adventuring across the column margin here and there.

It also sounds like this is what Nabokov wanted to see with his translation, so there is that as well.

That being said, not for $1650 for me either at this time. Beating the dead horse, this is were the subscription model breaks down, high prices for those who want to chose what they buy. High prices for the subscribers that only like a portion of the catalog, if you factor in the cost of the titles they wouldn't have bought a la carte. Debatedly OK prices for collectors, completists, and institutions that don't care so much about getting some titles they will never open or even like.

9sviswanathan
Editado: mayo 25, 2018, 8:43 pm

I saw the prospectus today, and as with >8 jveezer:, my understanding was that the layout was an attempt to match Nabokov's intent. I don't read Cyrillic, so it doesn't do anything for me, but I didn't find it distracting when reviewing the sample page.

10elladan0891
Editado: mayo 25, 2018, 11:46 pm

I started writing a post about Nabokov's Onegin in a different thread dealing with Arion Press, but put it on hold as I didn't have time to add quotes of the translations I wanted to. Now I think I will post it here. I will have to fix hyperlinks later as they refer to posts in the "Arion - The Bridge" thread:

> 2 Sorion: "but still very much looking forward to Eugene Onegin"
> 6 Sorion: "I've canceled my subscription"

Just want to say that I think the timing of your cancellation is spot on. Even if Arion's upcoming Onegin turns out to be a beautifully made book, it will still be unreadable - Nabokov's translation is a travesty. It's fascinating how a greater writer with such an excellent command of both languages could come up with translation so bad.

Nabokov was of an opinion that it's impossible to translate Pushkin well in a poetic form, so might as well give up on poetry and go for a literal translation. But the result is just puzzling. Incredibly ugly translation, and not even particularly faithful or nuanced in terms of meaning. Sometimes he translates simple common Russian words with rare/archaic/regional/fancy English words for no reason whatsoever - since he gave up on rhyming, meter, and stanza structure anyway; sometimes he simply picks wrong words as someone with poor knowledge of English would, and sometime he goes too literal, translating words individually, as if unaware that combined words don't mean the same in the other language, or that their order should be different, which reminds me of google translate. It's just hard to believe it's Nabokov.

Nabokov even lost friends because of this translation. Here is one example - a 1965 article criticizing Nabokov's translation in length. It's long and very detailed, I haven't read it all, but the portions I read I agree with.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1965/07/15/the-strange-case-of-pushkin-and-nabok...

I found that article only recently, an interestingly enough Wilson also had similar thoughts: "Such passages sound like the products of those computers which are supposed to translate Russian into English", which speaks both of the quality of some of Nabokov's passages, and of how the problem of computer translation of human languages hasn't improved much in over 50 years since 1965.

If you're interested in Eugene Onegin, I strongly recommend the 2012 Folio Society edition with excellent translation by James E Falen. Sure, it's not Private Press, but it's a very nice book, among better standard Folios, and most importantly it's very readable. Falen remained faithful to the original and did a poetic translation in iambic tetrameter and in the form of the Onegin stanzas as the original. It's swift, flows well, and sounds right to my ear. I'll let you judge for yourself. Here are the two translations of the opening stanza.

Nabokov:

My uncle has most honest principles:
when he was taken gravely ill,
he forced one to respect him
and nothing better could invent.
To others his example is a lesson;
but, good God, what a bore to sit
by a sick person day and night, not stirring
a step away!
What base perfidiousness
to entertain one half-alive,
adjust for him his pillows,
sadly serve him his medicine,
sigh — and think inwardly
when will the devil take you?

Now compare Nabokov's ugliness with James E Falen:

My uncle, man of firm convictions
By falling gravely ill, he's won
A due respect for his afflictions -
The only clever thing he's done.
May his example profit others;
But God, what deadly boredom, brothers,
To tend a sick man night and day,
Not daring once to steal away!
And, oh, how base to pamper grossly
And entertain the nearly dead,
To fluff his pillows for his head,
And pass him medicines morosely -
While thinking under every sigh:
The devil take you, Uncle. Die!

In my mind, if you pick Nabokov's translation for publishing either you want to make money on Nabokov's name or you're insane. I'm sure Folio's Eugene Onegin translated by Falen will be featured in the upcoming summer sale, so anyone interested in the work can pick it up soon for a tiny fraction of Arion's cost. Again, not private press, but so much better read it's not even funny.

11Sorion
mayo 26, 2018, 12:57 am

>6 dlphcoracl: Thankfully I was able to sell it. Or give it away. However you want to look at it.

>10 elladan0891: That is terrible. There really is no comparison. You do have to wonder if they are just trying to cash in on Nabakov’s name as you said.

12Rodomontade
Editado: mayo 26, 2018, 1:05 am

>10 elladan0891: Yes, that's why I was surprised above.

I also assume Arion is eschewing Nabokov's commentary, which is, for anyone who's read Pale Fire, fascinating in its (un)ironic(?) emulation of Charles Kinbote.

13MobyRichard
Editado: mayo 26, 2018, 1:29 am

>10 elladan0891:

Isn't that a bit extreme? Nabokov set out for a literal translation. The excerpt you quote sounds like a literal
translation, with all the oddity that goes with literal translations. I don't read Russian, so as far as I know either one could be more faithful to the original.

The second translation just sounds kitschy to me or like stock poetry and forced rhymes.

14gmacaree
mayo 26, 2018, 1:34 am

With Arion I keep thinking about subscribing but not going for it. There are too many misses and too many editions I'm not interested in, despite the fact that I have acquired (or hope to) 75% of the list called out in >3 dlphcoracl:!

15sviswanathan
Editado: mayo 26, 2018, 6:09 pm

>12 Rodomontade: It looks like the commentary will not be part of the Arion press printing, but will be included as part of the package: "Each copy of the Arion edition is accompanied by the two-volume Princeton University Press edition of Eugene Onegin that provides additional material and commentaries by Nabokov."

>10 elladan0891: Thank you for sharing that comparison. I was familiar with the Nabokov-Wilson feud, but reading the translated stanza, its hard not see Nabokov's famous arrogance shining through. I think that Wilson's point that I most appreciate is the uselessness of the transliteration of the Cyrillic sounds into Roman script, which Arion places under the Cyrillic lines as Nabokov seemingly wanted.

16Neil77
Jun 4, 2018, 3:47 pm

Sad to hear that AP fizzled out on this one as well. Would it be possible for someone to post some photographs of the book? AP has not posted any.

17Sorion
Jun 11, 2018, 2:39 pm

>16 Neil77: I'd just like to second this request. If anyone wanted to post their marketing materials for the book it would be greatly appreciated. I know I did not receive them and would love to see them.

18Sorion
Editado: Jun 23, 2018, 3:22 pm

Arion has released this into the wild. Unfortunately, and inexplicably, there are no pictures of it on the website. None! I have to say though I personally am not a fan of the “large” book. In this case it is 15x11. I frankly find them difficult to read. Visually stunning but not very pleasant to hold.

20Neil77
Jun 25, 2018, 10:30 am

>19 jdanielpowell:

Thanks a lot.

21Sorion
Jun 25, 2018, 5:28 pm

>19 jdanielpowell: Thanks for posting that! I think it looks interesting and look forward to getting a set of visuals on the full completed work.

22Sorion
Abr 15, 2019, 6:30 pm

So has anyone decided to purchase this? What are you opinions? I still can find nothing about it anywhere online and AP has still not provided much at all in the way of images.

23dlphcoracl
Abr 15, 2019, 6:35 pm

>22 Sorion:

FWIW, Chris Adamson (Books and Vines) remains an Arion Press subscriber and he purchased a copy of 'Eugene Onegin'. I have asked him about it and he loves it - it is one of his favorite Arion Press editions over the past two decades.

24LBShoreBook
Editado: Abr 28, 2021, 9:11 pm

Any chance someone has this book who would be interested in trading for AP's Sea of Cortez? I am a much bigger fan of Pushkin than Steinbeck and I like the cut of this book's jib. (EDIT: Sea of Cortez sold on ebay)

25LBShoreBook
Sep 15, 2022, 2:34 pm

Reviving an old thread to see if anyone has this title? I've been waffling for about 18 months and leaning toward finally buying but would love to hear from someone who owns it.

26grifgon
Sep 15, 2022, 3:02 pm

>25 LBShoreBook: I don't own it, but I've spend half an hour with it. As a huge collector and reader of Nabokov and Russian literature generally, the fact that I haven't acquired it having spent time with it basically sums up my opinion. It's a really lovely and editorially significant edition, but in my opinion it doesn't have that "private press magic dust" which makes me have to have it.

27L.Bloom
Editado: Sep 15, 2022, 3:20 pm

>25 LBShoreBook: Pro tip if you are planning on picking it up. In November AP will likely have a sale around thanksgiving time.

Edited to add that this is based on the fact that they had the sale last year. I'm unsure if it's every year or not. I plan on snagging Paradise Lost this year if they do have the sale.

28LBShoreBook
Sep 15, 2022, 3:22 pm

>26 grifgon:
>27 L.Bloom: Thanks both - Griffin, that is super helpful context. The Nabokov translation, transliteration and overall layout intrigue me but it's the "does the sum equal the parts" component that's hard to tell online. Thanks! and thanks L.Bloom - I am a former subscriber so definitely timing any purchase around that November date.

29grifgon
Sep 15, 2022, 3:25 pm

>28 LBShoreBook: As this is one of Arion's major releases, I'm sure it's held in tons of library / university special collections and can be visited in person! I spent my half hour with it at the New York Public Library.

30dlphcoracl
Sep 15, 2022, 5:04 pm

>25 LBShoreBook:

This is a very controversial Arion Press edition because of the Nabokov translation. Several people who are fluent in Russian (native Russians) strongly dislike Nabokov's translation (see >10 elladan0891:) and I thought the page layout was most unattractive (see >3 dlphcoracl:), with Nabokov's English translation rendered inconspicuous by all the other nonsense of the page.

31grifgon
Sep 15, 2022, 5:17 pm

>30 dlphcoracl: >25 LBShoreBook: A few years ago I read The Feud by Alex Beam, which recounts how Nabokov's translation led to the collapse of his closest friendship (with critic Edmund Wilson). Great read; highly recommended.

32MobyRichard
Editado: Sep 15, 2022, 8:13 pm

>30 dlphcoracl:

Yes but, have those native Russians mastered both English and French? Both of those languages are critical, as French had an overwhelming influence on Russian intellectuals of the time. Nabokov, needless to say, mastered all 3 of the required languages (+Russian obviously lol). I believe he also had the Latin too, also relevant. My main beef with the Arion edition is as always price...their books just aren't good deals.

33dmitrip
Sep 16, 2022, 7:48 am

I own a copy; I am also a native Russian speaker. I think the Arion press edition is great - I am not an expert, but I believe the complexity of the typesetting alone may be enough of a reason to get it.

Nabokov took Pushkin VERY seriously. The man also had very strong opinions on proper ways of translating Russian literature (his Lectures on Russian Literature is worth reading). He viewed Pushkin as a giant of Russian literature (much more so than himself; and he was not shy about having a high opinion of himself) - and wanted to be faithful to the melody as opposed to rhyme. I think the translation works well in that respect.

The book is well executed in all respects. As to price, that’s always a very subjective view, I happen to have no issues with it but of course others may well disagree. Hope this helps

34grifgon
Sep 16, 2022, 1:45 pm

>33 dmitrip: Hear, hear!

Nabokov's translation was/is widely reviled but it is not an unserious or thoughtless effort.

He had a long-standing dislike for the "old guard" of Russian-to-English translations. In Pnin, this is how he teases the tastelessness of American intellectuals:

in their parlour or stair-landing bookcases Hendrik Willem van Loon and Dr Cronin were inevitably present; they might be separated by a flock of magazines, or by some glazed and buxom historical romance, or even by Mrs Garnett impersonating somebody (and in such houses there would be sure to hang somewhere a Toulouse-Lautrec poster)

Mrs. Garnett impersonating somebody!

His translation was really at the cutting-edge of the movement toward fidelity in translation. Whether he succeeded or failed is another matter, but it's an important work because of the shift it represents. The most celebrated translators of Russian works today, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, seem more similar to Nabokov than Garnett.

The implication, posted earlier, that Arion chose the Nabokov translation simply to "cash in on the name" somewhat misses the point, I think. Is the Nabokov translation the most enjoyable read? Maybe not; but it's important nevertheless.

35grifgon
Sep 16, 2022, 1:49 pm

By the way, much of the criticism of Nabokov's translation comes down to the fact that it doesn't rhyme, and therefore can seem "lazy".

A quote from Milton's preface to Paradise Lost :

Rhime being no necessary Adjunct or true Ornament of Poem or good Verse, in longer Works especially, but the Invention of a barbarous Age, to set off wretched matter and lame Meeter; grac't indeed since by the use of some famous modern Poets, carried away by Custom, but much to thir own vexation, hindrance, and constraint to express many things otherwise, and for the most part worse then else they would have exprest them.

In other words, rhyme is a crutch for bad writing.

36Joshbooks1
Sep 16, 2022, 2:49 pm

I think it looks stunning and is in my list next to purchase after Exit Ghost and Sappho. It amazes me how some of their books, like Eugene Onegin and Paradise Lost, are not sold out whereas other fine press productions that are similar prices sell out within minutes to hours. Eye of the beholder I guess.

I also go back and forth with my Arion subscription and it will probably be the first subscription to cancel, however, I am holding on until the last 100 copies of Don Quixote are produced. I was pleasantly surprised with Woolgathering and am excited for Neruda.

I know this is the wrong thread and off topic but does anyone have Foolscap's Other Worlds: Journey to the Moon? It is expensive and looks interesting but was wondering if anyone owns it here and their impressions.

37abysswalker
Sep 16, 2022, 4:07 pm

>36 Joshbooks1: "It amazes me how some of their books, like Eugene Onegin and Paradise Lost, are not sold out"

I agree, and, further, I think that their Paradise Lost is one of the finest books I've seen.

It is, however, not a flashy production, so I can see how the quality might not be obvious if all one has seen are photos on the Internet.

38abysswalker
Sep 16, 2022, 4:21 pm

>35 grifgon: "rhyme is a crutch for bad writing"

I don't think Milton intends to criticize all rhyme here; I think he is specifically talking about the appropriate form for epic poems (following Homer and Virgil).

Many of his other poems do rhyme (sonnets, Il Penseroso, etc.).

Pushkin wrote Eugene Onegin in verse, so presumably that was important to his artistic project.

That said, there are many reasons why trying to maintain exact rhyme scheme between languages leads to problems. What sounds great in Dante's Italian can come across as singsong in English, for example. I don't speak Russian at all, so I don't know if the same kind of concern might be operative here.

But there are definitely multiple schools in terms of contemporary translation, and I at least wouldn't characterize the Pevear & V approach as the dominant one.

39grifgon
Editado: Sep 16, 2022, 4:57 pm

>38 abysswalker: Yes, that's glib; rather "can be" than "is". And Milton wrote the preface anticipating the sort of criticism Nabokov might get.

Your point about rhyming being a matter of sensibility across languages is spot on. And not just in what sounds good or bad, but what actually sounds like a rhyme. As an anecdote, my partner, a native Italian and Russian, has a very different sense of what rhymes than I do. She'd say "Gryffindor" and "Dumbledore" rhyme, while I say they don't.

Dante's terza rima is famously controversial to translate, because of the soft rhyming versus hard rhyming of Italian versus English. A professor of mine had two English translations memorized, one rhyming and one not, and it was really wonderful to hear him recite them side by side whenever a passage was under discussion.

P&V: Not dominant, but surely most celebrated at the moment. And controversial. My editor calls them "unreadable"!

40Glacierman
Editado: Sep 16, 2022, 5:48 pm

>39 grifgon: And as we both know, translating from one language to another isn't easy. I've done both Russian and Spanish into English. Interesting exercise.

41dlphcoracl
Sep 16, 2022, 5:52 pm

>39 grifgon:

Pevear & Volokhonsky translations are VERY controversial and I am not a fan. Following their initial Russian of The Brothers Karamazov in 1990, critics and book reviewers spent the next two decades tripping over themselves to run and praise their work, with virtually no dissenting opinions. However, after two decades, several critics stepped back and realized the emperor had no clothes. Although their translations may be the most accurate, what is reassembled in the English is clunky, convoluted, and at times unreadable.

I experienced this with a recent reread of Crime and Punishment, starting with the P & V translation. I would read a long paragraph, pause, and say to myself: "WTF?" I would carefully reread the paragraph and fare little better. This happened repeatedly throughout the novel. I then read it in the tried and true, if much less accurate and Victorian-style prose of Constance Garnett and is was as if a veil had been lifted from my brain. It read beautifully, albeit not in precise Russian meaning and metric, but certainly conveyed what Dostoevsky was saying.

Incidentally, this is not a blanket condemnation. The P & V translations may be far more successful in another work than it was for me in Crime and Punishment. I had the same unpleasant reading experience in the P&V translation of Notes from Underground but found their translation of The Brothers Karamazov far more successful.

Bottom line: If you begin reading a P & V translation and you are constantly puzzling over the plot, action, and Dostoevsky's thoughts, it is not you. Put the book down and try another translation.

P.S. I always find the Aylmer and Louise Maude translations of Leo Tolstoy far superior to the P & V translation, so much so that I no longer bother with the P & V.

42grifgon
Sep 16, 2022, 6:02 pm

>41 dlphcoracl: The Maudes are also my preferred translators in general!

43grifgon
Editado: Sep 16, 2022, 6:31 pm

One trend which I'd like to see more of is leaving difficult-to-translate words untranslated and allowing the reader to learn via context their meaning. For example, I recently read Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet wherein Stefano (a main character) is described over and over again as a "grocer". In the original Italian, he's a "salumiere" (a purveyor of salami). The images these words bring to mind are totally different; better to leave it untranslated than to grasp for an iffy English stand-in.

44Joshbooks1
Sep 16, 2022, 8:48 pm

>41 dlphcoracl: I find it always so fascinating with translations. I love Russian literature and prefer the Pevear & Volokhonsky translations, especially Dostoevsky, than any others. The translations of Dostoevsky's dark rambling thoughts of his characters are remarkable in their renditioning and encapsulates either their agonizing moral suffering or enlightenment better than anyone else. I've reread all of his works (with the exception of The Adolescent) and always go back to Pevear & Volokhonsky. I found their Tolstoy translations to be average to above average. If I ever reread War and Peace, which is doubtful for I didn't particularity care for it, maybe I'll go to the Maude translation which I have read parts in the Everyman's Library edition and enjoyed it.

Year ago when trying to tackle Proust I waited patiently for the new revised Penguin translation(s) only to go back to Scott Moncrieff after Swann's Way because I found his translation far superior.

I find translations similar to classical music performers. Listening to Beethoven's piano sonatas I keep going back to Claudio Arrau whom I find plays each piece masterfully and have stopped listening to anyone else. Like translations, certain individuals speak to you more than others. It's all subjective and one is not necessarily better or worse, just what is most enjoyable or rewarding for you.

45dlphcoracl
Editado: Sep 17, 2022, 7:33 am

>44 Joshbooks1:

Entirely true.

Selecting the proper translation to read is a highly individual matter, as it should be. The correct translation is akin to Justice Potter Stewart's description of what pornography is:

"I know it when I see it."

Similarly, when you begin reading a translation that is the correct one for you and the work of literature you are reading: "You'll know it when you begin reading it." Interestingly, no one particular translator is a first choice for every major work of Russian literature. Although I avoid P & V for the most part, their translation of the Brothers Karamazov was especially effective for me.

Incidentally, I find Claudio Arrau's performances of Beethoven difficult to listen to. His slow, measured tempos and emphasis on putting the precise weight, i.e., finger pressure, on nearly every note sucks the vitality and passion out of the Beethoven sonatas. Although there are numerous pianists who have recorded the entire cycle of Beethoven sonatas, all of them have high and low points. The original recording of the entire Beethoven cycle by Artur Schnabel, despite the occasional wrong note(s) and badly dated recorded sound from the 1930's, consistently gets to the heart of the matter and, for me, the best of the modern cycles is from Stephen Kovacevich (formerly Stephen Bishop). Two of the real treasures amongst recordings of individual Beethoven sonatas:

1. Sonata No. 29 'Hammerklavier' by Emil Gilels on Deutsche Gramophon (DGG)

2. Sonatas 27 - 32 (the late sonatas), a 2-CD set by Solomon on EMI Classics. The great British pianist Solomon played nearly everything with impeccable taste and this recording is justifiably famous. Trust the dlphcoracl on this one.

46originaux
Sep 17, 2022, 1:56 am

I got the Wilhelm Kempff set on LP's on my fifteenth birthday, and still, his recordings are those that I listen most often to, now with superior Qobuz sound.

"An old friend", just like Rubinstein's Chopin and Lazar Berman's Rachmaninoff 3'rd...