NP-Proust

[Paul Mackin]

On 9/23/2012 9:43 PM, Mark Sacha wrote:
> Shelled out for a revised Enright translation recently... not having 
> done any research beforehand, and possibly lazily assuming the Modern 
> Library edition would be sufficient. Hope I won't be missing anything.

That's the one i used last time through.  Important revisions including 
relocating some material from one book to another.  Also a better 
translation of the title had been adopted.

P
>
> On Sun, Sep 23, 2012 at 9:09 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com 
> <mailto:fqmorris at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     Wow, Bekah, Proust I've not read past two pages.  Slow, no? Maybe
>     Western Zen? I wouldn't know...
>     But I doN't want to sound like a redneck!
>
>
>     On Sunday, September 23, 2012, Bekah wrote:
>
>         I'm not sure it matters -   I've read the volumes in different
>         translations (LOL!)
>
>         The reason is that I already had Swann's Way on the shelf in
>         the old Scott Montcrieff translation but when I went to get
>         the next three they were available in the new Penguin
>         translations by James Grieve,  Mark Trehane,  John Sturrock.
>          But the last 2 volumes had not been translated for that
>         series so I went back to the Scott Montrcrieff.
>
>         **** THIS IS A REVIEW BY AN AMAZON READER **** (but I agree
>         with it):
>
>         Just as a general note with Proust translations, compare them
>         in a bookstore before you buy any of them.
>
>         There is the original C.K. Scott Moncrieff translation, which
>         is beautiful, though based on a flawed edition put together
>         shortly after Proust's death (especially the later books in
>         the set).
>
>         Then there is Terrence Kilmartin's revision, which is based on
>         a much better French edition. You can still find editions of
>         this used, and occasionally new as well. I prefer this one, as
>         Kilmartin didn't change most of the truly beautiful language
>         that Moncrieff rendered except in a few places to clarify
>         confusing sentences.
>
>         D.J. Enright, who worked with Kilmartin, made further
>         revisions after the latter's death, whose work (so he says)
>         was incomplete. His reworking is based on yet an even newer
>         edition of the French text, though with fewer changes than the
>         previous French edition had from the original. I feel that
>         Enright modernized the language too much. He claims French
>         hasn't changed much as a language compared to English since
>         the early 20th Century, so to approximate how it would read to
>         a French person today, it needs to be put into more
>         comtemporary language. I don't care for it personally.
>
>         I've read some of these other, altogether new translations,
>         which is a good effort considering the potential for
>         incoherence you might have reading a revision of a revision of
>         a translation (whew!). They're not bad, but nowhere near as
>         much of a "new standard" as, say, the Pevear-Volokhonsky
>         translations of Dostoevsky, which give the reader a clearer
>         original while still using beautiful and idiomatic English.
>
>         But back to Proust. Decide for yourself! Compare an old
>         version of Moncrieff's translation to his revisors, and then
>         check out these new ones published by Penguin.
>
>         And better yet, if you understand French at all, look at a
>         French copy and just absorb the rhythm, the flow of the words,
>         and find a translation that feels the same.
>
>         I can't tell you how many times I've spoken to people who
>         hated foreign books in translation, only to find out they read
>         a translation that reads like a textbook and not like
>         something that was meant to be enjoyed!!
>
>         **********************************
>
>         Me again:
>
>         Bottom line, imo  -  if you're a new reader and not used to
>         the old Montcrieff or Enright or something,  go with the newer
>         Penguin Classics translations (2005).  If you've already
>         started one of the old translations,  try the new version and
>         see how you like it -  if not - go with what you like.
>
>         Try them out in some bookstore or sample you find online.
>
>         The Penguin translations are NOT done by the same person all
>         the way through.  This means they're not all smooth like the
>         Moncrieff/Kilmartin/ Enright ones. Each book reads a bit
>         differently, style-wise.
>
>         Bekah
>
>
>
>         On Sep 23, 2012, at 12:24 AM, Rich Clavey <antizoyd at yahoo.com>
>         wrote:
>
>         > Any opinions as to which English translation of Proust to read?
>         > Thanks
>         > rich
>         >
>         > http://www.macclaveyphotography.com/
>
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://waste.org/pipermail/pynchon-l/attachments/20120924/0b1d66ae/attachment.html>