NP-Proust

Tue Sep 25 09:51:05 CDT 2012

On 9/24/2012 2:26 PM, Paul Mackin wrote:
> On 9/24/2012 12:19 PM, Phillip Greenlief wrote:
>> the modern library edition was the one i read (and thoroughly enjoyed).
>>
>> it's a marvellous structure - populated with more and more thoughts 
>> that open like a chinese box. one thing leads miraculously to 
>> another. that whole opening sequence in the overature is a glimpse of 
>> what is to come - have re-read that passage numerous times. so good. 
>> can't say which volume i liked best ... within a budding grove, or 
>> maybe the past regained ... such beautiful prose - thorny innits own 
>> right, but almost sensuous prose ... the writing itself, not the 
>> subject, although there is obviously a great deal of deconstructing 
>> desire going on.
>>
>> i've always thought of reading it again and read some good things 
>> about that new translation that came out 2-3 years ago ... can't 
>> remember the name of the translator.
>
> There was a different one for each book.

Here's maybe a better answer:

Yale University Press also will publish a new version of C.K. Scott 
Moncrieff's classic translation of Swann's Way, which Carter is updating 
and annotating. Yale plans to publish a volume a year until the entire 
novel is published in updated form.

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2012/09/uab_professor_gearing_up_for_a.html

>
> P
>>
>> it took over a year to get through it ... in comparison, it took two 
>> years to read finnegans wake the first time i read that ... i've read 
>> a few more times, which took far less time in successive readings.
>>
>> sent from phillip's iPhone
>>
>> On Sep 24, 2012, at 8:03 AM, Paul Mackin <mackin.paul at verizon.net 
>> <mailto:mackin.paul at verizon.net>> wrote:
>>
>>> 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 <mailto:antizoyd at yahoo.com>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>         > Any opinions as to which English translation of Proust to
>>>>         read?
>>>>         > Thanks
>>>>         > rich
>>>>         >
>>>>         > http://www.macclaveyphotography.com/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>

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