#constance garnett

[bookymcbookface]

Extract from “The Steppe”

[stephen9260]

Ok russian lit tumblr what's the general consensus on Constance Garnett translations because I only read Chekhov and in regards to his works she's generally considered to have done the best translations but apparently her Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy ones are from mediocre to terrible to downright making things up?? Is she actually mistranslating and changing tone from the original works?

[cherryfaerie2f9]

[miss-m-calling]

Erkel was a “little fool” who was only lacking in the higher form of reason, the ruling power of the intellect; but of the lesser, the subordinate reasoning faculties, he had plenty—even to the point of cunning. Fanatically, childishly devoted to “the cause” or rather in reality to Pyotr Verhovensky, he acted on the instructions given to him . . . A craving for active service was characteristic of this shallow, unreflecting nature, which was forever yearning to follow the lead of another man’s will, of course for the good of “the common” or “the great” cause. Not that that made any difference, for little fanatics like Erkel can never imagine serving a cause except by identifying it with the person who, to their minds, is the expression of it. The sensitive, affectionate and kind-hearted Erkel was perhaps the most callous of Shatov’s would-be murderers, and, though he had no personal spite against him, he would have been present at his murder without the quiver of an eyelid.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Devils a.k.a. The Possessed (translated by Constance Garnett)

[deadpoetsmusings]

Don't let us forget that the causes of human actions are usually immeasurably more complex and varied than our subsequent explanations of them.

Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot (trans. Constance Garnett)

[proceduralbob]

He walked down, for a long while avoiding looking at her as at the sun, but seeing her, as one does the sun, without looking.

Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (trans. Constance Garnett)

[muse-write]

While I’m on a classics kick, does anyone know of a good Crime and Punishment translation? I mentioned recently that I’m not feeling Constance Garnett’s edition. There’s something very…Russian…about the flow of the sentences that doesn’t quite flow in English. They’re very straightforward and literal. This may just be something that is unavoidable with how Dostoevsky writes, and I know I’ve heard that you don’t go to him for writing technique, you go for the themes, but is there a different translation you like?

Or maybe this is just a sign to improve my Russian and start diving into the original.

[macrolit]

I took a class specifically on Crime and Punishment at university and it was taught by a professor who was Russian and got her PhD with a dissertation on Dostoevsky. She raves over the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation and says it is the only translation of the book worth reading. It was what we read for the class and it was that translation that made me fall in love with Dostoevsky. Highly recommend P&V's translations.

Thank you, @ariseaurora. Everyone’s commentary on the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation makes me think I need to read it. I read the Constance Garnett translation about 15 years ago anyway, so it’s time for a re-read.