Constance garnett is no longer considered the best translator of dostoevsky. Even slavic scholars love and enjoy their translations of tolstoy and dostoevsky. It happens in almost every paragraph of garnett s russian translations. Constance garnetts translations are the only ones i have read, so i cannot compare. I prefer the graceful, more smoothedout written english, but some readers might enjoy the. In defense of pevear and volokhonsky john pistelli.
The pevearsion of russian literature northwestern scholars. Fyodor dostoyevsky is a titanic figure among the worlds great authors, and the brothers karamazov is often hailed as his finest novel. She goes to great length to pretty up the rather rough and bumpy language of the original. I highly recommend constance garnett s translation. C this article has been rated as cclass on the projects quality scale. The two new translations bring the number of published englishlanguage versions to at least nine or 10, if one considers the fact that constance garnett s translation was significantly. New translations of tolstoys anna karenina the new.
Choosing the best karamazov translation for you a corn. Im reading the pevear and volokhonsky version right now after reading half of the constance garnett version via gutenberg. Surprisingly, these translations, far from being rejected by the critical establishment, have been embraced by it and have all but replaced garnett, maude, and other of the older translations. The original translation into english seems to be constance garnetts. One of these partisans is the brilliant critic janet malcolm.
Students once encountered the great russian writers as rendered by the magnificent constance garnett, a victorian who taught herself the language and then proceeded to introduce almost the entire corpus of russian literature to the english language over the space of 40 years, from the 1890s to the 1930s. I really want to read anna karenina but i have seen a lot of debate about the pevear volokhonsky translation vs. This example goes a long way toward demonstrating my quibble with the pevear volokhonsky version, and my guilty preference for the rosemary edmonds translation over both this new edition and constance garnett s prior effort. Their word choice and phrasing were often the most musical and inventive. Its message is that the only fundamental obligation of man is to be in tune with life. There are no translation machines that can get us much closer to the novel than constance garnett did. Constance garnett, the great russian classics, and the problem of. Help us create the kind of literary community youve always dreamed of.
Louise and aylmer maude were not only translators but also wrote a biography of tolstoy, who was their friend. Pevear in particular is very much a fan of constance garnett. Constance garnetts translation the revised version. The englishspeaking world owes constance garnett a great debt for producing a translation of anna karenina which has stood the test of time and set a high benchmark for future versions. Richard pevear and larissa volokhonsky, the art of. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. Much of the book reads smoothly, though too often with that veneer of translatorese that seems to overlie russian texts more than any other. Garnett s translation of war and peace is in the public domain, so its the version youll probably get if you download a free copy. The best translation of the brothers karamazov imho was made by constance clara garnett from cambridge. Done with tolstoy national endowment for the humanities.
Contrasting particular lines by pevear and volokhonsky with those by the longesteemed constance garnett or tolstoys acquaintances aylmer and. Crime and punishment unabridged garnett translation. Constance garnett and louise and aylmer maude solve it with the women washed what had been the prince. Katzs version sometimes seems to slip into constance garnett like fustiness, as when, for instance, raskolnikov calls svidrigaylov a crude villain. Macandrew 1970 julius katzer 1980, as the karamazov brothers richard pevear and larissa volokhonsky 1990 david mcduff 1993 ignat avsey 1994, as the karamazov brothers susan mcreynolds oddo 2011, revision of garnett. The two popular translations of crime and punishment before the 1993 translation by richard pevear and larissa volokhonsky, were by constance garnett and david mcduff. Ive researched karamazov translations extensively and have to conclude that each translation has flaws, no translation is perfect, and people favor different translations for different reasons.
When i first tried, as a teenager, to read anna karenina and crime and punishment, i began with constance garnetts versions and in both. This book has many english translations, and i have gone back and forth between them before ending in the oxford worlds classics version. The brothers karamazov by fyodor dostoevsky, richard. But with constance garnett it becomes a safe bland script. Raskolnikov says the darndest things the new york times. Garnett has injected an emotionally laden term for the neutral term that tolstoy used. I dont think its necessarily the one you should read its neither easytoread nor precise but it does have an interesting backstory garnett was largely a selftaught translator and lacked a lot of the. Pevear tends to treat everything as marked, and thus he produces translations that suggest misleadingly that the original author wrote in a surprisingly overexcited, semantically overloaded, rough, bumpy, curious idiom, an idiom that somehow went unnoticed or was concealed, smoothed into blandness, domesticated by all. A previous article on the open mic contrasted constance garnett, who in the early 20 th century translated great russian authors into english, with the translation team of larissa volokhonsky and richard pevear, who in the 1990s again translated into english several russian classics, starting with dostoevskys the brothers karamazov volokhonsky and pevear felt that dostoevskys humor as. Pv, as they would come to be known in the academic journals, went to work on.
I still think their translation of anna karenina beats anything else out on the market today. Pevear has promoted his and larissa volokhonskys wooden translation of war and peace by claiming that it offers an exquisite rendering of tolstoys own tin ear. Pevear and volokhonskys translations have been lauded for restoring the. This article is within the scope of wikiproject biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize wikipedia s articles about people. Alexey fyodorovitch karamazov was the third son of fyodor pavlovitch karamazov, a land owner well known in our district in his own day, and still remembered among us owing to his gloomy and tragic death, which happened thirteen years ago, and which i shall describe in its proper place. Goodreads forum topic discussing best english translations. The brothers karamazov which translation is the best. The brothers karamazov audiobook by fyodor dostoevsky. The brothers karamazov translated from the russian of fyodor dostoyevsky by constance garnett the lowell press new york. She explains that english and american readers have until recent yearslargely depended on two translations, one by the englishwoman constance garnett and the other by. I had wanted to read paperback rather than ebook, so i bought the pv translation because of its reputation and started the book over.
Anyone reading a paragraph of garnett s anna karenina might find it more enjoyable than the pv version of the same. Choosing the best karamazov translation for you a corn of wheat. Crime and punishment by fyodor dostoyevsky, constance. Commentary on the genesis, language, and style of dostoevskys novel by victor terras oct 26, 2002 the brothers karamazov annotated by fyodor dostoevsky and constance garnett sep 17, 2014 the brothers karamazov everymans library by fyodor dostoevsky, richard pevear and larissa volokhonsky apr 28, 1992. When you go to a bookstore to buy a work by tolstoy, dostoevsky, gogol, or chekhov, most of what you find is in translation by pevear and volokhonsky. The path taken to find the right translation for war and peace has been a winding one. Husband and wife, each having worked independently as translators, initially joined forces in order to better emphasize the overlooked irony in dostoyevskys the brothers karamazov. Winner of the penbookofthemonth club translation prize. Constance garnett didnt understand that he was funny. The choice can be difficult, and the new yorker offers an interesting look at garnett vs. I recently shared the reasons why i enjoyed the anthony briggs translation of war and peace more than the popular pevear and volokhonsky however, there were a few points i decided to leave for another post, including.
And this english version of crime and punishment really is better than, say, david magarshacks excellent penguin, or constance garnett s old. Notes from underground by fyodor dostoevsky forget constance garnett the pevear volokhonsky translation makes the most cryptic of existential cult. The project gutenberg ebook of the brothers karamazov by. What is the best translation of the brothers karamasov. The quiet rebels of russian translation literary hub. The brothers karamazov by fyodor dostoevsky is a true masterpiece, and i reread it regularly. What is the best translation of the brothers karamazov. Richard pevear and larissa volokhonskys new translation of the brothers karamazov is now regarded by most critics to be definitive as it does not try to mask dostoyevskys. The translator rosemary edmonds wrote, war and peace is a hymn to life. Constance garnett has certainly fallen out of fashion in academic circles the translation is very liberal and often leaves out passages that were difficult or awkward. She was a brilliant russianist with an extraordinary talent to understand and convey the essence of the writers soul. The brothers karamazov which translation is the best translation. The first pevear volokhonsky collaboration was conceived as a way of addressing a commonly cited critique of garnett and her successors. If youre interested in an evaluation of the edmonds translation vs pevear volokhonsky, i recommend looking up an article by liesl.
As an experiment, a lark, pevear and volokhonsky decided to collaborate on their own karamazov. The answer i most often find to this question is pevear and volokhonsky. Rosamund bartletts new translation of leo tolstoys anna karenina is a pleasing read in english, but lacks the unique style of tolstoys russian. Pevear volokhonsky is indeed widely respected, but the issue that i find with pv translations is that they make tolstoy, dostoyevsky, gogol, etc. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation. Crime and punishment bythe two popular translations of crime and punishment before the 1993 translation by richard pevear and larissa volokhonsky, were by. The brothers karamasov is a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, and an exploration of erotic rivalry in a series of triangular love affairs involving the wicked and sentimental fyodor pavlovich karamazov and his three sons. This translation boasts of winning the penbookofthemonth club translation prize. Constance garnett 1912 alexandra kropotkin 1949, revision of garnett translation.
Constance garnett s rendering early in this century was the simplest of all. Karamazov meaning and origin of the name karamazov. Crime and punishment by fyodor dostoyevsky part2 youtube. Constance garnett was satisfied to mention that the colonel was speaking with a german accent. Anna karenina which english translation of anna karenina. The pevear volokhonsky translation became my favourite until oliver readys translation came along. Student once encountered the great russian writers as rendered by the magnificent constance garnett, a victorian who taught herself the language and then proceeded to introduce almost the entire corpus of russian literature to the english language over the space of 40 years, from the 1890s to the 1930s. A masterpiece on many levels, it transcends the boundaries of a gripping murder mystery to become a moving account of the battle between love and hate, faith and despair, compassion and cruelty, good and evil. Pevear and volokhonsky are famous for reinventing dostoyevskys. I wanted to know in your opinion what you think is best. I also read it in english since many of the major dostoyevsky commentators and scholars write in english. To compare the garnett and the pevear volokhonsky translations of the brothers karamazov is to alight on hundreds of subtle differences. She did also a great job with chekhov, tolstoy and many others laureate russians authors as well.
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