Do you think it matters which translation of a foreign novel you read? Honestly I hadn't thought of this aspect of reading Tolstoy's War and Peace or any other novel translated into English for that matter. I was all set to dig into my Modern Library edition when I started reading this post and particularly this post! The translator for the ML edition is Constance Garnett, and apparently (quoting Amanda A. from her post--who read this in The New Yorker):
"Garnett translated over 70 volumes of Russian literature. She translated with rapidity and is known to have skipped words she was unfamiliar with and to also have grammatical and idiomatic errors and, at times, her writing would be unsmooth and lack polish. Nabokov was said to have loathed Garnett’s translations. In the article, Nabokov is quoted as calling Garnett’s Anna Karenina 'a complete disaster' and he also states that Americans were turned off by the Great Russian novels because they were 'reading Constance Garnett' rather than Tolstoy or Chekov."
Eeek. Now what do I do? My library has two other editions--translated by Rosemary Edmonds and Louise and Aylmer Maude. A new translation by Anthony Briggs was published last year. It is a pricey hardcover, and as I recently placed a couple of book orders there is no way I can afford this right now--despite all the five star reviews that Amazon readers have given it. It is coming out in the fall in paper, but of course I am ready to read this now. I guess it might boil down to getting a feel for how each version reads:
Garnett:
"Well, Prince, Genoa and Lucca are now no more than private estates of the Bonaparte family. No, I warn you, that if you do not tell me we are at war, if you again allow yourself to palliate all the infamies and atrocities of this Antichrist (upon my word, I believe he is) I don't know you in the future, you are no longer my friend, no longer my faithful slave, as you say. There, how do you do, how do you do? I see I am scaring you, sit down and talk to me."
Edmonds:
"Eh Bien, mon prince, so Genoa and Lucca are now no more than private estates of the Bonaparte family. No, I warn you--if you are not telling me that this means war, if you again allow yourself to condone all the infamies and atrocities perpetrated by the Antichrist (upon my word I believe he is the Antichrist), I don't know you in future. You will no longer be a friend of mine, or my 'faithful slave', as you call yourself! But how do you do, how do you do? I see I'm scaring you. Sit down and talk to me."
Maude:
"Well, Prince, so Genoa and Lucca are now just family estates of the
Buonapartes. But I warn you, if you don't tell me that this means war,
if you still try to defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by
that Antichrist--I really believe he is Antichrist--I will have
nothing more to do with you and you are no longer my friend, no longer
my 'faithful slave,' as you call yourself! But how do you do? I see
I have frightened you--sit down and tell me all the news."
And even though I can't afford it...Briggs:
"Well, Prince, Genoa and Lucca are now nothing more than estates taken over by the Buonaparte family. No, I give you fair warning. If you won't say this means war, if you will allow yourself to condone all the ghastly atrocities perpetrated by that Antichrist - yes, that's what I think he is - I shall disown you. You're no friend of mine - not the "faithful slave" you claim to be... . But how are you? How are you keeping? I can see I'm intimidating you. Do sit down and talk to me."
Essentially they all say the same thing--it is just a matter of word choice. Some choices might just be a bit more clunky than others. I am leaning towards the Maude translation (though I also really like the way the Briggs reads), but I will have to see what translation others in the group are reading. There are other translations as well--but the first three I quoted are the easiest for me to get my hands on. Now every time I choose to read a foreign author I will be worried about which translation to choose...