Since I have been steadily reading Effi Briest for the past few days and it is on my mind, I thought I'd take a look at a few translations. I do like the edition I am reading, but the translator's introduction to the book did make me think about what I am missing out on. I feel as though I am not reading as closely as I could be, but as this is a first read (and I think this is a book that could be read again and again and always new insight gained), I think I am only skimming the surface. I am sure I am missing out on all sorts of nuances and subtleties of language and culture. I wonder if I should stop and read the introduction now rather than wait until the end (and I think I already know how the story will end, just not the details). Will I get more out of the story knowing something extra in advance or filling it all in after the fact? While I ponder this question, there is the problem with trying to convey the original meaning in another language.
Project Gutenberg offers the book for free online, but in German. The novels begins:
"In Front des schon seit Kurfürst Georg Wilhelm von der Familie von Briest bewohnten Herrenhauses zu Hohen-Cremmen fiel heller Sonnenschein auf die mittagsstille Dorfstraße, während nach der Park- und Gartenseite hin ein rechtwinklig angebauter Seitenflügel einen breiten Schatten erst auf einen weiß und grün quadrierten Fliesengang und dann über diesen hinaus auf ein großes, in seiner Mitte mit einer Sonnenuhr und an seinem Rande mit Canna indica und Rhabarberstauden besetzten Rondell warf. Einige zwanzig Schritte weiter, in Richtung und Lage genau dem Seitenflügel entsprechend, lief eine ganz in kleinblättrigem Efeu stehende, nur an einer Stelle von einer kleinen weißgestrichenen Eisentür unterbrochene Kirchhofsmauer, hinter der der Hohen-Cremmener Schindelturm mit seinem blitzenden, weil neuerdings erst wieder vergoldeten Wetterhahn aufragte. Fronthaus, Seitenflügel und Kirchhofsmauer bildeten ein einen kleinen Ziergarten umschließendes Hufeisen, an dessen offener Seite man eines Teiches mit Wassersteg und angekettetem Boot und dicht daneben einer Schaukel gewahr wurde, deren horizontal gelegtes Brett zu Häupten und Füßen an je zwei Stricken hing - die Pfosten der Balkenlage schon etwas schief stehend. Zwischen Teich und Rondell aber und die Schaukel halb versteckend standen ein paar mächtige alte Platanen."
And here is what I am reading in my edition, a new translation by Hugh Rorrison and Helen Chambers from Penguin in 1995:
"To the front of Hohen-Cremmen, country seat of the von Briest family since the time of Elector Georg Wilhelm, bright sunshine fell on the midday silence in the village street, while on the side facing the park and gardens a wing built on at right angles cast its broad shadow first on a white and green flagstone path, then out over a large roundel of flowers with a sundial at its centre and a border of canna lilies and rhubarb round the edge. Some twenty paces further on, corresponding exactly in line and length to the new wing and broken only by a single white-painted iron gate, was a churchyard wall entirely covered in small-leaved ivy, behind which rose Hohen-Cremmen's shingled tower, its weather-cock glittering from recent regilding. Main house, wing and churchyard wall formed a horseshoe, enclosing a small ornamental garden at whose open end a pond and jetty with a moored boat could be seen, and close by a swing, its horizontal seat-board hanging at head and foot on two ropes from posts that were slightly out of true. Between the roundel and the pond, partially concealing the swing, stood some mighty plane trees."
My library owns an earlier Penguin edition from 1967, translated by Douglas Parmée:
"In front of the von Briest's house in Hohen-Cremmen--their family house since the reign of the Elector George William--the village street lay bathed in the glare of the midday sun, whilst towards the park and gardens, a side-wing, built on at right angles, cast a broad shadow, first on a white and green flagged path and, beyond, on a large round flower-bed with a sundial in the middle and cannas and rhubarb growing at its edge. A dozen yards further on, exactly symmetrical with the wing, ran a churchyard wall with small-leafed ivy growing along its whole length except it was pierced by a small, white-painted iron gate; beyond the wall rose the tall tower of Hohen-Cremmen, with its shingle roof and its glittering, recently regilded weather-cock."
And if you dig far enough you can find Effi Briest in English in a collection of German Classics from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries on Project Gutenberg. The edition is from 1914 and the translator is William Cooper.
"In front of the old manor house occupied by the von Briest family since the days of Elector George William, the bright sunshine was pouring down upon the village road, at the quiet hour of noon. The wing of the mansion looking toward the garden and park cast its broad shadow over a white and green checkered tile walk and extended out over a large round bed, with a sundial in its centre and a border of Indian shot and rhubarb. Some twenty paces further, and parallel to the wing of the house, there ran a churchyard wall, entirely covered with a small-leaved ivy, except at the place where an opening had been made for a little white iron gate. Behind this arose the shingled tower of Hohen-Cremmen, whose weather vane glistened in the sunshine, having only recently been regilded. The front of the house, the wing, and the churchyard wall formed, so to speak, a horseshoe, inclosing a small ornamental garden, at the open side of which was seen a pond, with a small footbridge and a tied-up boat. Close by was a swing, with its crossboard hanging from two ropes at either end, and its frame posts beginning to lean to one side. Between the pond and the circular bed stood a clump of giant plane trees, half hiding the swing."
It's interesting looking at the different translation side by side. The first (my edition) seems almost formal in comparison with the other two. The two Penguin translations are by British academics and the latter translation by an American translator from Stanford University. The second seems somewhat pared down compared to the other two. I'm not sure which is most faithful to the original, or more importantly which one conveys the truest sense of the story. All three seem very readable.
By the way, I was incorrect yesterday in telling you Effi Briest is out of print. I'm not sure why it is listed as such in Amazon, but B&N has copies of my edition of the book in stock.