Best Spanish and French translations of Tolstoy?

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Best Spanish and French translations of Tolstoy?

Postby sfuqua » Sun Jan 17, 2016 4:42 am

What do people think are the best Spanish translations of Tolstoy? What about French?

I've seen a dreadful abridged version of War and Peace, and I'd hate to waste my money on something like that.
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Re: Best Spanish and French translations of Tolstoy?

Postby reineke » Sun Jan 17, 2016 5:44 am

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Re: Best Spanish and French translations of Tolstoy?

Postby reineke » Sun Jan 31, 2016 3:11 am

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Re: Best Spanish and French translations of Tolstoy?

Postby iguanamon » Sun Jan 31, 2016 1:22 pm

Here's what one of the people involved in the most recent translation of War and Peace into Spanish has to say about the older translations in El Cultural
El Cultural wrote:Por qué una nueva traducción de Guerra y paz
Son múltiples y sustanciales las correcciones que hemos hecho en la nueva versión de Guerra y Paz. Para no hablar de los términos, frases y hasta párrafos lisa y llanamente desaparecidos. Ni de los contrasentidos, ni de los títulos alterados sin justificación

My translation:
Why a new translation of War and Peace
There are multiple and substantial corrections we've made in the new version of War and Peace. Not to mention the words, phrases and even outright paragraphs, plainly missing- nor the contradictions, nor the titles altered without justification.


I don't want to have to translate the whole article but if you want to read more, click on the link. Here's another link to an article describing the most recent translation of War and Peace and two other Tolstoi works- Esplendor de León Tolstói- El País. There's another confirming article from La Vanguardia- ¿Por qué el autor de ¿Guerra y paz¿ sigue conquistando el corazón de sus lectores?. So, the answer in Spanish, seems to be: Lydia Kúper-Taller de Mario Muchnik.

By the way, you may not have seen my post about Evertype Press' transl;ations of The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland. There's a recent, modern, translation in Samoan with an intro by the translator: ʻO Tāfaoga a ʻĀlise i le Nuʻu o Mea Ofoofogia.
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Re: Best Spanish and French translations of Tolstoy?

Postby James29 » Sun Jan 31, 2016 2:48 pm

This is a tough subject... how to find a good translation. I've been looking for the best translation of Les Miserables (into Spanish), but I just don't know how to find a good one. It seems like relying on Amazon reviews really is not a great idea.
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Re: Best Spanish and French translations of Tolstoy?

Postby MorkTheFiddle » Sun Jan 31, 2016 9:07 pm

sfuqua wrote:What do people think are the best Spanish translations of Tolstoy? What about French?

I've seen a dreadful abridged version of War and Peace, and I'd hate to waste my money on something like that.
Because of something said in this thread, or because of something this thread inspired me to read, I found and ordered a second-hand, unabridged Folio Classique copy of Anna Karénine translated by Henri Mongault (Éditions Gallimard 2008; first published 1952). I have hardly had time to read anything but the famous first sentence, but my initial mini-review is positive because the font is large enough for me to read without getting blurry vision.

One or two sentences hardly serve a useful sample, but here is that famous first sentence, plus a couple more, just to give you some flavor:

"Les familles heureuses se ressemblent toutes ; les familles malheureuses sont malheureuses chacune à leur façon. Tout était sens dessus dessous dans al maison Oblonski. Prévenue que son mari entretentai une liaison avec l'ancienne institutrice française de leurs enfants, la princess s'était refusés net à vivre sous le même toit que lui."

I will finish the book, just don't hold your breath. Dozens of books precede it--I am a language learner, after all--but the French translation of Dr Jivago managed to bubble its way close to the top of the stack(s). I expect Anna will, too.
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Re: Best Spanish and French translations of Tolstoy?

Postby reineke » Sun Jan 31, 2016 9:46 pm

James29 wrote:This is a tough subject... how to find a good translation. I've been looking for the best translation of Les Miserables (into Spanish), but I just don't know how to find a good one. It seems like relying on Amazon reviews really is not a great idea.


Last night I was looking at the Spanish translation of Anna Karenina. No reviews, the front cover had a picture of an American actress and the price was simply too high. I trust the French more when it comes to translations of Russian classics. The "original" Anna Karenina is staring at me from the shelf. I got the hard cover version for a song and thanks to the Russian translation of Clavell's "Shogun" I'm now able to follow the plot in Russian so I don't have a particularly strong reason to buy a Spanish translation.

Buying "Les Misérables" in Spanish has crossed my mind. I believe we might have better luck with classical French authors which were popular and widely available n Spain while their authors were still warm. Also some Italian and Portuguese writers. I also believe US pulp, although pricier, will likely prove a wiser purchase. Has anyone noticed any major issues with the "Clasicos de la literatura" series available on Amazon for $5.95.
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Re: Best Spanish and French translations of Tolstoy?

Postby iguanamon » Sun Jan 31, 2016 10:07 pm

This article in El Mundo may help you, James: 'Los Miserables', al completo. It's an interview with María Teresa Gallego Urrutia, considered the best translator of French into Spanish, explaining her translation of 'Los miserables". It's pricey at Amazon. She talks about the 19th century translation and its faults- once again, whole paragraphs were left out and parts were censored. Translation is indeed a tricky business. So much can be lost, glossed over and/or missed. Traduttore, Traditore!
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Re: Best Spanish and French translations of Tolstoy?

Postby reineke » Sun Jan 31, 2016 10:43 pm

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Re: Best Spanish and French translations of Tolstoy?

Postby James29 » Sun Jan 31, 2016 11:20 pm

iguanamon wrote:This article in El Mundo may help you, James: 'Los Miserables', al completo. It's an interview with María Teresa Gallego Urrutia, considered the best translator of French into Spanish, explaining her translation of 'Los miserables". It's pricey at Amazon. She talks about the 19th century translation and its faults- once again, whole paragraphs were left out and parts were censored. Translation is indeed a tricky business. So much can be lost, glossed over and/or missed. Traduttore, Traditore!


That's a great article and that definitely looks like the right translation. I had been eyeing the old one they reference in the article that apparently changed many things from the original. I've noticed that on Amazon the preview option usually has the kindle version, but the kindle version is often not available for sale. Why is this? I'd love to buy this book for my kindle. It is obviously available on kindle because they are showing it in the preview. Is this one of those location things where, for some crazy reason, Amazon cannot sell the kindle version in the US? Anyway, thanks for the article and the suggestion. If I take on such a massive book I'd like to be sure I read the best translation.
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