tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post2464666599880466079..comments2024-02-08T05:04:18.484-08:00Comments on J'S THEATER: What Happened to the New Translation of Dr. Zhivago?John Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08073378940347627766noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-52865648807262878412013-11-12T13:43:14.146-08:002013-11-12T13:43:14.146-08:00John, I want to thank you for taking the time to p...John, I want to thank you for taking the time to post this thoughtful comparison of the Zhivago translations. A few months ago, I read Pavear and Volokhonsky's translation of "War and Peace," which I loved, though I don't speak Russian and read no other translations, so I had no basis for comparison to other versions. I also enjoyed PV's Dostoevsky translations, years ago. Last week, I found an old, yellowing, crinkled copy of "Doctor Zhivago" on a friend's parents' bookshelf, and asked to borrow it. I read the first forty pages, which I've really enjoyed. Then it suddenly occurred to me that PV have a new translation of the work, and I almost went to Amazon and bought it right then and there. But I was enjoying the HH translation so much already, I thought, hmmm, let's see what others have thought. A little Googling brought me to Ann Pasternak Slater's take-down of the PV translation, then to your blog. I'm very glad for it! Your side-by-side comparisons, which must have taken considerable time to lay out, sealed the case for me. The HH's translation's crisp, compact, beautiful natural images from the first few chapters are what I've enjoyed most about the novel so far, and seeing the same passages in the PV version have convinced me to stick with what I've got. I don't quite understand how PV seem to have translated "Doctor Zhivago" so badly. Their renderings of the passages you highlight are stilted, flabby -- awkward in syntax and disastrous in word choice. I mean, "lilac streams of congealed stearine"? Yikes. Compared to the silky "smoky streaks of candle wax." That was all I needed to read right there. Somehow PV missed the mark on this one. I'm excited to keep reading HH. Thank you! Much appreciated.Joshua Howeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14486722499534342729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-8896499619874498882013-02-26T02:56:25.590-08:002013-02-26T02:56:25.590-08:00Thank you very much for your work with comparisons...Thank you very much for your work with comparisons! It's huge! And very useful for young translators and their teachers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-35153335531048712122013-02-26T02:53:59.733-08:002013-02-26T02:53:59.733-08:00Thank you very much for your work with comparisons...Thank you very much for your work with comparisons!!! It's huge! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11122973.post-85442745869975740812011-07-17T06:57:45.905-07:002011-07-17T06:57:45.905-07:00Totally agree with you John. I love the lyricism a...Totally agree with you John. I love the lyricism and intensity of his shorter prose works too - 'The Last Summer' is a particular favourite - but have never met anyone out there in the real world who has felt the same about them. Or about 'Dr Zhivago' for that matter. I am not religious but those poems at the back of the HH translation are an absolute touchstone, I don't know when I am going to need them but they have to be permanently accessible in case I do! Thanks for the selections above and all the best - Andy W, York/ England.Andy Whitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02971224231044559732noreply@blogger.com