Posted by michael sympson
on 10/11/2010, 15:49:34, in reply to "Petersburg"
82.34.74.110
One question for everybody here: is anybody in this group actually capable of reading the original? I once read a translation into German which seemed at least to give a complete text. The novel is important because it seems to have been a major influence on Vladimir Nabokov. The beginning of King, queen, Knave and sections of Bent Sinister are sheer Biely. They seem to give a better idea of the original than any translation.
michael sympson
--Previous Message--
: Last year Joffre posted this quote about the John
: Cournos translation of Biely's Petersburg:
:
: "For English readers, a major obstacle to the
: appreciation of Petersburg has been that 1959 version,
: which bears only incidental resemblance to the
: original. Apart from gross misreadings, it makes
: numerous cuts, which eliminate, among other things,
: virtually the entire persona of the narrator, whose
: presence is essential to any real understanding of
: what Bely is up to. The translator, John Cournos,
: deserves our respect as a pioneer, but his work
: conveys little of the intricacy and subtlety of the
: original."
:
: I had read the Cournos translation in 2008. Based on
: Joffre's post I bought the latest translation, which
: is by John Elsworth. I started reading it last night.
:
: Sure enough, there are major differences. Cournos
: abridged Petersburg to barely half its original size.
: Entire paragraphs are missing, when compared with the
: Elsworth version, and other passages are substantially
: cut. He also appears to have cut out, or reworded, all
: instances where the author speaks directly to the
: reader in the first person. Cournos's style is more
: conventional, where Elsworth's is unorthodox and
: playful, presumably a more accurate reflection of
: Biely's.
:
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