Posted by Steven on 16/8/2011, 9:19:06, in reply to "Re: upcomig books"
76.186.51.185
Note that some English editions of the Manzoni book used the Italian title. The old Harvard Classics edition I have is titled I promessi sposi even though it is in English. This same translation--anonymous 19th century--is now available as a free ebook from Project Gutenberg. There are newer translations available. The most recent is a Penguin edition. I haven't seen anything to suggest there are substantive differences in the translations--just those differences in style you would expect from writers a century or more apart.
Regarding Rickshaw, I already had the James translation before Goldblatt's came out, so that is what I'll be reading (unless I run across a cheap copy of Goldblatt). I compared what I have with Amazon's online preview of the Goldblatt edition. The latter is definitely in a breezier, more readable English.
One major difference between the two that will impact our discussion is that they use different system for transcribing Chinese names to English. The James translation uses Wade-Giles, which renders the principal character's name as "Hsiang Tzu." The Goldblatt uses the newer system, Pinyin, which calls him "Xiangzi."
I also noticed that the James edition refers to Beijing as "Peking," the old traditional English name for the city, while Goldblatt uses "Beiping," which is historically more accurate. The Kuomintang government changed the name from Beijing to Beiping in the 1920s. The old name was restored by the People's Republic.
If I were ordering the book today, I would purchase the Goldblatt translation (Harper Perennial).
--Previous Message--
: The Kipling is a poem. We are reading The Betrothed
: by Alessandro Manzoni.
:
: Rickshaw by She Lao (also translated as Rickshaw
: Boy ). There are several translations. I have no
: idea what is the best, but I'm advised to avoid the
: first (1945) by "Evan King" (a pseudonym).
: Apparently it takes unacceptable liberties, including
: changing the ending. It appears that the Howard
: Goldblatt translation is the most recent. I don't
: know if it's the best. It is called Rickshaw Boy
: like the first translation. The James is a 1979
: translation.
:
: Steven, I believe you nominated Rickshaw . Do you
: have any advice on translation? Goldblatt claims that
: James' translation contains misreadings and is in
: non-idiomatic English.
:
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: I am ordering some books: Are we reading the Betrothed
: from Rudyard Kipling?
:
: Omensetter's luck by William H. Gass. And the
: Rickshaw, is it this one:
:
: Rickshaw =: The Novel Lo-T'o Hsiang Tzu [Paperback]
: She Lao (Author), Jean M. James (Translator)
: 4.3 out of 5 stars
:
:
:
:
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