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I like public domain books and how the net makes them more accessible. I have recently come across an annoying and somewhat genuine issue when it comes to trans

I like public domain books and how the net makes them more accessible. I have recently come across an annoying and somewhat genuine issue when it comes to translated books. For example, "Nietzsche Beyond Good and Evil." I picked up a PD version and started reading. After 4 pages I gave up. I could not figure out how anyone could find this tolerable, or even a well written book, and for some a classic. Turns out that there are several translations of the book and not all of them are public domain and for no reason I can think of the PD version is usually the worst translation. There is a quite a bit older translation (so also PD) that is a fairly decent one. (But the English used in it is old fashioned). Then you have the problem with a lot of books, do you translate it word for word to try and keep the translation as close to the original as possible (good for some studies), or do you write what the translator thinks the author meant.(much more readable) After spending far too much time reading reviews of translations online, I went to a large bookstore and sampled what they had (far from all). Given that I am fluent in Norwegian and now live in Norway I tried a Norwegian translation and in my opinion it was the best. Norwegian is much closer to German than English which helps the translator. Still billions speak English so one would think the best translation would be in English. Still some of the magic is missing. Nietzsche when read in German has a certain rhythm to it. I speak a tiny bit of German and reading (with assistance) the first few pages allowed me to see it. Reading the whole thing in German would take me years. I stick with the Norwegian one. I want to read some of the great Russian authors next and I am not looking forward to trying to learn what the best translations are and if its better in English or Norwegian.

tgv 3y ago
When I was learning Spanish, I read LOTR in translation. That was some of the worst prose I've ever read. Tolkien wasn't a great writer, but that really took the life out of the books. Look at Bible translations: there's a new one for every generation, even though it looses the (IMO) very important aspect of tradition. Translations age, some quite badly. Chances are, your Nietschze translation was written for an audience with a rather different language use. That might be the reason why the PD translations are so stiff. There are also literary choices: do you want to stay as close to the original text as possible, or do you want to convey to a modern audience the impression the text might have made on its audience 150 years ago?
- weregiraffe 3y ago
  >Tolkien wasn't a great writer These are fighting words, pal.
  - BizarroLand 3y ago
    I've read tens of thousands of books, and probably that length more in short stories and prose. I can't make it past page 150 of the two towers. As a rational human being, I feel like 45 pages of "they walked past a tree. They walked past another tree. They ate food. They walked past a tree. This tree was interesting because it was 3.4 centimeters taller than the last 46 trees they passed by. Let's sit and eat lunch and talk about this tree. The tree is a tree. Yep. Just like that tree over there. And if you look past that tree, a little to the left, down the rolling glade and just over the tree topped hill, you will see another tree, and next to that tree is a tree that one time a treant leaned against in the middle of his 45 hour long conversation with the tree that I mentioned to look past to see the tree that the treeant leaned against, and the contents of that 45 hour conversation was basically the treeant saying his full name to the tree, not hearing a response, and then saying it again, only this time, he didn't hear a response, but then he realized that he was just talking to a tree and not a treeant, which made him sad, so he told the first second tree, the tree he was leaning on, that we are talking about now, that the fact that the second first tree was not a treant made him sad, before he realized, oh, silly goose, I've done it again! I'm talking to trees like a looney. I had better stop talking to trees before the other treants lock me away." His themes are great, but Tolkien is not exactly a riveting writer. It's so bad that the only way I was able to make it through the the movie of the two towers was by making out with my girlfriend for the boring parts, which, let's face it, was the middle 2 hours. The two towers gave me narcolepsy and genital friction burn.

tgv 3y ago

When I was learning Spanish, I read LOTR in translation. That was some of the worst prose I've ever read. Tolkien wasn't a great writer, but that really took the life out of the books. Look at Bible translations: there's a new one for every generation, even though it looses the (IMO) very important aspect of tradition. Translations age, some quite badly. Chances are, your Nietschze translation was written for an audience with a rather different language use. That might be the reason why the PD translations are so stiff. There are also literary choices: do you want to stay as close to the original text as possible, or do you want to convey to a modern audience the impression the text might have made on its audience 150 years ago?

weregiraffe 3y ago
>Tolkien wasn't a great writer These are fighting words, pal.
- BizarroLand 3y ago
  I've read tens of thousands of books, and probably that length more in short stories and prose. I can't make it past page 150 of the two towers. As a rational human being, I feel like 45 pages of "they walked past a tree. They walked past another tree. They ate food. They walked past a tree. This tree was interesting because it was 3.4 centimeters taller than the last 46 trees they passed by. Let's sit and eat lunch and talk about this tree. The tree is a tree. Yep. Just like that tree over there. And if you look past that tree, a little to the left, down the rolling glade and just over the tree topped hill, you will see another tree, and next to that tree is a tree that one time a treant leaned against in the middle of his 45 hour long conversation with the tree that I mentioned to look past to see the tree that the treeant leaned against, and the contents of that 45 hour conversation was basically the treeant saying his full name to the tree, not hearing a response, and then saying it again, only this time, he didn't hear a response, but then he realized that he was just talking to a tree and not a treeant, which made him sad, so he told the first second tree, the tree he was leaning on, that we are talking about now, that the fact that the second first tree was not a treant made him sad, before he realized, oh, silly goose, I've done it again! I'm talking to trees like a looney. I had better stop talking to trees before the other treants lock me away." His themes are great, but Tolkien is not exactly a riveting writer. It's so bad that the only way I was able to make it through the the movie of the two towers was by making out with my girlfriend for the boring parts, which, let's face it, was the middle 2 hours. The two towers gave me narcolepsy and genital friction burn.