Demons

[Mogwai]

I'm currently reading Demons right now.  It's pretty good so far - I was just wondering what the best translation is for this novel?  My copy is a translation by Pevear and Volokhonsky.

Anyone have thoughts on this novel?  Best translation?

[rabagas]

I read the Constance Garnett translation years ago and found it quite adequate. Of all Dostoevski's novels it is the one I like the least.

Rabagas

[Robert Bruso]

To whom it may concern:

The best translation of Besy, or "The Devils," or the Dostoevsky novel properly  entitled, "The Possessed," is the Constance Garnett translation of 1936.  This I can maintain with unrivaled confidence and enthusiam.  For over last summer I traveled with my self-bound volume of said translation, experiencing the profound magnificence of the great Russian's genius.  He must be understood, to be loved.  So it is in my humble opinion the best way to reconcile any language variation between Russian and English with the Garnett account for all the author's works.  All my best.

Sincerely,
Robert Bruso  

[Mogwai]

Robert, I've heard many people complain about the Garnett translations but it's good to hear both sides of the story.  

I believe both of my C&P, TBK translations were by Garnett and they were very good - although I've never read them in any other translation so my opinion is void of reference,  I guess.  

[Golyadkin]

On the Literary Works section of the site it says that the translations are all by Garnett, but I may be wrong.

[Ivan]

Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky are the better translators is you want a closer tie to the original Russian words.  Constance is known for taking a little bit more freedom with the literal translation for the sake of literary style.  I read the Constance Garnett translation of C&P and it wasn't bad... I had heard that the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation was lacking in tone, making the work sort of dull.

I did, however, read the Pevear and Volokhonsky translations of Notes from Underground and The Bros. K. and didn't find them lacking in style.  They are award winning translators so I trust them...  
I tend to not like translators who take too much freedom with style... it seems dishonest.  I don't mind reading something closer to the original Russian if it means that it might drag on at times.

PS. I changed my name because of my jealously of other members who have names that are characters in a Dostoevsky work  .   This is the Ivan from the Bros. K of course... the character I think is the most interesting, so far!

[Worm]

Sorry, is this all you talk about when it comes to Demons?  The translation?  Don't you have more to say about the 768pages long book?

I don't know who translated my version and don't care to know it either.  Many many thanks to who did all that work, but my interest doesn't lay there.

[Ivan]

Well, who the translator is, is actually really important...
A bad translator can screw up the meaning of any work and they can do it VERY easily.  I think the translator is especially important when it comes to Dostoevsky because his works have so many different meanings... you have to be one heck of a translator to be able to convey those meanings in a different language.

We were talking about translators in this thread because, if you haven't noticed, the person who started this thread asked for comments about the translation.

Who the translator is, might not be interesting, but it is definitely something important to look into before starting a new novel.

[Worm]

Well, who the translator is, is actually really important...
A bad translator can screw up the meaning of any work and they can do it VERY easily.  I think the translator is especially important when it comes to Dostoevsky because his works have so many different meanings... you have to be one heck of a translator to be able to convey those meanings in a different language.

True.  Especially when it comes to Dostojewski, whose sentences can be quite complicated.

We were talking about translators in this thread because, if you haven't noticed, the person who started this thread asked for comments about the translation.

You are right .. i assumed this was a Demons discussion thread.  Srry.

Who the translator is, might not be interesting, but it is definitely something important to look into before starting a new novel.

But how do you know which one is "the best"?  Read them in all translations, and start searching out all the minuscule (but perhaps very essential) differences?  I don't think the translator has done such a bad job that there are large changes in the work..  

I write Dostojewski in the dutch way, by the way.  I'm from Belgium.

So i am talking here to the very Ivan of whom i have read in The Brothers Karamazow, who told the story of the inquisitor.  I am honoured.

[Ivan]

Read them in all translations, and start searching out all the minuscule (but perhaps very essential) differences?

Aye!!!  You just multiplied Dostoevsky's list of works by 4!  You would be better off, at least it would take less time, to learn Russian and read it how Dostoevsky wrote it.
OR
You can go on some forums, where there might be people who have had experiences with different translators,  and ask for their opinions.

[Worm]

Right.

It'd be so awesome if i could read Russian .. and read the real words of Dostojewski himself.  Straight to the source.

[Worm]

It sometimes feels like i am the only guy in the whole world that is reading 'Demons'.

[Golyadkin]

You aren't. And if you are, you won't be for long.

[Mogwai]

Well Worm, I just finished Demons last week and it was well worth the read.  I'm still trying to process all the stuff that happened, I think!

All I can say is, it has an appropriate name.

[Worm]

Thanks .. now i feel much better, and less alone.  I didn't know you were reading it.
I'm currently at the part of the great party of Joelia and Von Lembke ... which disappoints me, to be honest.  I've read the first three short chapters of it, and i'm unhappy about the writing.  It's so sloppy .. could have been done much better.  

I've also recently passed the visit to <the general himself> by the Sjpigoelin-factory workers ... Dostojewski also snatched the view away so abruptly from it, and followed Stepan and the narrator to the house of Von Lembke.         I was rather curious to what Von Lembke was going to say to the crowd ... but nothing of it has been mentioned.