Mike’s comment > Likes and Comments

Thank you SO much! You've cleared it up perfectly for me. The Norman Denny version it is! Again, thank you so much for your detailed answer.

You're welcome, Will. :)

I've downloaded the Hapgood translation for Kindle, and she has "a fast man of thirty, and badly preserved". I have the Denny translation in paperback, so not sure which one to go for now... Perhaps I'll end up downloading a third version! ;o)

(The full name of the translator is Isabel F. Hapgood.)

Thanks for the comparison. You've expressed exactly why I avoid reading works in translation. That said, if I had to read the !! thing in English (which I wouldn't), I'd pick the Denny. For me, it captures the flavor of the original French the best.

Translating well a work of literature is incredibly difficult.

Here's translate.google.com's version of that line: "a fast man of thirty, and badly preserved".

If you think that's bad, you should see the hash they make of my daughter-in-law's Slovak. :-(

I'm loving Ms. Hapgood's translation. The free eBooks on iBooks/Goodreads/Amazon are largely hers, which was published in 1887. Project Gutenberg chose it to preserve: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/135/13...

Thanks for your analysis. Your choice of translation selections coupled with the French was very helpful. Based on that, I opt for the Fahnstock which seems to me the more accurate, but then I've always found poetry to be too obscure.

No problem, Eric. Just make sure you have a lot of spare time in order to read the Fahnestock, because not only is it almost 250 pages longer than Denny, it's also less readable IMO, which means you may need to spend longer per page. But as you said, it is more accurate--actually, it's not really a new translation per se, but an update of the old Wilbour translation.

Hmm, I don't know. English being the fourth language I learned, I don't think I can say which one is better. Of course, if you want a "modern version' you must be aware thatyou are not actually reading the novel as the author intended it, but a present day translator's view and perception thereof. Anyway, if this is the only way you will have access to a great masterpiece, I'd say go gor it, otherwise I'd say, read the original or a translation that is close to the original. But that is only my opinion of course.

Loved your explanation, Mike. Thank you!

Thank you for this explanation. This is exactly how choosing a biblical translation can come down to and quite honestly I was probably not going to choose the Denny because it was not strictly unabridged but now it may be the one I do pick up.

Oh, you're welcome, Marcia. Glad it helped you!

You're welcome too, Josh. At least the Denny may save you some time to do other fun things in your life. :)

Thank you for this description of the different translations!

Very helpful! Thank you :)

You're welcome, Kathryn and Brandon! :)

I actually quite like the google translation of your comparison sentence: "a fast man of thirty, poorly preserved" :-)

Thank you Mike. I appreciate your thoroughness.

I originally read it about five years ago, though I can't recall what translation I read. After reading this discussion I ordered the Hapgood translation, but only because it was cheaper than the other translations that sounded good. Thanks everyone!

super helpful! thank you!

Have you read Christine Donougher's translation? I love the Denny translation as well and I've heard Donougher's is very good. Thoughts?

Note: Wilbour is unabridged