The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

In preparation for our upcoming read of Oblomov, I've already done some research about the various translations because of the vastly different lengths of various translations. I didn't want anyone, if they are going to purchase the book, to spend money on the less desirable edition.

I've truncated the following information I found on JSTOR.org written by Barry P. Scherr a professor at Dartmouth College in The Slavic and East European Journal Vol. 55, No. 3 (FALL 2011), pp. 469-471 (3 pages)
Published by: American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages. The entire article can be read here. I've bolded the information about the translation you do not want to use.

Marian Schwart’s translation of Oblomov marks the sixth appearance of the novel in English. The first renderings were by C.J. Hogarth (Allen and Unwin, 1915) and Natalie Duddington (Allen and Unwin, 1929). C.J. Hogarth’s is the only translation of the novel that is clearly unsatisfactory (and, unfortunately, continues to appear, with a 2009 print edition and an electronic version making it still widely available): he greatly abridges the novel and even rewrites certain sentences to provide continuity around the elisions. The language in Duddington’s translation can seem rather old-fashioned at times, yet on the whole her version is quite accurate and has been influential on subsequent translators. The next two English editions came out a decade apart, David Magarshack (Pengiune, 1954) followed Dunnington closely at times while striving to make his version more modern. However, sometimes his style, particularly in the dialogue, does not quite capture the richness of the original, and the rendering of metaphorical phrases is sometimes too literal. If Ann Dunnigan’s translation (New American Library, 1963) exhibits occasional flaws, she is nonetheless the most scrupulous of these four in following Goncharov’s paragraph structure, the liveliest in rendering his dialogue, and the most creative in finding English phrases that capture the flavor of the Russian.

Just two years separate the most recent translations. While Stephen Peral (Bunim and Bannigan, 2006) used the same text as Magarshack and Dunningan, Marian Schwartz turns to Geiro’s publication of the 1862 version. Both translators have a fine sense of style in English, and both versions read very well. Schwartz is particularly good at conveying Oblomov’s style and each character’s manner of speaking while staying close to the original. Pearl tends to reword the Russian more, often coming up with phrases that make his version the more colloquial in English.

In all, further comparison of various passages left me with the sense that the three most recent translations are the best. In some ways, I prefer Ann Dunningan for the consistency with which she combines fidelity to the original and naturalness in her English. Stephen Pearl at his best is the most inspired, and many of his individual sentences are wonderfully idiomatic, though not every choice works equally well. The version by Marian Schwartz contains various instances where I felt that the choices in English were too literal or did not convey the precise sense, even though on the whole her translations evinces an excellent sense of style and is a pleasure to read. She also has the advantage of using the 1862 text and has provided a brief and thoughtful and informative note that prefaces the novel. In short, each of these possess certain merits, and Anglophone readers are fortunate in having a choice among three fine renderings of Goncharov’s masterpiece.

I'm using the Penguin version translated by David Magarshack. I've enjoyed his translations of Dostoevsky's work.

Thanks for this! Wading through the translations can be confusing.

Lori wrote: "Thanks for this! Wading through the translations can be confusing."

I hear you, it confused the heck out of me. Before I came across that article I couldn't figure out how some editions were 500/600+ and others were about 200 but were not marked as "abridged."

I found translations by Schwartz and Magarschack on Kindle, but some of the links for them instead steered me to the Hogarth version. So be careful.

Thanks for this helpful research, Gem!

Robin P wrote: "I found translations by Schwartz and Magarschack on Kindle, but some of the links for them instead steered me to the Hogarth version. So be careful."

One of the reasons why I never get translated Kindles on Amazon is that they don't always match up the Kindle with the translation used in the corresponding paperback/hardback it shows. The $.99/free Kindle will often not even indicate which translation is used. You generally have to pay a premium price to ensure a certain translation. I stick to English language Kindle reads like the Gaskell books.

I think a similar thing happened to me with The Last Man. It was .99 on Kindle but the copy was super weird. It was as if it had been translated back into English from another language. I returned it, not so much for the money back as to report the problem, and found one from another source that was fine.

Robin P wrote: "I found translations by Schwartz and Magarschack on Kindle, but some of the links for them instead steered me to the Hogarth version. So be careful.

Thanks for this helpful research, Gem!"

My pleasure.

I just checked my library edition and it is also Magershack. Thanks for all the research Gem.

I actually didn't find a Kindle that isn't Hogarth, but Apple Books has the Duddington translation for 1.99, so I will probably get that.

For those who like audiobooks, Audible has the Duddington translation which is 20 hours. My library only has a no-name version that must be Hogarth because it is around 300 pages.

**Update** When I went into the Apple Book Store, it still took a while to find the right translation. The Duddington has a plain black cover with just the name on it.

After spending time reviewing and looking at various translations, I decided to read the Marion Schwartz one. I found copies of it on a few sites, but at a high cost or long delivery, so decided to order the on Amazon since I have Prime. However, when I ordered it on January 4th, instead of the usual 2 day delivery they stated they would inform me later of a delivery date. Today Amazon informed me that the delivery would be between March 4th and 12th. So I cancelled.

Since I really could read ABH (anything but Hogarth) it looks like I will be reading the Magarshack translation. I would have considered Pearl's or Dunnigan's but a reasonably priced version was not to be found, I didn't want to pay a lot for a used copy. The Magarshack does have the advantage that Rosemarie and Frances will also be reading it.

Since some of the modern translations, such as the Pevear and Volokhonsky Russian translations, have left me cold, perhaps the Magarshack is actually the best translation for my taste. I will assume it is.

I tried reading a Pevear and Volkhonsky translation of a Gogol short story and quickly abandoned it. Fortunately, it was a library copy. I found a version online that was more enjoyable.

The problem isn't so much with how well Hogarth translated, but the fact that the book is much shorter, leaving out parts.

I looked for the text on Project Gutenberg. Unfortunately their version is the Hogarth translation. In view of the comments in this post, I will look elsewhere.

Stephen wrote: "I looked for the text on Project Gutenberg. Unfortunately their version is the Hogarth translation. In view of the comments in this post, I will look elsewhere."

I included a link in the background information that has several different translations. I was also able to get a copy from my library that was translated by David Mararshack.

There is a free Librivox recording. But is also the short version, translated by Hogarth.

For all it’s worth, since I am also a German speaker, there is a new translation into German by Vera Bischitzky. I got that one, all the 746 pages plus information on the translation. This seems to be very close to the original.

I am reading a good Danish translation. The translator, Ivan Malinowski, was himself a poet, who was interested in politics; anti-authoritarianism and revolutionary nihilism. He made the translation possible and funded after 12 years of effort, in 1960.

But with no explanation other than the numbers —1-2— on the title page, he stopped after volume two. So I will have to go on a hunt again to find the last part.

Charlotte wrote: "I am reading a good Danish translation. .."

Volumes 3 and 4 of that translation are also out there somewhere. I am tracking them down.

I am reading the Magarshack translation. It seems competent. I find the narrative passages to be fairly dry and uninteresting, but I perk up for the dialogue sections, which are much more interesting.

Charlotte and Detlef both commented about the beautiful writing in the second week discussion of Part Two. As I haven't felt the same, I was curious about which translation had the beautiful writing.
It appears both are reading a non-English translation, Charlotte in Danish and Detlef in German. I'm curious if anyone reading an English language translation thinks it is beautifully written and, if so, which translation is it.

I am liking the Duddington translation. I went ahead and finished the book and I can see why it may have been cut. The later part goes down some pathways that I don't think contribute to the overall book.

Thanks, Robin. That's good to know. I did have to double check which one it was as there is both a Duddington and a Dunnigan translation.

I read Pearl's, which is pretty good, though I did skim some of those "pathways" Robin mentioned.

I considered Pearl's too, but as I said in a previous post "I would have considered Pearl's or Dunnigan's but a reasonably priced version was not to be found." I may not have looked in the right places.
I'm curious for future recommendations to others interested in reading Oblomov.