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Sherrie

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Sherrie is Currently Reading

Sherrie is currently reading

Les Misérables

by Victor Hugo

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Sherrie said: " I'm switching translations. I read a review at Amazon.com that I will post in it's entirety because it really convinced me that it was worth switching (unfortunately, I was reading the worst translation). I'm looking forward to the new start . . . AN I'm switching translations. I read a review at Amazon.com that I will post in it's entirety because it really convinced me that it was worth switching (unfortunately, I was reading the worst translation). I'm looking forward to the new start . . . AND finish!

"425 of 438 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars WARNING TO STUDENTS, August 21, 2000
By Mr. A - See all my reviews

Whether you have a miserable experience or a wonderful one will be determined by which translation of *Les Miserables* you're reading.
Three translations are currently available: one by Charles E. Wilbour, one by Lee Fahnestock/Norman MacAfee (based on Wilbour), and one by Norman Denny. You can also get abridged (cut) versions.

Don't get any abridged version. It's like reading a toilet paper wrapper - an almost worthless experience! If you have to write a report on *Les Miz* but prefer to skip reading it, then get the Cliffs Notes. The Cliffs Notes are better than abridged versions.

If you want to read *Les Miz*, which translation is best? Simple: the Lee Fahnestock/Norman MacAfee.

First of all, the Charles E. Wilbour translation was published in 1862, the year Hugo finished writing *Les Miz*. Wilbour translated all 1200 pages of *Les Miz* in just a few months, and it shows. What Wilbour wrote isn't French, it isn't English - it isn't any known tongue. It just can't be read. (Oh sure, it can be STUDIED, and it's the version in which I first read *Les Miz*, and some parts of it are okay, since Hugo is hard to kill.) This bad translation is around only because most publishers are too cheap to pay for new translations.

Norman Denny's translation is new and published by Penguin, but it's bad, too. In the biography of Victor Hugo by Graham Robb, the Denny translation is called "a Swiss cheese of unavowed omissions and [it:] bears out Hugo's comments on translation as a form of censorship. The translator does admit to 'thinning out, but never completely eliminating, [*Les Miz's*:] lapses.'" Hm ... lapses? Here are some other remarks by Denny about *Les Miz*: "'wholly unrestrained,' 'no regard for the discipline of novel-writing,' 'moralizing rhetoric,' 'exasperating,' 'self-indulgent.'" Hugo is hard to kill, but Denny proves it's possible: I read his translation and it's the dullest of all time.

The best translation is the Lee Fahnestock/Norman MacAfee one. Signet Classics publishes it. The cover shows the drawing of the waif from the musical.

This translation (and no other) gets as close to the real thing as possible, in English. If Hugo had written in English, he would have written this. You can hear Hugo's "voice" and feel his living spirit. Though not perfect (few things are), this is a great achievement. Get the Lee Fahnestock/Charles MacAfee translation (that's two people), and leave the others on the shelf!" ...more "

Apr 18, 2009 02:05PM · see review

Sherrie is currently reading

Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World’s Worst Dog

by John Grogan

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Reading for the 2nd time

read in March 2008

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Sherrie said: " I bought this at the airport to distract my mind from...flying? It did a great job -- I laughed out loud in the airport and on the plane -- maybe I did my own share of distracting as well. It is a very entertaining, easy read, but it pulled me right ...more "

Apr 03, 2008 08:53PM · see review

Sherrie is currently reading

Les Misérables

by Victor Hugo

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Sherrie said: " I enjoyed reading an abridged version of this in late jr. high, and now I want to read the unabridged version. I enjoy it when I'm reading it, but can't get very motivated keep going. I started about 3 1/2 years ago, and haven't read it for about 3 ...more "

Aug 11, 2008 08:52PM · see review