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Terrible, well renowned novelists
AanAllein:
True, true. Maybe Dostoevsky and Tolstoy are just better writers than those English hacks. :evil:
jimbunny:
I think his point is that translation is inherently second best and should be avoided when possible. It is a testament to the great Russian writers that their books are still great in English, but they are almost definitely made even better by the native idiom and cultural history. People say that when reading Dostoevsky in the Russian, you can tell almost immediately which character is speaking because their voices are so distinct. Whatever the character of his literary mastery, it is to some degree inextricable from his native language.
The real problem, as I see it, with re-writing English works into the most current vernacular, is that it's just not worth it. If you want something made more accessible, you probably want it a)for some perceived value carried by the text (e.g. character improvement) or b)to look smart by "knowing" a classic work/being able to catch references. The second is a superficial kind of education, practiced by uninteresting people, and the first - while it is an accepted approach to art - can be attained by reading good works by more recent authors.
Merrick:
What I don't get is why all you people kick the metaphorical shit out of Twilight WHEN IT'S NOT AIMED AT YOU OR YOUR AGE GROUP. :-P
It's like calling Where's Wally? a poor book for it's lack of depth and decent literature.
scarred:
Isn't it Waldo? Or are all the American books changed?
It's like Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Sorcerer's Stone all over again.
phooey:
--- Quote from: Merrick on 24 Aug 2009, 18:52 ---What I don't get is why all you people kick the metaphorical shit out of Twilight WHEN IT'S NOT AIMED AT YOU OR YOUR AGE GROUP. :-P
--- End quote ---
This is a shit excuse. A book can still be a children's book or even a young adult's book and not subscribe to myriad flaws and intellectual pitfalls that I don't need to repeat on account of their being everywhere on the internet. In fact, I would argue that the target audience is reason to specifically attack the book, because it lampoons such terrible and harmful ideas to such an impressionable and traditionally self-conscious demographic.
That said, Twimoms.
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