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Lost in Translations
Flood of Re-Translated Classics
Hits Shelves, Igniting Debate;
A Tale of Two Tolstoys
By JEFFREY A. TRACHTENBERG
August 4, 2006; Page W1
It has the makings of an epic battle between two opposing forces.
In January, Viking released a version of Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace," the first new English translation in nearly 40 years of the sprawling Russian saga about the Napoleonic Wars. A blurb on the back jacket of the 1,412-page volume, translated by Anthony Briggs, calls it "the best translation so far of Tolstoy's masterpiece into English."
지난 1월에 바이킹사에서 톨스토이의 '전쟁과 평화'를 거진 40년만에 새로운 번역본으로 냈는데, ( 1412페이지나 됬대!) 안소니 브릭스가 번역했는데, 뒤껍데기에 평하길 ' 톨스토이 역작을 영어로 번역한중 최고!최고! 그랬다네.
In fall 2007, Everyman's Library is coming out with its own "War and Peace," translated by husband-and-wife team Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. "It will be our most important new translation of the year," says LuAnn Walther, the imprint's editorial director.
2007년 가을 에브리멘스 라이브러리에서 또 지네판으로 '전쟁과 평화'를 내는데, 막강부부번역가팀인 리차드 피버Peavear랑 라리사 볼로코느스키키키키키키키인데 " 한해의가장 중요한 새로운 번역이게다" 라고 루안 월터라는 출판사 편집장이 그랬대. ![[War and Peace]](http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/images/WK-AH247B_Class_20060803215348.gif)
Although the best-seller list is currently dominated by writers like James Patterson, Dean Koontz and Nora Roberts, one surprising corner of the publishing business is thriving: new translations of old classics. This month, Viking will publish a fresh version of Alexandre Dumas's "The Three Musketeers," followed by Virgil's "The Aeneid" three months later. In October, Yale University Press is releasing its take on Plato's "The Republic." Next year, readers will see updated works by Albert Camus and Franz Kafka, as well as Sun Tzu's "The Art of War."
비록 베스트셀러 리스트는 제임스 페터슨이나 딘쿤츠, 노라 로버츠 같은 작가들이 다 차지하고 있긴하지만서도, 출판계의 가장 놀라운 한쪽은 번성하고 있는게지 : 고전의 새로운 번역! 두둥 - 이번달에 바이킹에서 새로운 버전의 뒤마의 '삼총사' 가 ㄴ올테고, 곧 이어 버질Virgil의 아에네이드Aeneid ( 아이네아스 모험기라네) 가 세달 후 나올거래. 시월에는 예일대학출판사에서 플라톤의 'The Republic' 이 나오고, 내녀에는 까뮈와 카프카가 업데이트 될꺼래. 순츄(Sun Tzu) 의 '전쟁의 기술' 도!
Classics make up a small segment of the $25.1 billion U.S. publishing market, but they have the potential to turn into breakout hits. Demand soared for the 2001 translation of Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina," by Mr. Pevear and Ms. Volokhonsky, after Oprah Winfrey chose it for her book club in 2004; publisher Viking Penguin has sold more than 635,000 copies since its release in paperback. In comparison, many current novels sell fewer than 5,000 copies total.
고전은 250억달러('0' 3개 더하면 25,000,000,000,000원! 꽥!저..정말?!) 중에 아주 쬐끔 차지할 뿐이지만, 그 가능성만은 대박이라는거지. 2001년 톨스토이의 '안나 까레리나' 번역 이후( 아까 그 막강부부 번역가팀) 기대가 높아졌고, 바이킹 펭귄( 잠깐만, 잠깐만, 이거 이름이야? -_-;;)은 페이퍼백 내고, 6십3만5천부나 팔았다네. 요즘 소설들이 끽해야 5,000부나 팔리는 마당에 말이지.
Proponents say the new editions bring the language up to date, clearing away cobwebs and correcting mistakes in clunky, older texts. But some scholars and academics are troubled by the trend, citing the beauty and timelessness of the earlier translations -- a view supported by some literature fans.
지지자들은 새 버젼들은 최근 언어로 나와야 한다고 하는데, 모호한 옛말들은 다 치우고, 투박하고 오래된 텍스트에서의 실수를 교정해야하고. 근데, 어떤 학자드과 학계에서는 이런 경향들이 못마땅하다고 하는데, 초기 번역의 시대초월하는 아름다움을 지적하면서 말이지. - 그니깐 어떤 문학팬들은 그걸 지지하기도 한다.
PARIS, YOU WOMANIZING PRETTY BOY!
![[go to page]](http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/images/it_books09142004171604.gif) 1
For readers, more new translations mean more anxiety that they may choose -- or have already spent dozens of hours reading -- the "wrong" interpretation of Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky. A reviewer for the new "War and Peace" recently posted one suggestion on Amazon.com: "Perhaps you could develop a section on your Web site for these new translations, so we know what is available and what is coming."
독자들에게는 새로운 번역은 선택 혹은 이미 읽느라고 백만시간 쏟아부은 것에 대해 걱정거리만 더 하게 되는거지, 톨스토이나 도스토옢스키 번역의 '오류' 에 대해서 마이지. 새로운 '전쟁과 평화'를 읽은 사람이 아마존닷컴( ㄱ ㄱ ㅑ~ i love amazon!) 에 제안했어. ' 아마 당신은 당신 셀렉션에 이 새로운 번역을 추가할 수 있을 것이다. 우리는 앞으로 무엇이 가능하고, 무엇이 올지 안다 '
When blessed with golden reviews, the classics can become miniblockbusters. In 1990, Viking Penguin brought out Robert Fagles's translation of Homer's "The Iliad," followed by "The Odyssey" in 1996. Both were highly praised and have now sold an estimated 1.5 million copies. The publisher has high hopes for Mr. Fagles's next project, "The Aeneid." Barnes & Noble Inc., the country's largest book retailer, says it has already ordered about one-quarter of the 60,000-copy first printing.
말빨 죽이는 리뷰들에 고전들은 점점 미니블럭버스터가 되어 갈 수 있어. 1990년도에 바이킹 펭귄( 그니깐, 이름 맞지??) 이 로버트 페이글스(?) Fagles' 의 호머의 일리아드 번역을 선보였고, 1996년에 오디세이를 내놨지. 둘 다 평도 겁나 좋았고, 백오십만부나 팔렸다! 페이글씨의 다음 프로젝트인 '아에네이드' ( 나만 첨 듣는거야? -_-a) 에 대해 출판업자들은 기대가 크고, 미국서 가장 큰 도서소매점인 반스앤 노블스는 이미 초판본 6만부의 1/4를 주문해 놓았다고 하네! ( 왠지, 사야 할 것 같으)
The Oprah Factor오프라 효과
In January, Ms. Winfrey picked Marion Wiesel's new translation of husband Elie Wiesel's Holocaust memoir, "Night," originally published in French in 1958, as a book club selection. Today, there are more than 2.1 million hardcover and paperback copies in print in the U.S. So far, it is the most successful retranslated classic of the year
1월에 윈프리씨가 엘리Elie 위즐의 홀로코스트 기억' Night' ( 1958년 프랑스에서 출판되었던) 를 부인 마리온 위즐이 번역한걸 북클럽의 책으로 골랐는데, 지금가지 2백1십만부가 넘는 하드커버와 페이퍼백이 미국에서 팔렸어. 이건 올해의 가장 성공적인 재번역 케이스가 된게지.
Of the 172,000 new titles published last year in the U.S., industry experts estimate that fewer than 1,000 were literary works in translation. A new translation is not likely to hit the sales level of Dan Brown's 2003 best-seller "The Da Vinci Code," which has nearly 20 million copies in print in the U.S. -- but a successful edition can generate sales for 30 years or more, especially to the lucrative high school and college markets. And with the exception of modern classics, publishers don't need to pay author royalties, which adds to potential profits and the attractiveness of the niche. Publishers have traditionally paid only a flat fee to translators, but today, some star translators receive royalties as well.
십칠만이천개의 새로운 책이 작년에 미국에서 쏟아져 나왔는데, 업계 전문가들은 1000개도 못되는 책만이 번역본이라고 말한다. 새로운 번역은 2천만부가 팔린 댄 브라운의 2003년 베스트셀러 '다빈치 코드' 만큼 잘 팔리는건 아니지만 성공적인 판본은 30년 혹은 그보다 더 더 오래 팔릴 수 있다. 특히나 고등학교, 대학교 시장에서. 모던 클래식을 제외하곤 출판업자들이 작가들에게 로열티를 지불할 필요도 없어서 잠정적 이익을 더하고, 틈새마켓에 대한 매력을 더 한다. 출판업자들은 워낙에 정해진 수임료를 번역자들에게 지불해 왔는데, 요즘은 스타 번역가들 역시 새롭게 로얄티를 받고 있다!
'A JERKIN OF FINE PUCE'
| As the selection grows, some new translations have emerged as favorites among scholars and readers. Below, a list of five popular editions. |
| TITLE/AUTHOR |
TRANSLATOR/PUBLISHER |
COMMENTS |
'The Charterhouse of Parma'
Stendhal |
Richard Howard;
Modern Library, 1999 |
Michael Moore, head of the PEN Translation Committee, says this translation helped to spur wider interest in classics among publishers. "He made the book come alive," he says. "There is a freshness to his language." |
'Swann's Way'
Marcel Proust |
Lydia Davis;
Viking Penguin, 2003 |
Michael Leddy of Eastern Illinois University finds this version "extremely readable in all its complexity, that complexity being the complexity of Proust's sentences." |
'Don Quixote'
Miguel de Cervantes |
Edith Grossman;
Ecco, 2003 |
Reviewers have praised Ms. Grossman's use of modern language over archaic phrases. An older translation's "jerkin of fine puce" becomes a "light woolen tunic." |
'The Odyssey' and
'The Iliad' boxed set
by Homer |
Robert Fagles;
Viking Penguin, 1996 |
About 66,000 boxed sets have been sold, and Edith Aney Davidson, retired professor of world literature, says this version of "The Iliad" "rips right along." |
'The Magic Mountain'
Thomas Mann |
John E. Woods;
Everyman's Library, 1995 |
The original 1927 translation by H.T. Lowe-Porter "missed the point that Thomas Mann is a hilariously funny, ironic artist," says translator Richard Howard. |
One issue is whether literature becomes more accessible when it reflects the current rhythm and style of language. "The English language changes so rapidly that some words become archaic and get in the way of readers," says Michael Scammell, a professor of writing and translation at Columbia University in New York. He says he looks at translation as a musical performance: Just as there are many versions of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, translators may have their own interpretations of the words on the page.
Richard Howard, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and translator of more than 150 books from French into English, cites a 1995 John E. Woods translation of Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain" as a significant improvement over the original 1927 translation by H.T. Lowe-Porter. The older work, he says, was industrious but lackluster, while the newer version is more readable, imbued with humor and irony.
The first two sentences of Ms. Lowe-Porter's edition reads: "An unassuming young man was traveling, in mid summer, from his native city of Hamburg to Davos-Platz in the canton of the Grisons, on a three weeks visit. From Hamburg to Davos is a long journey -- too long, indeed, for so brief a stay." In the hands of Mr. Woods, the beginning reads: "An ordinary young man was on his way from his hometown of Hamburg to Davos-Platz in the canton of Graubunden. It was the height of summer, and he planned to stay for three weeks. It is a long trip, however, from Hamburg to those elevations -- too long, really, for so short a visit."
Still, some doubt whether all of the updates are necessary. "We don't always need new translations," says Andre Aciman, who teaches comparative literature at the City University Graduate Center at the City University of New York. He notes that the novels of Henry James and Jane Austen haven't been rewritten for younger generations.
An Unwelcome Change
He specifically criticizes the decision by Viking Penguin to change the title of the second volume of Marcel Proust's novel "À la recherche du temps perdu" in a 2004 translation, from "Within a Budding Grove" to "In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower." He describes the new title as "monstrous." "Do you know what that means, because I don't," he says.
The growing selection can result in extra homework for readers. Jeff Rubin, a writer and lecturer in Oberlin, Ohio, recently passed up the latest "War and Peace" and instead chose Rosemary Edmonds's translation, a Penguin Classics edition last revised in 1978. "I looked over the translator's qualifications and felt they were excellent," he says. ![[Plato]](http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/images/WK-AH263B_Class_20060803221220.gif)
Naturally, some translators aren't thrilled about the new versions, either. When Mr. Fagles's "The Aeneid" hits shelves, it will join more than a dozen translations already for sale. Competitors include one from Allen Mandelbaum, which was published by Bantam Books and won the 1973 National Book Award for translation. Bantam says it sells about 2,000 copies of the edition every month, with a total of more than 500,000 paperback copies in print.
Mr. Mandelbaum, a professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., questions whether the new version will be an improvement. "I don't think there is a need for it," he says. However, Paul Slovak, publisher of Viking, says, "Times change, and there is a sense that every generation can find a new translation that speaks to them."
The rivalry has carried over into book groups as well. In June, about 25 members of a Great Books discussion group met at the Milwaukee School of Engineering to discuss Miguel de Cervantes's "Don Quixote." While most had read a popular 2003 translation by Edith Grossman, others had read older versions, sparking a debate about which one best conveyed the author's intentions. "People were actually comparing translations," says Jane Glaser, a book club coordinator who attended.
Yet the most ambitious efforts can fall short. In May 2005, Everyman's Library published Mr. Woods's new translation of "Joseph and His Brothers" by Thomas Mann. The $42 volume, at 1,492 pages, was the biggest book ever published by the imprint. To date, sales are estimated at about 5,000 copies. Ms. Walther, the editorial director, says she is not discouraged. "When you publish classics, you are in it for the long haul," she says.
David Scott, a 43-year-old statistician in Pittsburgh, recently finished reading the new "War and Peace." (Viking says it has sold nearly 11,000 copies.) He could have bought one of several less-expensive paperback editions, but says he wanted to experience the novel's emotions through a contemporary translator. However, he now has some regrets that he didn't wait for next year's translation by Mr. Pevear and Ms. Volokhonsky.
"I wished I'd known. Briggs did a fine job: I'd give it a B plus. But the next one may be an A," he says. "That said, the best thing would be to learn Russian."
Write to Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg at jeffrey.trachtenberg@wsj.com3
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