tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post41034024134285096..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: they are sweet, harsh; they quench your thirst - the prose of The ImmoralistAmateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-69681966680715008612011-03-26T21:19:30.513-05:002011-03-26T21:19:30.513-05:00Plausible up to a point, Kevin. Likely if you mea...Plausible up to a point, Kevin. Likely if you mean reading Gide, or Nietszche, without allowing for irony.<br /><br />Once I realized that there was no need to take Michel's ideas seriously, <i>The Immoralist</i> became highly enjoyable.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-3942040405320255752011-03-26T12:24:24.387-05:002011-03-26T12:24:24.387-05:00I wonder if reading Gide, in particular The Immora...I wonder if reading Gide, in particular The Immoralist, is only enjoyable at a certain stage of life? You know, the wonder years of being a first-year freshman at college. At least that was my experience. Like so much of Nietzsche's writings, too, Gide reads like rock 'n roll to the soul right up to the point where one's character begins to take definitive shape, up to the point where one has to earn $ to meet such prosaic needs as shoving a carrot in your mouth or buying diapers for a squalling, quivering lump of 3-mos old flesh, etc. <br /><br />Cheers,<br />KInterpolationshttp://interpolations.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-41491572607819976532011-03-25T21:55:24.536-05:002011-03-25T21:55:24.536-05:00I've made my peace with translation - I embrac...I've made my peace with translation - I embrace it, in fact. The pitfalls and howlers are part of the fun of literature in translation. Plus, I have great respect for skilled translators, and even have a pantheon of favorites, Howard among them. And in the end, what choice do I have? <br /><br />When I read poems in translation, I often do some checking against the original language, or I compare different translations. A lot of my posts about French poetry - too many, perhaps - work this theme.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-5916184361013861372011-03-25T21:40:12.240-05:002011-03-25T21:40:12.240-05:00Yes, I saw your first post after I commented and d...Yes, I saw your first post after I commented and discovered you were reading the Howard. I haven't checked them word for word but your excerpt's translation looks very similar to mine. (I've actually got a word document with the first para of three translations. The Howard is different there from my Watson.<br /><br />True, you are writing about the book you read but I always feel a little self-conscious discussing the actual language of a translated book just because it's mediated. I want to read foreign language books but this mediation always bothers me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-23284948996998258202011-03-25T21:23:05.496-05:002011-03-25T21:23:05.496-05:00I know what you mean - it's a slippery novel.
...I know what you mean - it's a slippery novel.<br /><br />I am actually reading the Richard Howard translation. Howard is a translator whom I have read many times, always with fine results. <br /><br />The plain-spoken precision, the often simple vocabulary, the occasional odd bursts of something else - yes, I assume the French is similar. And even if it's not, I'm writing about the book I read.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-55384769642894243422011-03-25T18:01:54.994-05:002011-03-25T18:01:54.994-05:00Ha, how very funny! Anyhow, I'm still intrigue...Ha, how very funny! Anyhow, I'm still intrigued about The immoralist. My next review - which may or may not be my next post - will probably be on it BUT I need to go back and check my notes to work out exactly what I DO think about it.<br /><br />Re the language. How much do you put it down to translation? Though I suspect the things you are speaking of are pretty independent of translation issues. Looks like you are reading the Watson translation as I am?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com