The Best WAR & PEACE English Translation of All Time?

[Peter Scotto]

It was my strong impression that she does not read Russian, and that her
criticism was based on some sort of intuitive and superior literary sensibility
that she believed she possessed.

I entirely agree with your assessment of her review.

(It's weird, huh? They've got Marshall Poe working on the staff of the Atlantic,
and they farm the review out to some writing-program ... type.)

Peter Scotto
Mount Holyoke College

> The upcoming (2006) Tolstoy Studies Journal will have an article by Hugh
> McLean, reviewing Briggs' translation. 
> 
> For what it's worth, I thought the review (of Briggs' translation) in
> The Atlantic was wretched and petty. I'm not aware Simpson reads Russian
> or even did much homework. Her cavils struck me as beside the point --
> an excuse to make a few passing light observations on Tolstoy, not a
> real assessment of a translation's worth.
> 
> I believe the doughy duo of Pevear/Volkhonksy are also at work on a W&P
> translation. 
> 
> Best,
> mad
> ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
>    Dr. Michael A. Denner
>    Editor, Tolstoy Studies Journal
>    Director, University Honors Program
>    
>    Contact Information:
>       Russian Studies Program
>       Stetson University
>       Campus Box 8361
>       DeLand, FL 32720-3756
>       386.822.7381 (department)
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> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
> [mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] On Behalf Of Donna Orwin
> Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2006 10:36 AM
> To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] The Best WAR & PEACE English Translation of All
> Time?
> 
> Dear Colleagues,
> 
> I agree with Rob Chandler that the David Remnick article was unfair to
> Constance Garnett. The Remnick article also represents the very good
> Pevear/Volokhonsky translation of Anna Karnenina as the only worthwhile
> one available.  It's not.  I refer you to Hugh McLean's outstanding
> article on the subject ("Which English Anna?") in the 2001 issue Tolstoy
> Studies Journal and a follow-up discussion in the 2002 issue by Carol
> Flath and Richard Sheldon, with a response by McLean.  McLean compares 7
> translations, all still in print. Neither he nor the other two critics
> find the new Pevear/Volokhonsky translation to be unequivocally better
> than certain other ones, and both McLean and Flath have high praise for
> the Garnett translation revised by Kent and Berberova (Modern Library). 
> 
> For those interested, the 2002 TSJ also contains an article by A.D.P.
> Briggs about his translation of War and Peace.
> 
> All the best,
> 
> Donna Orwin 
> 
> ----------------------------
> Prof. Donna Tussing Orwin
> President, Tolstoy Society
> Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
> University of Toronto
> Alumni Hall 415
> 121 St. Joseph St. 
> Toronto. ON M5S 1J4
> Tel. 416-926-1300. ext. 3316
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
> [mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU] On Behalf Of Robert Chandler
> Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2006 1:52 AM
> To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] The Best WAR & PEACE English Translation of All
> Time?
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> Russell Valentino writes:
> > The David Remnick NY-er piece was in the November 7 number for 2005.
> It
> > doesn't say a lot about War and Peace specifically, though it does
> note that
> > it's the next big project of Pevear and Volokhonskaya. It mentions the
> new
> > Briggs  translation (which is not among those I've used in class).
> Briggs's is a good translation.
> 
> >It also doesn't make Constance Garnett look so good. And it's
> entertaining,
> I was struck more by the cheapness of the numerous jeers at Constance
> Garnett.  She was a highly intelligent lady, with both courage and
> judgment.
> While retranslating various C19 stories for my Penguin Classics
> anthology, I
> usually had four or five previous translations open on my desk.  Hers
> was
> almost always the best, both in terms of accuracy and in terms of
> preserving
> the 'foreignness' of the original.  Yes, her dialogue is often stiff,
> but
> that criticism can be made of many other translators, including recent
> ones.
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Robert
> 
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