I have read this book before and I really liked it. I enjoy reading things over again because I miss things the first time. I have tried that with this novel and couldn't do it. It is so long! Once again I am going to have to stop reading once I have begun. The reason for this is that Dune came in from the library. I have been looking forward to reading it and when I went to go check it out, they were all gone. This morning I received the e-mail giving me the news that it was ready. Since they were only going to hold it for a short time I had to abandon Anna for the time being and pick it up later. But not before I have a few things to say.
First I think that when reading a novel written in another language you find a good translation. That can make all the difference. True, a lot of the Russian writers like Tolstoy are a little long-winded, just look at the size of their novels. The understanding of the novel and a lot of the enjoyment can come from the translation and how the book flows in English. The version that I have of Anna Karenina was featured on Opera's Book Club and I really like it. Pevear and Volokhhonsky are the names of the translators. Since I have a copy of Crime and Punishment but can't seem to get through it, I was overjoyed to find that they also have done a translation of that work. What I find really helpful is the list of characters at the beginning that list their family and all their nicknames. So many characters have nicknames that are common in Russia but don't mean a lot to a modern American reader. The list helps. So a Top Reader Top Tip, if you are going to read a foreign novel, it is all about translation, translation, translation.
So there, I will now put down Anna Karenina, hop on my scooter and get Dune. There is a pause in the action but it will resume shortly.
No comments:
Post a Comment