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A review by spacestationtrustfund
Петербург by Andrei Bely
4.0
Andrey Beliy (Андрей Белый)'s «Петербург» has been translated four times into English, and determining which is the best also depends on which version of the Russian text you take as the "correct" one. The novel was first published in serial format from 1913 to 1914, then in a single volume in 1916. Prior to its republication in 1922, Beliy drastically revised the text; further changes were made alongside further reprintings in 1918 and 1935 and so on. The most significant differences are between the 1916 version (П.-A) and the 1922 version (П.-B); those are therefore considered the "main" versions.
П.-A (1916) was nearly halved in the process of becoming П.-B (1922). Much of what was removed happened to be the more experimental (nay symbolist) passages; the overall structural format of the text was also streamlined considerably. Of the four major English-language translations produced over the past century, two are of П.-A (1916) and two are of П.-B (1922).
П.-A (1916) was nearly halved in the process of becoming П.-B (1922). Much of what was removed happened to be the more experimental (nay symbolist) passages; the overall structural format of the text was also streamlined considerably. Of the four major English-language translations produced over the past century, two are of П.-A (1916) and two are of П.-B (1922).
JOHN COURNOS (1959)Cournos's translation, published under the title St. Petersburg, used П.-A. (1916) as its source text. Cournos, born Ivan Grigorievich Korshun (Иван Григорьевич Коршун) in Zhytomyr (now in Ukraine), was a ridiculously cool person who spoke Yiddish, Russian, German, Hebrew, and English. This translation, however, isn't great; it's really not worth reading unless you, like me, are interested in comparing all extant versions.
ROBERT A. MAGUIRE & JOHN E. MALMSTAD (1978)Maguire's and Malmstad's translation, published under the title Petersburg, used П.-A. (1916) as its source text. This is, in my opinion, the best by far, if for no other reason than the extensive scholarship included along with the actual translated text.
DAVID McDUFF (1995)McDuff's translation, published under the title Petersburg, used П.-B. (1922) as its source text. In the process of changing П.-A. (1916) to П.-B. (1922), Beliy not only removed various sections (mostly those related to the revolutionary movement and political terrorism) but also changed the foot of his prose to amphibrach instead of anapest. While preserving the linguistic details in Beliy's Russian writing is frankly impossible, McDuff does a decent job at maintaining the general feeling of the novel—which is why it's such a shame that he didn't translate П.-A. (1916) instead.
JOHN ELSWORTH (2009)Elsworth's translation, published under the title Petersburg, used П.-B. (1922) as its source text. Elsworth's translation won the Rossica Translation Prize in 2012, and Elsworth himself has written extensively on Beliy. It's unfortunate that Elsworth translated П.-B. (1922) rather than П.-A. (1916), because Elsworth's translation and comprehension of Beliy's work are both quite good; however, П.-B. (1922) is generally considered a significant downgrade from the original text, and I can't disagree.