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p_t_b 's review for:
Dead Souls
by Nikolai Gogol
The first time i read this was probably 1998 and then again somehwere in the aughts
2014: Re-read of a newer translation. Still one of my favorites, top ten all time just in terms of altering my understanding of what writing can be like. I still prefer the runyonesque guerney translation from the 1930s. This P&V feels much more sedate, less joyous, less puckish.
2018: Re-re-re-read: i cant keep track of which edition/translation this page marks but i'm here to talk about the bernard guilbert guerney translation, edited by suzanne russo. re-read it this december because there are conditions of the soul which can only be addressed by vaguely psychedelic early 19th century picaresque fiction. i dipped into a bunch of different translations and i really cannot stress 1) i speak like a grand total of 8 words of russian so have zero grounds for judgment apart from the english ear-feel of the translations 2) the guerney translation is SO MUCH BETTER than the P&V. the P&V feels like fussy antique fidgeting. guerney feels like finding out your great great great grandparents were secretly weird.
2014: Re-read of a newer translation. Still one of my favorites, top ten all time just in terms of altering my understanding of what writing can be like. I still prefer the runyonesque guerney translation from the 1930s. This P&V feels much more sedate, less joyous, less puckish.
2018: Re-re-re-read: i cant keep track of which edition/translation this page marks but i'm here to talk about the bernard guilbert guerney translation, edited by suzanne russo. re-read it this december because there are conditions of the soul which can only be addressed by vaguely psychedelic early 19th century picaresque fiction. i dipped into a bunch of different translations and i really cannot stress 1) i speak like a grand total of 8 words of russian so have zero grounds for judgment apart from the english ear-feel of the translations 2) the guerney translation is SO MUCH BETTER than the P&V. the P&V feels like fussy antique fidgeting. guerney feels like finding out your great great great grandparents were secretly weird.