/lit/ - Literature

>>13131838
no, the english language is the best language. Even Proust's ISoLT translation won an award, for being so good, i'd say even better than original.

>t. german and know english,french,spanish and of-course german

>>13131838
Dios mio

>>13131843
>Moncrieff's translation being better than the original

Proselet spotted. Moncrieff is good but stylistically he's leagues below Proust, not that it's surprising.

In the case of Infinite Jest, it should be read in English.

>>13131838
LOL
English is the dread and envy of all other (and hence, lesser) languages.

>>13131838
I think you shouldn't bother reading at all.

>>13131838
If the tone of the work is some pop-culture-fed postgrad chatting shit while stoned I don't see how translation could be other than a downgrade. IJ is all about its contemporary idiom.

>>13131838
what else u have?

>>13132121
The only correct answer.

пpивeт бpaтaн

I know it has to feel bad when you can only read the most inferiour of languages but please don't feel so stupid and insecure about it guys

>>13132269

English isnt the best but its strongest quality is its versatility. It can be used germanically or romantically, and even with room in the middle. Of course, either ends of its spectrum aren't greater than the zeniths if that which it relates to, but its sheer ability to do so is what makes it valuable. That being said, i find the best use of English the American, because it finds a middle ground of the two poles. The verse of Whitman, prose of Melville, or Faulkner, I believe, example some of the highest levels of beauty and variability in English lanfuage. Paradise Lost uses English like it's German, so naturally it won't overtake Goethe. And the British romantics use English like it's french, so they can't overtake Baudelaire. However, the bridge which Americans have found is neigh incomparable. And mind you, the above examples ive referenced are also very good in their own righrs. English isnt perfect, but it's ignorant to debase it.

>>13132184
>>13132121
beats me why you faggots frequent this board

>reading only for the essence of a book
>not appreciating wordplay intended by the author, which might not work in translations

>>13132307
Absolutely misguided and nonsensical.

>>13131843
Which translator?

>>13132083
For what it's worth, Vladimir Nabokov, when asked which was the best language, replied: "My head says English, my ear says French, my heart says Russian".

English is rich in nouns and verbs, while Russian is rich in moods and tenses. English can describe physical objects extremely well. Russian can describe mental states extremely well. Or so I've read.

>>13131838
it depends on your english level. pain of using dictionary every 2 seconds will probably outweight everything.

>>13131838
Whenever possible a book should be read in its original language in my opinion because languages have different structures that give differing effects sometimes not possible to be conveyed in the other
>>13132372
Nabokov also said Dostoevsky was a “mediocre” writer. He had some firm controversial opinions

If you have the ability to read a work in it's original language, that's what you should be doing, regardless of its original language.