About Me

Interested in classic novels (Dickens, Twain, Tolstoy, Austen), Wm. Faulkner, Louis Ferdinand Celine, plays by Chekhov, screenplays by Preston Sturges.

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• A Damsel in Distress finished
• Madame de Staël finished
• Book: The Sequel finished
• Anna Karenina finished

  Great book, but there are better translations into English. I read this C. Garnett translation simultaneously with 2 others -- the 1918 translation by Louise Maude (better) and the 2000 one by husband and wife team Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (best). Louise and her husband Aylmer knew Tolstoy personally -- her translation cites her husband's name first, but he concentrated on translating Tostoy's non-fiction philosophical works, while Louise (who was born in Russia of a British family) worked on the fiction. Pevear and VoloKhonsky eac h prepare translations independently of one another, and then combine the best of both.-- George M I posted this on 09 April 2009
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• Wikipedia Tour: Wine 101 finished

Question of the Week - 10 Must-Read Classic Books

Anna Karenina by Tolstoy

I posted this topic 6 months ago. Replies (61)

Reader Challenges - 6 Word Autobiography

Opinionated screwball librarian promotes Preston Sturges.

I posted this topic 4 years ago. Replies (574)

Anna Karenina - Well written

In 1927 Greta Garbo portrayed Anna in a silent film titled "Love" (but updated it to the 1920s)Then in 1935 Garbo again in a more faithful talking version. 1948 -- a faithful version with Vivien Leigh. 1967 -- faithful Russian version with Tatiana Samoilova (DVD has option of dubbed English or English subtitles). 1985 -- made fo TV version with Jacqueline Bisset. 1997-- Sophie Marceau as Anna with title "Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina" (filmed in St.Petersburg, but regarded by critic Leonard Maltin as a "passionless" version ! -- George M

I posted this topic 4 years ago. Reply (1)

Anna Karenina - Great book, but there are better translations into English.

I read this C. Garnett translation simultaneously with 2 others -- the 1918 translation by Louise Maude (better) and the 2000 one by husband and wife team Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (best). Louise and her husband Aylmer knew Tolstoy personally -- her translation cites her husband's name first, but he concentrated on translating Tostoy's non-fiction philosophical works, while Louise (who was born in Russia of a British family) worked on the fiction. Pevear and VoloKhonsky eac h prepare translations independently of one another, and then combine the best of both.-- George M

I posted this topic 4 years ago. Replies (0)