O.G. Original Geek.

[realexplodingcat]

You can have your new films based on obscure comics, I don't want 'em. Go ahead, upgrade your computer with the latest sexy hardware and install an operating system nobody but you and that guy in the office basement who smells like Cheetos understands. Take your Arcade Fire 7" and deep-fry it with a cupcake. I just found out that Robert Fagles translated Virgil's "Aeneid." I'm totally cracking that book in November 06 when it drops. OMG retired Princeton professors are so hot! This is almost as cool as the time Michael Palma translated Dante's "Inferno" into English without sacrificing the terza rima back in 03. So fetch! I can't wait 'til November. Until then, I've got Plato's "Republic" to keep me busy. Richard W. Sterling and William C. Scott are blowing my mind with their prose. Nobody can render ancient Greek as crunk as these old Dartmouth professors.

Comments

[oceanic.livejournal.com]

Sounds like I'll have to read Palma now. Curse you. :)
But yeah, the race is on for Purgatorio-- though I found an 1892 copy at the local library sale (!!) so I'm set for the moment.

I don't think any translation can be truly accurate if it turns a piece that flows in its original language into a stilted, prose-like beast in the translated language. Of course, the hard part is deciding how much text accuracy you're going to sacrifice to that end.

[explodingcat.livejournal.com]

I guess it depends on how you define "accurate". Mandelbaum is definitely a prose-like beast, but from what I understand he conveys the intended word-for-word meaning of the text accurately at the expense of an accurate poetic flow. I do blame him for never actually getting very far into reading Purgatorio. I bought his three volume set as my first Dante experience in the early 90s (before the recent deluge of Inferno translations). It is generally agreed that Inferno is the best of Dante's trilogy and most fun to read under any condition, including the dense blank verse of Mandelbaum. Purgatorio was made extra challenging and extra boring by Mandelbaum's translation and I just couldn't get through it.

By the way, this is actually my first introduction to Dante (http://www.darkridethrills.com/page.cfm?pagea=5). I spent many summers on the New Jersey shore, including this pier in Wildwood. I used to stand outside this ride, staring up at it, too terrified to go in but simultaneously attracted to it. The large mural on the front was filled with ghastly depictions of various tortures described in the poem. I hear it has since been repainted and tamed down to an appalling kid-safe level. But I credit this ride with inspiring my interest in Dante's work.