Which Translation Should You Read? The Best English Translations of 10 Classic Novels | Chapterly Blog
Which Translation Should You Read? The Best English Translations of 10 Classic Novels Quick Answer: Translation choice changes a classic novel more than most readers expect — the same Russian sentence can read as warm and direct in one English translation and formal and distant in another. As a general rule: Pevear and Volokhonsky are the modern default for Russian literature (closer to Tolstoy's and Dostoevsky's actual sentence rhythm, sometimes at the cost of easy readability), Constance Garnett is the smoother, more old-fashioned option still worth reading for Chekhov and shorter Dostoevsky, and for Greek epic, Emily Wilson's Odyssey and Iliad are the current standard for clarity without dumbing anything down. Below are specific, opinionated recommendations for 10 commonly-read classics, plus what actually differs between competing translations so you can make the call yourself on books not listed here. Pick up two different English translations of the opening line of Anna Karenina and you will get two different books. Constance Garnett, translating in 1901, renders it as "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." Pevear and Volokhonsky, working a century later with a stated goal of preserving Tolstoy's actual syntax, land on almost...