Goethe's Young Werther- best translation?

[Atsab]

I want to begin my exploration into Goethe-world with his first major work, The Sorrows of Young Werther (sometimes translated as "The Sadness of..."). There are a BUNCH of translations out there and I have NO IDEA which one is the best, or at least the most generally appreciated, universally praised, or confirmed authoritative. Burton Pike's seems to get the most online press, but it's also the newest. W. H. Auden championed the Mayer-Bogen version, but he's biased because he translated the poetry inside. He's cool, though, I kind of trust him. The Signet version seems bad, the Penguin Classics edition has extensive footnotes...

Which one should I get? Can anyone who's read more than one recommend their favorite, or can anyone at least defend/criticize the one they read?

thanks, this is driving me nuts.

[LitNetIsGreat]

I'm sorry I have not read any of Goethe to my shame.

On the same question without needing to start another thread, can anyone recommend a translation Dante's Divine Comedy, I'm thinking of going with Oxford World Classics simply because it is from a source I am familiar with and it is one volume which I would prefer? Thanks.

[stlukesguild]

As to the Goethe... I read the Signet translation many years ago... and the Everyman version by Elizabeth Mayer and Louise Bogan. I enjoyed both... and can't say I felt one stood out. I might just go with the Burton Pike version which is acclaimed as the "definitive" English version... which in terms of translations, simply means it is the version most to the current tastes.

As for The Comedia... John Ciardi's was my first exposure to Dante... and as such will always hold a dear spot. I would have no problem recommending Allen Mandelbaum's, Mark Musa's, Robert Pinsky's Inferno, W.S. Merwin's Purgatorio, Jean and Robert Hollander's, and certainly Longfellow's version. Dante is such a giant figure that he should be read in several translations... or the original, if at all possible.

[mortalterror]

Can't speak to the Goethe because I'm not that big a fan, but on the Dante I'd stay away from the Ciardi and Musa translations. I tried the first five or six cantos in half a dozen translations when looking for a version to reread. The Ciardi was the smoothest of all the translations out there bar none. It felt modern and the diction was consistent, whereas even the best of the others seemed to stumble over the occasional obscure word or archaic term. After a couple of cantos though I noticed something was wrong and I wasn't getting the same type of thrill as I usually get from reading The Divine Comedy. The words weren't effecting me. I made a comparison with a couple of other translations I had out from the library and there's more Ciardi in his translation than there is Dante.

As far as the Musa edition goes, I've read two translations by him. His prose Decameron was fine, but his verse Canzoniere was wanting. He seemed to have some poetry troubles. The Longfellow is beautiful and effective, but it doesn't have good notes, and without commentary you'd be lost. From what I've seen of the Pinsky, it's just an also ran. A lot of good poets don't make great translators and I don't think he's an exception. However, W.S. Merwin might be. All of the translations I've read of his have been from the French but they were unvaryingly excellent. Mandelbaum wrote one of the better comedies out there, but I still recommend Dorothy L. Sayers for Dante. You can find her work in Penguin.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Thanks for the tips all, I have ordered the Mandelbaum translation from Everyman. As well as it being a recomended translation, which is the most important thing, another selling factor is that it is complete with notes and 42 of Boticelli's illustrations, all in one copy.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Divine-Comedy-Everymans-Library-Classics/dp/1857151836/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221764848&sr=1-1

[Atsab]

Illustrations for Dante tend to be amazing. Botticelli's are of course magnificent, but Gustave Dore's have a certain mood that I think fits very naturally, and William Blake's are perhaps the most expressive of all. I would go so far as to say any reading of Dante is incomplete without consulting these works as well.

Anyone else want to throw down on that Goethe issue? ...please?

[JBI]

I dunno - personally I just stay away from almost everything published by Everyman, as they seem to hire/use the cheapest translations available to them. I got a Goethe Faust from them once, and the version was so boring and unfashionable, that I wasn't surprised to see 1908 or something close to that on the publication date.

[LitNetIsGreat]

I dunno - personally I just stay away from almost everything published by Everyman, as they seem to hire/use the cheapest translations available to them. I got a Goethe Faust from them once, and the version was so boring and unfashionable, that I wasn't surprised to see 1908 or something close to that on the publication date.

Maybe in some cases, but this book appears really good, real quality and I have spent much of my time simply looking and feeling it - it's that attractive! Of course the translation is the main thing, but I trust those above and have heard that Mandelbaum's translation is very good from other sources too.