Good Translation of Borges?

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I am wanting to buy a collection of some of Borges's work, as I've never read anything by him (at least that I can remember) and was going to buy this (http://www.amazon.com/Collected-Fictions-Jorge-Luis-Borges/dp/0140286802/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296419502&sr=8-1) until I read some of the one star reviews claiming how bad of a translation it is, though many fail to say why.

Anyways, I know there are a few members on here who are very familiar with Borges, so before I made a purchase, thought I'd check with you all and see what you thought.

[dfloyd]

Emece Editores and published by The Limited Editions Club which usually provides very good translations. It was translated in Buenos Aires.

[JCamilo]

how was his name... Norman di Giovanni (check it) became a personal friend of borges and they worked together translating Borges. So, you almost have Borges translating himself.

[MystyrMystyry]

I downloaded the complete Spanish originals and thought I could get Live Search to translate it with me doing the extra work of making it legible - no luck so far (getting it to translate at all I mean)

[Mr.lucifer]

is andrew huxley any good?

[stlukesguild]

The three volume Penguin set of Collected Fictions, Selected Non-Fictions, and Selected Poems is quite fine:

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These three fine volumes cover pretty much the essential core of Borges' oeuvre in English although I would also highly recommend Other Inquisitions:

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A marvelous collection of Borges essays... a good many of which are not included in the "Selected Non-Fictions". I would also recommend Dreamtigers... a collection of short fictions, essays, poems, and aphorisms selected by Borges himself with direct oversight to the translation made during his stay in the US:

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Beyond this... I would only recommend other volumes for Borges fanatics (such as myself) or for someone who wishes to just get a taste of the author. The best smaller collections are certainly the classic New Directions Labyrinths, by which many Americans, myself included, first came upon Borges before fuller translations were available:

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Or there's the Grove Press Ficciones:

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The other Penguin volumes have great cover art and all...

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But these offer nothing not already in the 3 volume Collected Works set. Besides... I actually like the original cover art even more:

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[stlukesguild]

how was his name... Norman di Giovanni (check it) became a personal friend of borges and they worked together translating Borges. So, you almost have Borges translating himself.

Norman Thomas di Giovanni translated a few volumes of tales (Doctor Brodie's Report and The Book of Sand as well as an out of print translation of Borges' poetry.) I really didn't notice a great difference in quality between Giovanni's translations and those of the Penguin volume which employs multiple translators including W.S. Merwin, Mark Strand, Willis Barnstone, Robert Fitzgerald, etc...

[Mr.lucifer]

How good is huxley? I bought the collected fictions edition and I would like to know if I bought a good translation

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Cool. I wanted to by the Penguin Collected Fictions edition since it seemed to have the most "bang for the buck," as it were. Wasn't sure about it with the bad translation claims, but if it's got StLuke's endorsement (being a huge Borges fan and all), that's good enough for me :nod:. And, StLukes, thanks for the detailed rundown. That Aleph and Other Stories is almost worth the buy for the awesome cover.

[JCamilo]

how was his name... Norman di Giovanni (check it) became a personal friend of borges and they worked together translating Borges. So, you almost have Borges translating himself.

Norman Thomas di Giovanni translated a few volumes of tales (Doctor Brodie's Report and The Book of Sand as well as an out of print translation of Borges' poetry.) I really didn't notice a great difference in quality between Giovanni's translations and those of the Penguin volume which employs multiple translators including W.S. Merwin, Mark Strand, Willis Barnstone, Robert Fitzgerald, etc...

Of course, I read neither. But according to both, having Borges as "secretary" during the translation was fun because at some point Borges started to suggest words so he could do his "double meaning" game in english too. This does not means much as good or bad translation and maybe can only be seen if someone reads the original and the translation, but the promisse of another potential Borges is always interesting.

[Jozanny]

I purchased a slim volume of Everything And Nothing within the last year, and it has four translators listed including Donald Yates, but I am not prepared to go through my limited fluency in Italian to parse Borges in his native tongue, if ever. Good luck Mutatis.

[OrphanPip]

I have the penguin collected fictions and haven't seen any problems with it, but then I don't speak Spanish so I can't comment on the quality of the translation.

[stlukesguild]

How good is huxley? I bought the collected fictions edition and I would like to know if I bought a good translation

Only someone fluent in both Spanish and English could answer that fully... and only after having read both the translation and the original. I have read the Huxley translations again and again and find they read fine as English... enough so to make me want to read them again and again.

[Mr.lucifer]

Thats good enough for me then. I may never read the originals.

[Drkshadow03]

I have the Penguin Collected Fiction trans by Huxley. I also have the Grove Press Ficciones trans. Emecé Editores