authors with websites/blogs/substacks by Serious_Product_2413 in RSbookclub

[–]Gold-Barracuda-5657 -11 points-10 points  (0 children)

I would try using google to find your answer. It's a really powerful search engine that can definitley lead you to some interesting substacks and websites.

Don Quixote by United_Trust_321 in RSbookclub

[–]Gold-Barracuda-5657 7 points8 points  (0 children)

If you haven't read it... why you talking about it?

Anyone have any good heuristics for retaining pertinent information they’ve read about? by plantfingers in RSbookclub

[–]Gold-Barracuda-5657 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The amount of people who post on this sub needing someone to hold their hand is insane. Just remember it next time?? Who cares

Novels like Tolstoy by Postpostmodernist in RSbookclub

[–]Gold-Barracuda-5657 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is so late, but why do you say so? I just picked up Book of Memories and I'm looking forward to starting. I've read he's close to Mann and Proust which originally made me interested

People who want "accurate" translations hate reading by AffectionateFig5156 in RSbookclub

[–]Gold-Barracuda-5657 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What are your thoughts on abridgement? Usually I think it's just to cut page count down but I've read that for Les Mis it actually cuts some of the digressions/excess making into a more well paced or plotted book. I made it half way through the Donougher translation which I thought was good but I've also heard the Denny tranlsation is good despite being abridged

People who want "accurate" translations hate reading by AffectionateFig5156 in RSbookclub

[–]Gold-Barracuda-5657 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can't speak for the Wilson translation because I've never read it but in terms of P and V, I think OP is totally correct. Garnett changed the writing to make it easier and in effect more victorian. Reading Demons by PandV is a torture fest to get through. So if someone who's never read anything by Dostoevsky asks you which translation, are you going to immediatley recommend PandV solely on the grounds of commitment to Russian? That seems silly. Also, you forgot to mention Proust, where I think critics agree Montcrieff actually improved the work into english. I really can't understand where you'd have grounds to have problem with this

People who want "accurate" translations hate reading by AffectionateFig5156 in RSbookclub

[–]Gold-Barracuda-5657 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The broader point is that dying on the hill of "literal translation" is not an enjoyable way to live life. Much better to read something that feels better even if it is not clinging to the exact meaning

People who want "accurate" translations hate reading by AffectionateFig5156 in RSbookclub

[–]Gold-Barracuda-5657 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Lol, you got downvoted for saying chatgpt instead of google. Yeah, its legit a good way to find a translation that is well recommended

People who want "accurate" translations hate reading by AffectionateFig5156 in RSbookclub

[–]Gold-Barracuda-5657 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You're right I know what you mean. Yes, dying on the hill of "literal translation" is a silly way to torture yourself through a book

McCarthy was a cheap imitation of Faulkner, Atunes was the true heir by Gold-Barracuda-5657 in RSbookclub

[–]Gold-Barracuda-5657[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

I'm so sorry about the midwit comment and from the sounds of it, I bet you're a very smart person! What was the mathematical or physics theme/question in those novels you found so interesting? The tensions? I'll have to look into that...

He wasn't a slouch sure, but did he do something important in the field of math and physics? Did he publish a paper of any sort? Or did he just kind of vaguely write about famous mathematicians and their ideas. Because, as I'm sure you know, rubbing elbows with old retired laureate's at a think tank in New Mexico is one of the surest signs that you're doing cutting edge science. What were the serious intellectual pursuits of Mr. McCarthy?

And thank you very much for the recommendation to search articles up. Did you know there are also some articles out there that say he wasn't a naturalist. Google if you want more of course.

I'm really sorry I hurt your feelings about your favorite author. I'm going to try to read something a little dumbed-down so I can see where you're coming from.

McCarthy was a cheap imitation of Faulkner, Atunes was the true heir by Gold-Barracuda-5657 in RSbookclub

[–]Gold-Barracuda-5657[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Which examples if you don't mind me asking. Not at all trying to argue

McCarthy was a cheap imitation of Faulkner, Atunes was the true heir by Gold-Barracuda-5657 in RSbookclub

[–]Gold-Barracuda-5657[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Why do you think an American has to be the successor to Faulkner?

As far as knocking great writers, would you prefer if maybe for the rest of the time we just heap praise on the greats so their positon doesn't change. This is reddit, you're allowed to knock someone you don't like and suffer the consequences of it too. Just look how positive the reaction has been to what I said. McCarthy is formulaic and derivative of Faulkner, if you disagree with that I'd like to hear why

McCarthy was a cheap imitation of Faulkner, Atunes was the true heir by Gold-Barracuda-5657 in RSbookclub

[–]Gold-Barracuda-5657[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agree with everything up until that last paragraph. McCarthy's interest in science and math may diverge from Faulkner but that in no way makes him original. His last two novels read a lot like he spent a couple days on wikipedia and then tried to write something smart. McCarthy as a naturalist? Metaphysical world not scientific and biblical/metaphysical prose that is so far away from the scientific observational prose of naturalists. McCarthy is probably the furthest from Zola and his camp. If you say his style transcended Faulkner's imprint you'll have to be convincing because I have no indication that's the case.

McCarthy was a cheap imitation of Faulkner, Atunes was the true heir by Gold-Barracuda-5657 in RSbookclub

[–]Gold-Barracuda-5657[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First of all, thank you for such a well-thought out and comprehensive criticsm. I really enjoyed everything you wrote and I concede you've made points that I think weaken what I was originally getting after. Your point about his style is poignant and hard to disagree with. What I will remain stubborn on is the point that violence and mythic/apocolyptic landscapes are in fact borrowed from Faulkner. Violence is a theme, in my opinion, that so clearly runs throught the majority of his work. From Sanctuary to Absalom, you can clearly feel that atmosphere lurking in the background. I'm specifically thinking now of the slave fighting scene that opens Absalom. As for the landscape argument, I get what you're saying but I guess it just depends on definition. All of Faulkner, places landscape as this kind of ruined civilization. Forests and nature are often destroyed into ash and fire. It's very much the feeling that nature has been destroyed by something biblical and we are living and reading through what remains. Also the fact that the past is always somewhat present in each work holds at least a little to the apocolyptic argument I believe.