For readers who speak multiple languages, but not the original language of the work in question, how do you go about picking the best translation?
For example, I’d like to pick up Virgil’s Aeneid, but my Latin is not good enough to allow me to sight read it. I can choose between any of the Italian, French or English translations, but I’m not sure which one to pick?
I thought that in this case the Italian one might be the best as it would be “closer” to the original Latin? But how much value should I put on the authorial input/style of the translators themelves?
I usually pick English translations, but I’m now wondering whether I’ve been missing out on some great translations.
Usually the one most readily available is the one in my native language, often the only one that’s easy to find. It’s not really a matter of “which to pick”.
I read in French if the book was originally written in French. I deliberately seek out great French books to read.
For any other language, I read an English (my native language) translation.
I can speak and read some other languages (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese , German) at a pretty basic level but not well enough to read novels without investing a lot of extra time.
When a famous book has multiple English translations that are equally available, I might research to choose which one most people think is the best one, but that’s rare. I usually just read whatever English translation I can get at the library.
If I can’t find an English version of something originally written in, say, German, Spanish, Italian or Japanese, I read it in French. I did that with a Stephan Zweig book.