I'm reading this late - just working through a backlog in my to-read mailbox. I interviewed Elmore Leonard once, on the phone, for a children's book he'd written. It wasn't for a prestige publication - I think it was for a parenting magazine. After I'd got what I needed, we talked about writing in general, and about the in-depth article he wrote on Detroit's homicide squad before starting to write novels. I said I'd never been able to read it (this was before the Internet made research easier!). Two weeks later, a parcel arrived. A photocopy of his article. A copy of his book, signed to my son. A copy of my favourite Leonard novel, Get Shorty, signed to me. I've no idea how he got my address. (No social media then, either.) But whenever he is mentioned, I think of it. No advantage to him in doing it at all. Just an act of kindness to a weary mum in London.
I spent a few days in Metaline, WA, over the 4th, a beautiful place that inspired me to seek out the 1997 film made there, The Postman. Kevin Costner and the villain, played by my favorite voice in the world, Will Patton. I recommend it to you, especially in these scary times.
Elmore Leonard is more my jam than Tolstoy; thank you for mentioning the New Yorker article. Loved Robert Forester in Jackie Brown; my favorite audible version of a Leonard novel is Mister Paradise, narrated by Forester. Highly recommended.
I read & loved Anna Karenina this winter. Struggled with Garnett but loved the Maude translation. You’ve convinced me to get to War & Peace these past few weeks! I’m sticking with Maude for it.
I decided to go back and read the Classics I missed when I was in college. The ANNA translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky is my favorite. I love it so much, it always has to be near by — like a good friend.
Great suggestions all around--thank you! I recently started looking into rewatching the first 2 "Jurassic Park" movies before viewing the newest one, "Jurassic World: Rebirth."
To be honest, I only became interested in this latest movie because the male lead, Dr. Henry Loomis, is played by handsome Jonathan Bailey. He plays the oldest son, Lord Anthony Bridgerton, in the "Bridgerton" Netflix series, which I adore.
A fun fact: Bailey is an accomplished classical clarinetist. He actually plays the clarinet solo in the orchestral music for the scene in which his character reaches out and touches a dinosaur. 🦕 Enjoy your summer! 😎
Hi Austin. Just a suggestion for you: check out the Rosemary Edmonds translation of Anna Karenina. (Based on the fact that the spine of my copy is so worn out I couldn't read it and had to check the title page!)
Don't you love the fact that your community is discussing translations of Tolstoy?! My friends in the "real" world don't have patience for the "real" me!
OK the Chlorine playlist starts with Crystal Blue Persuasion, one of my all time faves, takes me back to Jr. High and thinking how uplifting this was - many think this is song is about drugs but it's actually about spirituality. Fun stuff. Also amazed (!) at how much you read and how much you get done. It's really impressive. TGIF Austin.
Thanks part of this mix was me thinking about how war’s “all day music” and “crystal blue persuasion” and rascal’s “groovin” are essentially the same vibe. I don’t know what it is about old sixties stuff but it just sounds reallly good to me by the pool (I think part of that is that it was made/mixed to sound good on little transistor radios and tiny speakers)
From the publisher: “Based on the famed Maudes’ translation — long seen as the finest available — this edition is lightly updated to be even more readable, to restore passages in French, and to use the original Russian spelling of names.”
Includes an introduction by Amy Mandelker, notes, lists of historical characters and the fictional families, a chronology of Tolstoy and of historical events in the novel, five maps, and Tolstoy’s appendix.
Five Books: “Which translation of War and Peace should I read?” by Rosamund Bartlett
Bartlett, one of the translators of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, calls the Oxford edition of War and Peace ‘definitive’. “With the publication by Oxford World’s Classics in 2010 of a carefully revised edition of the Maude translation, it is now possible to recommend it unequivocally.”
Austin, Thank you for the "Breaking Bread With The Dead" recommendation. Reveal, I am a highlighter, specifically a yellow highlighter. In my hierarchy of highlighting needs yellow is self-actualizng level. Highlighted elements of the preface.
My husband recently read Anna Karenina, and I just checked the translation - it's the Maudes! I've got that in my sights to read sometime sooner rather than later. Great list today!
I have three editions of War and Peace. I need to check on who translators are. One day, I will pluck one of them off the shelf and give my life over to it, I swear!
Congratulations on finishing War & Peace. Anna Karenina has a lot of 19th century Russian symbolism. Have fun! I enjoy T's ideal of physical activity grounds you, even for upper class people. Lots to think about.
I'm reading this late - just working through a backlog in my to-read mailbox. I interviewed Elmore Leonard once, on the phone, for a children's book he'd written. It wasn't for a prestige publication - I think it was for a parenting magazine. After I'd got what I needed, we talked about writing in general, and about the in-depth article he wrote on Detroit's homicide squad before starting to write novels. I said I'd never been able to read it (this was before the Internet made research easier!). Two weeks later, a parcel arrived. A photocopy of his article. A copy of his book, signed to my son. A copy of my favourite Leonard novel, Get Shorty, signed to me. I've no idea how he got my address. (No social media then, either.) But whenever he is mentioned, I think of it. No advantage to him in doing it at all. Just an act of kindness to a weary mum in London.
I spent a few days in Metaline, WA, over the 4th, a beautiful place that inspired me to seek out the 1997 film made there, The Postman. Kevin Costner and the villain, played by my favorite voice in the world, Will Patton. I recommend it to you, especially in these scary times.
Thank you for this list!
I want to reread Dostoevsky’s BK and try Michael Katz’s translation. Read the P & V version the first time.
#5 really resonates. I’m becoming more in need of introvert mode lately.
Love your Closet picks! Might have to steal like an artist on that for my next post.
Thanks for Elmore Leonard’s words as a wrap for the week.
“Why should fancy people have all the fun?” are my new words to live by 😅
Elmore Leonard is more my jam than Tolstoy; thank you for mentioning the New Yorker article. Loved Robert Forester in Jackie Brown; my favorite audible version of a Leonard novel is Mister Paradise, narrated by Forester. Highly recommended.
I read & loved Anna Karenina this winter. Struggled with Garnett but loved the Maude translation. You’ve convinced me to get to War & Peace these past few weeks! I’m sticking with Maude for it.
I decided to go back and read the Classics I missed when I was in college. The ANNA translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky is my favorite. I love it so much, it always has to be near by — like a good friend.
Great suggestions all around--thank you! I recently started looking into rewatching the first 2 "Jurassic Park" movies before viewing the newest one, "Jurassic World: Rebirth."
To be honest, I only became interested in this latest movie because the male lead, Dr. Henry Loomis, is played by handsome Jonathan Bailey. He plays the oldest son, Lord Anthony Bridgerton, in the "Bridgerton" Netflix series, which I adore.
A fun fact: Bailey is an accomplished classical clarinetist. He actually plays the clarinet solo in the orchestral music for the scene in which his character reaches out and touches a dinosaur. 🦕 Enjoy your summer! 😎
Hi Austin. Just a suggestion for you: check out the Rosemary Edmonds translation of Anna Karenina. (Based on the fact that the spine of my copy is so worn out I couldn't read it and had to check the title page!)
Don't you love the fact that your community is discussing translations of Tolstoy?! My friends in the "real" world don't have patience for the "real" me!
For some reason my brain doesn’t register “Rosemary Edmonds” and “Rosamund Bartlett” as different names 😂 hard to keep the translations straight
OK the Chlorine playlist starts with Crystal Blue Persuasion, one of my all time faves, takes me back to Jr. High and thinking how uplifting this was - many think this is song is about drugs but it's actually about spirituality. Fun stuff. Also amazed (!) at how much you read and how much you get done. It's really impressive. TGIF Austin.
Thanks part of this mix was me thinking about how war’s “all day music” and “crystal blue persuasion” and rascal’s “groovin” are essentially the same vibe. I don’t know what it is about old sixties stuff but it just sounds reallly good to me by the pool (I think part of that is that it was made/mixed to sound good on little transistor radios and tiny speakers)
Re Anna K:
Let me introduce you to Lucy Fuggle - Tolstoy Therapy:
https://tolstoytherapy.com/best-translation-anna-karenina/
TLDR; for others: “Personally, I prefer the Rosamund Bartlett translation of Anna Karenina.” (Hence, my plan.)
This seems compelling…
About the Mandelker translation of War and Peace
From the publisher: “Based on the famed Maudes’ translation — long seen as the finest available — this edition is lightly updated to be even more readable, to restore passages in French, and to use the original Russian spelling of names.”
Includes an introduction by Amy Mandelker, notes, lists of historical characters and the fictional families, a chronology of Tolstoy and of historical events in the novel, five maps, and Tolstoy’s appendix.
Five Books: “Which translation of War and Peace should I read?” by Rosamund Bartlett
Bartlett, one of the translators of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, calls the Oxford edition of War and Peace ‘definitive’. “With the publication by Oxford World’s Classics in 2010 of a carefully revised edition of the Maude translation, it is now possible to recommend it unequivocally.”
Austin, Thank you for the "Breaking Bread With The Dead" recommendation. Reveal, I am a highlighter, specifically a yellow highlighter. In my hierarchy of highlighting needs yellow is self-actualizng level. Highlighted elements of the preface.
My husband recently read Anna Karenina, and I just checked the translation - it's the Maudes! I've got that in my sights to read sometime sooner rather than later. Great list today!
They’re legit!
"Moonrise Kingdom" is the perfect summer movie!
I have three editions of War and Peace. I need to check on who translators are. One day, I will pluck one of them off the shelf and give my life over to it, I swear!
Congratulations on finishing War & Peace. Anna Karenina has a lot of 19th century Russian symbolism. Have fun! I enjoy T's ideal of physical activity grounds you, even for upper class people. Lots to think about.