Lucy Day Werts answers “Which translation of Don Quixote would be...”

Rani asked this question about Don Quixote:

Which translation of Don Quixote would be the funniest and least archaic in English? I want to read this with my kid who's five. He's enjoyed some books riddled with archaic English such as The Hobbit/LOTR, Dr Dolittle, Peter Pan, Jungle Book/Just So Stories, and his current book crush- Wind in the Willows. But I'm unfamiliar with the Don Quixote translations.

Lucy Day Werts .
Okay, so I know the particular child in question is no longer five, but here's my answer, in case it helps other parents wishing to share the story o…more.
Okay, so I know the particular child in question is no longer five, but here's my answer, in case it helps other parents wishing to share the story of Don Quixote with their children:
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These are the translations written from 1949 onward:
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Samuel Putnam's translation has been characterized as wordy, pedantic, and convoluted or almost incomprehensible.
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JM Cohen's translation has "fairly lifeless" prose.
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Walter Starkie's unabridged translation is out of print.
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Burton Raffel's translation is considered "natural" and "colloquial" sounding, but the edition available is very academic, with essays included.
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John Rutherford's translation has long sentences, but uses modern language, inserts explanations into the text rather than in notes, and is said to emphasize the humor of the story.
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Edith Grossman's translation uses modern language and is highly and widely praised.
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Tom Lathrop's translation is a bit academic.
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James H. Montgomery's translation seems to be a good modern version.
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In terms of target audience, I'm guessing Edith Grossman's is the most accessible, thus most suitable for a child; John Rutherford's might also be pretty fun. However, some of the content of the story is a bit suggestive.
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There are many children's retellings and adaptations available that might be more appropriate and/or entertaining. The one that comes to mind is: "Don Quixote of the Mancha: Retold by Judge Parry; Illustrated by Walter Crane (Everyman's Library Children's Classics Series)".
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For more on the available complete translations (including those published before 1949), visit We Love Translations: World Literature in English. There are extracts so that you can compare how different translations sound, links to relevant articles, and info such as book cover images, ISBNs and pagecounts.
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» What's the best translation of Don Quixote?
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Rani Thank you so much! We'd started Grossman's translation soon after I'd posted this but it didn't take at that time. Now that the kid is learning some S ...more
Apr 16, 2022 12:14PM

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