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Omar
I started to read Stuart Gilbert's translation and forced my way through 40% of the book when I finally had put it down (I might be a bit of a masochist?). But yeah, I don't recommend his translation. The mistakes in the grammar are constant and disrupts the flow of one's reading. My apologies for not being able to recommend a good translation but I at least wanted to warn you against this one translation.
Peter Farago
Robin Buss’s 2001 translation - so much better!
Les curieux événements qui font le sujet de cette chronique se sont produits en 194., à Oran. De l’avis général, ils n’y étaient pas à leur place, sortant un peu de l’ordinaire. À première vue, Oran est, en effet, une ville ordinaire et rien de plus qu’une préfecture française de la côte algérienne.
The first English translation, by Stuart Gilbert in 1948:
The unusual events described in this chronicle occurred in 194…, at Oran. Everyone agreed that, considering their somewhat extraordinary character, they were out of place there. For its ordinariness is what strikes one first about the town of Oran, which is merely a large French port on the Algerian coast, headquarters of the Prefect of a French ‘Department’.
In Robin Buss’s 2001 version seems to take fewer liberties:
The peculiar events that are the subject of this history occurred in 194–, in Oran. The general opinion was that they were misplaced there, since they deviated somewhat from the ordinary. At first sight, indeed, Oran is an ordinary town, nothing more that a French Prefecture on the coast of Algeria.
https://hedleytwidle.com/home/2019/6/...
Les curieux événements qui font le sujet de cette chronique se sont produits en 194., à Oran. De l’avis général, ils n’y étaient pas à leur place, sortant un peu de l’ordinaire. À première vue, Oran est, en effet, une ville ordinaire et rien de plus qu’une préfecture française de la côte algérienne.
The first English translation, by Stuart Gilbert in 1948:
The unusual events described in this chronicle occurred in 194…, at Oran. Everyone agreed that, considering their somewhat extraordinary character, they were out of place there. For its ordinariness is what strikes one first about the town of Oran, which is merely a large French port on the Algerian coast, headquarters of the Prefect of a French ‘Department’.
In Robin Buss’s 2001 version seems to take fewer liberties:
The peculiar events that are the subject of this history occurred in 194–, in Oran. The general opinion was that they were misplaced there, since they deviated somewhat from the ordinary. At first sight, indeed, Oran is an ordinary town, nothing more that a French Prefecture on the coast of Algeria.
https://hedleytwidle.com/home/2019/6/...
Sayantan
I am halfway through the book and would recommend the translation by Robin Buss. The essence is smoothly maintained throughout and there are fewer errors than the one by Stuart Gilbert.
Lucy Day Werts
I chose the translation by Robin Buss because I read his version of The Count of Monte Cristo. Currently there are only two translations of The Plague, one by Stuart Gilbert (1948) and one by Robin Buss (2001). A new translation by Laura Marris is coming out this year (2021). I put together a page with information about all three: https://welovetranslations.com/2021/0...
Damien
The Robin Buss edition is excellent.
Kevin Moll
Why, oh why, must Knopf wait till the end of 2021 to release the new Laura Marris translation? (I got through the Robin Buss 2001, available in the US through Book Depository from the UK, but it wasn't the smoothest...)
Marcus
I just read the Gilbert translation and it was noticeably clunky.
Greg
I only read the one translated into English by Stuart Gilbert. Seemed pretty good, and at the end the narrator does say he only communicated what he personally 'saw' and 'heard' in this fictional story. So that element makes the story seem a bit dry, but then again Gilbert seems to be true to Camus' intent. I can't really say if other English translations are better, maybe I'll read another one some day.
Pablo
How about the translation that begins:
"The curious events which are the subject of this chronicle occurred in 1940, in Oran. There was a general feeling that they were out of place, out of the ordinary. At first glance, Oran is, in fact, an ordinary city and nothing more than a French prefecture on the Algerian coast."
?
"The curious events which are the subject of this chronicle occurred in 1940, in Oran. There was a general feeling that they were out of place, out of the ordinary. At first glance, Oran is, in fact, an ordinary city and nothing more than a French prefecture on the Algerian coast."
?
Gebran Yacoub
The arabic translation is too bad. It seems like translator's first book. Hard to understand the sentences.
Max
I would also like to know this.
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May 06, 2021 06:39PM