Books which should only be read in their native tongue?

[Andrey]

If you do read in foreign languages, could you name the such? (Aside from obvious examples like Byron or Gogol)

I found many, that borderline lose their flavour, and often even contents. They almost become inane and often feel wrong or tacky, which even feels funny at times.

Anyway, found Bulgakov pretty much pointless in English, especially anything aside from M&M. Vonnegut is poor to read in Russian.

And I don't imply in the sense of the particular translation. In general.

[Jacqueline]

Apparently Shakespeare is better in the original Klingon.

Sorry......quote from an old Star Trek movie. But seriously a lot of stuff that's translated loses something but I read Little Paris Bookshop this week which was translated from the original German and the translator did an amazing job.

[Sage]

I've read Le Petit Prince in French and found it better than the English.. but the translation is still charming IMO.

[Emily]

Jacqueline wrote: "Apparently Shakespeare is better in the original Klingon.

Sorry......quote from an old Star Trek movie. But seriously a lot of stuff that's translated loses something but I read Little Paris Book..."
Saw this and laughed for a solid 5 minutes, Star Trek is amazing!

[Dorothee]

Jacqueline wrote: "Apparently Shakespeare is better in the original Klingon.

Sorry......quote from an old Star Trek movie. But seriously a lot of stuff that's translated loses something but I read Little Paris Book..."
Still laughing about that! Thanks for making my day😂

[ｄａｎｉｅｌａ]

I can't read Chinese, but I feel like this one is extremely difficult to enjoy without speaking the language.
When I watch C-Drama's, the subtitles will at times say something relevant to the hanzi (characters) that we wouldn't understand without explanation. Or a very flowery verse that doesn't translate exactly as you would expect. Its beautiful, and something of that magic is lost when everything has to be over explained.

If that's how I feel with C-Drama's, I can't imagine how much of its beauty is lost when a book is translated to english! Just recently I discovered that a romcom c-drama was actually taken from a book, so I looked around for the translation. Its been fan translated, so its obvious the translation is not up to par with what one would expect. Still, the dryness from a book who's storyline I already know and that so popular it was made into a drama and movie all in the same year.... made me wonder.

[FloorM]

My mother language is Dutch and basically all books that are originally in English are better in English, well according to me :)

[Line]

I find in general that books should be read in their original languages, and I try to do so as much as possible. There are of causes exceptions; old classic written before 1900 and books written in a language I don’t speak ;)

[Weajue]

I agree, books always seem to be better in the original language (which sucks when you can't speak it 90% of the time). I can speak french and comparing the original version of books like "L'etranger", "le petit prince" or "La vie devant soi" with the English makes me feel bad for people missing out. The translation aren't awful, they just kinda impose their own meanings you know?

[[deleted user]]

I fully agree with you guys. There is a whole different way of writing and it is enjoyed more when it is in the native language.

Have you guys heard of the book "Geetanjali"? It is a book written in Bangla language, which is one of 22 official languages of India. I heard it is amazing. Though, Rabindranath Tagore, the one who wrote the book, got a Nobel prize in english literature for it when he translated it into English. But I think the Bangla language one would be better.

[Sera]

FloorM wrote: "My mother language is Dutch and basically all books that are originally in English are better in English, well according to me :)"

Fellow dutchie here and I agree. I also think that Dutch book are probably better in Dutch. But I hardly read any books by Dutch authors these days.

[Fannie]

Weajue wrote: "I agree, books always seem to be better in the original language (which sucks when you can't speak it 90% of the time). I can speak french and comparing the original version of books like "L'etrang..."

Especially La vie devant soi with a lot of the book is base on the language.

It's the same from a lot of books from quebec, where you have regional expression that can't translate.

[FloorM]

..Ciel.. ~ Catty Reader wrote: "FloorM wrote: "My mother language is Dutch and basically all books that are originally in English are better in English, well according to me :)"

Fellow dutchie here and I agree. I also think that..."

Yup, same here! I do read a lot of english books in dutch because the library often doesn't own them in english though

[Sera]

FloorM wrote: "..Ciel.. ~ Catty Reader wrote: "FloorM wrote: "My mother language is Dutch and basically all books that are originally in English are better in English, well according to me :)"

Fellow dutchie her..."

Yeah, I know. That's one of the biggest reasons why I switched to an ereader. The English ebooks are (usually) much cheaper than paperbacks/hardcovers and Dutch ebooks. That way you can still read them in English for a lot less money. But it's more expensive than the library if you read a lot.