Rosemarie, I Have a Question?

[Jazzy]

Yes, Rosemarie, I think they must be called Bilingual books in Europe.

[Bernard]

Penguin call them Parallel Texts. I have some in German and Russian, I think they do other languages.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Bernard did it help you read German or Russian? I am interested I actually thought about getting a Spanish classic that I saw.

[Bernard]

Yes they did. My Russian is very basic, but I could order a burger and coffee.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Well that's a good thing! You wont starve when you go for a visit. lol

[Bernard]

True. I would of course have some "vodka" drink also.

[Jazzy]

He drinks a Whiskey drink, he drinks a Vodka drink
He drinks a Lager drink, he drinks a Cider drink
He sings the songs that remind him of the good times
He sings the songs that remind him of the better times

[Jazzy]

Lesle you can watch Velvet and other Spanish shows on Netflix using the English subs and you'll learn some cool things.

[Bernard]

Jazzy wrote: "He drinks a Whiskey drink, he drinks a Vodka drink
He drinks a Lager drink, he drinks a Cider drink
He sings the songs that remind him of the good times
He sings the songs that remind him of the be..."

What poem/lyric is that?

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

That does sound familiar, Bernard.

[Jazzy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCkmI...

I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down!

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Chumba Wumba!

[Jazzy]

Tub Thumping! hehe

I remember when that song was popular and it would come on and i'd think oh no, not AGAIN!

[Bernard]

Omg! Of course!!!

Any song, if overplayed, gets annoying. But it was a good song.

[Jazzy]

Yeah it was wasn't it? I found an even better copy on youtube and listened to it twice already :D

[Felicia]

I am reading The Mysteries of Udolpho and have a question about the black veil in the castle. The author tells what Emily saw in the tower over the portal, but does she ever say what was behind the black veil in the castle? I just to the part where Emily comes back from Tuscany.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I did a bit of research and you do find out-at the end of the book.

[Felicia]

Rosemarie wrote: "I did a bit of research and you do find out-at the end of the book."

Thank you. Anytime it was mentioned it is described as "too horrible to tell" or something like that and it was driving me nuts lol.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

You're welcome!

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Rosemarie
What are the books called that is a Forgein Language on one side and English on the other? I know we talked about this before but I cannot remember at all.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I call them Dual Language books, but there is probably more than one term for them.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

That’s what I’ve heard they called at my library, but after lunch I can ask my boss (the actual librarian here) if she knows another name for them.

[Jazzy]

We had this same conversation not too far back on the thread. Besides Dual-Language editions, they are also called Bilingual editions and Parallel texts.

I know Lesle is studying Spanish. I would recommend the Spanish/English book
A Longing for the Light: Selected Poems - Vicente Aleixandre

I have several of these dual language text books - in different languages.

Another one I read recently is
On the Waves of TSF / Na vlnách TSF - Jaroslav Seifert
which is Czech and English.

I do find them useful. I try to make out the original language, and then read the English translation and check between them. There were even a couple of places where I thought the Spanish could have been translated better - in my opinion.

The apps I recommend are Duolingo, Memrise, and Mondly. I use all of them.

[Bernard]

Yes, Penguin call them Parallel Text.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Rosemarie wrote: "I call them Dual Language books, but there is probably more than one term for them."

That's it! I found what I was looking for. Thank you!

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Anytime!
Thanks for your help,Jazzy!

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Jazzy wrote: "I know Lesle is studying Spanish. I would..."

Im skipping the poetry suggestion. Poetry has never been my thing.
I am ordering a Spanish Reader with adaptations of classic Spanish stories from notable Spanish Authors. Included is vocabulary and exercises.
It is less than 200 pages so thinking it must be very adapted stories!

[Manybooks]

Yup, they are known both as dual language and parallel text, depends on the publisher, I think. Kind of like the designation parallel text.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Parallel text is the term I was thinking of!

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

I could not find the book I had seen before. Used several of the terms with no luck. I thought it was one that Rosemarie had stated but it actually had a hyphen in it. Finally found it.

[Jazzy]

Which book is it?

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

If there is more than one translation of a classic available to you, what are some good ways to determine which translation to read?

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

One criteria is if you have read other books by that translator and enjoyed them.
Plus, if I don't like the style of the translator, I tend to stop reading that version and look for another-but only with library books, free or really inexpensive ebooks.
I need to enjoy the reading experience.

And translations go through fads too. I started reading some Gogol short stories by certain popular translators and absolutely loathed the result of their translations. But fortunately it was a library copy.

[Jazzy]

Read the reviews online for the different translations. Someone will have gone to a lot of trouble to pick out different paragraphs. Also check to see if due to the translation that the book is abridged or altered (The Norman Denny version of Les Miserables put a chapter from the middle after the end of the story!) I haven't read all the translations yet but prefer the Hapgood so far. But the Denny is still better than Julie Rose, what the hell was she thinking? I thought she destroyed the gist of the whole book.

My favourite Russian Translators are Pevear and Volokhonsky hands down. I look for them when I can find them, but will often pick up another book I already have because it has a different translator.

I read all the different translations and sometimes compare them and making notes that I scribble down in the book and why one is poor.

With poetry, it's very tricky. You can get some very poor translations, and some that knock you off your feet. Browse a few in a bookshop or online. See what speaks to you.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Good suggestion about browsing online, Jazzy.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

These both seem like great answers! Thank you.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Any time!

[Jazzy]

My pleasure treasure!

Do you know there's a guy online who's actually read over 12 different translations of War and Peace - and rated them all! I couldn't find his page, so I'll share this one.

https://sites.google.com/site/tolstoy...

[Jazzy]

oh wait, here's the guy who read 12 translations

http://ospidillo-blog.blogspot.com/20...

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

That is very helpful, Jazzy.

[Jazzy]

☺️💕

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Rosemarie how do you know if a book by a certain publisher is worth the price? Is there a website that rates publisher. Like that Lady Audley's book how could I have prevented purchasing a dud?

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I generally buy Oxford classics or Penguins in paperback form. Signet paperbacks as well.

I would say if you have never heard of the publisher, you could do some research online.

Does anyone else know of such a resource?

[Jazzy]

If you are buying Penguin paperbacks, I would recommend no earlier than the year 2000. These later editions are not only well bound but if you fold the cover around the book they spring back into shape very well indeed. This is why Penguins are my favourite paperback.

However I bought my first new Copper Canyon book and it really is delightful.

and you can never go wrong with Barnes & Noble Leatherbound classics in hardcover or Penguin cloth bound.

Again, check online for your book and edition and look at images. Take size into consideration. Once you're used to them, some publisher's books really have poor quality paper as well, and others feel smooth and are just so aesthetically pleasing.

And as always, read the worst reviews.

[Samantha, Creole Literary Belle]

Canterbury Classics publishes some beautiful editions - leatherbound and the word cloud classics lines are both very nice.


https://www.canterburyclassicsbooks.com/

[Jazzy]

Vintage paperbacks are nice too.

I recommend going to bookshops with a commonplace book and having a look to see what you like as well then jotting notes down. I've done that.

[Tr1sha]

I know that you prefer hardback books, Lesle. But if anyone is looking for Kindle books, I recommend the Wisehouse Classics editions when available. They are usually fairly cheap but presented well.

[Shaina]

I know this is where everyone asks Rosemarie questions but as everyone has been talking about translated books mostly I thought I'll share a link I found very interesting: 29 Beautiful Words That Cannot Be Translated To English But Capture Human Emotions Perfectly

https://www.scoopwhoop.com/beautiful-...

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Shaina, interesting site!

Who would have ever thought there would be such a lovely word for the act of running fingers through hair...Cafune
and Hygge!

[Shaina]

Lesle, I found most of them such perfect expressions of what cannot be expressed... now I know why..because we literally don't have words for them.