Member: PersistentCurlMemory

Oh, if you speak Russian, then sure, you will find it even more rewarding to read Turgenev in original. Majority of English speakers (especially in the USA) aren't as lucky as you, to be able to read Russian literature in original. And many of the other English speakers I know find plain English read a little boring. There are many such plain versions and I am also trained in various English accents as an actor. It would be of little interest to the general English public if I make yet another plain version. Interestingly, many vanilla productions in English often get the message wrong (not even talking about most names read incorrectly). The story line tends to be too Anglofied. But I personally like all different variants and productions. The more the better. Each has its own angle. I have had comments from several critics (this is more about my Checkhov work) who mentioned that after seeing so many Chekhov adaptations they thought they knew it all - but they were amazed that the version I produced opened yet more new angles for them.

posted by maxbolli at 9:03 am (EST) on Aug 26, 2010

I saw many interesting Russian titles in your library. Are you able to read in Russian?

posted by maxbolli at 11:10 am (EST) on Aug 22, 2010

Hi
Thank you for taking time to review Mumu. I am very pleased that this production invoked such radial opinions on your side. The use of accent here is intentional and is something that turned out a big seller. Many customers who purchased similar releases in the past liked the accent very much and felt that this added both credibility to the story and made it less boring in comparison to plain English versions. But it is not possible to please everyone of course. Art is meant to be subjective. I like that there are contrasting views and opinions.

The vocabulary Constance Garnett is using is the most authentic of all translations. It belongs to that era and represents the mood and atmosphere most potently. It would be wrong to modernise translation to the point when everything sounds as if it was written in 21st century. The listeners and readers will be getting completely wrong picture of the time and style of the era in such case. I have seen many different translations and read Mumu in the original Russian language too. There is no better translation than the one produced by Constance. She is a true genius!

posted by maxbolli at 11:10 am (EST) on Aug 22, 2010