It is impossible to enjoy a book if one does not have sufficient proficiency in the language that it is written.
And by reading, I only refer to reading for pleasure, not the one specifically designed to analyse, explore themes and hidden meanings and guess at what made the writer create such a work of art.
I believe that while it enables one to broaden his thinking and ideas, to me, it kills the pleasure of reading for fun. ;))
We rely on translations to read books in languages foreign to us. Literature and books are one of the best ways to get to know a culture, the history of a region and community.
Translations are extremely difficult. The translator, apart from conveying the right meaning which the author was striving to get at, must be very careful to get the image which a reader can readily create on reading the book in the language in which it was meant to be read.
Even a simple idea or a day to day activity can be expressed beautifully by a writer with imagination and skill of the language.
The translator should be able to get the turn of phrase which in the original would sound like a melody.
All said, I would have to say, even the best translations fall short of capturing everything that the original literature conveys.
And by reading, I only refer to reading for pleasure, not the one specifically designed to analyse, explore themes and hidden meanings and guess at what made the writer create such a work of art.
I believe that while it enables one to broaden his thinking and ideas, to me, it kills the pleasure of reading for fun. ;))
We rely on translations to read books in languages foreign to us. Literature and books are one of the best ways to get to know a culture, the history of a region and community.
Translations are extremely difficult. The translator, apart from conveying the right meaning which the author was striving to get at, must be very careful to get the image which a reader can readily create on reading the book in the language in which it was meant to be read.
Even a simple idea or a day to day activity can be expressed beautifully by a writer with imagination and skill of the language.
The translator should be able to get the turn of phrase which in the original would sound like a melody.
All said, I would have to say, even the best translations fall short of capturing everything that the original literature conveys.
