At the time I think the Helen Lowe-Porter was the only English translation. I think he favored its elegantly engaging style and perhaps more humanizing feminine touch to the original, which he may have remembered as too stuffy at times. Just a guess.
There's a passage in MWQ where Ulrich dreams of attempting to climb a steep mountain and failing. I take it to mean The Magic Mountain and Musil's desire to take it measure.
A German-speaking friend said he preferred the Lowe-Porter translation -- "Less pompous!"
That's a wonderful interpretation and image! Did your friend mean he preferred the translation to the original, or to other translations? I think to the German?! I've read it in both the original and the Lowe-Porter, but just enjoyed it thoroughly in both. Maybe I am not critical enough!!
Mann’s irony apparently suffers in translation as opposed to Musil’s, which I assume is less vulnerable to being smudged in the process. Mann himself complained that his books came off as too Olympian and pompous in English and that his humor and “lightness of tone” were being lost. David Luke’s Death in Venice reads far more clearly and at a better tempo than Lowe-Porter’s, at least to my ear - but unfortunately no MM from him. Wonder if you had any thoughts on that. Am enjoying your Musil posts as I revisit MWOQ after many years.
Well, I've read The Magic Mountain in both English and in German (the German was Lowe-Porter's.I reread it about 5 years ago with a friend who doesn't read German, aloud, and found it to be wonderfu, extremely funny and scintillating....l but I have not compared line by line with the German. I have looked at John E. Woods and found the passages well-done but have really not done enough of an analysis to say. Susan Bernofsky is now working on a new Magic Mountain, so perhaps she will find the touch you are looking for!? I don't know David Luke's Death in Venice, alas. As to whether Musil's irony can be smudged in the process of translation, I would say it certainly can. While one certainly must be grateful to Kaiser and Wilkins for their early translation of MWQ, I believe Pike's is much closer to the lightness and airiness of Musil. I especially must warn people against Kaiser-Wilkins' translation of Unions (The Temptation of the Quiet Veronica and The Completion of Love), which I redid because theirs was so wooden. Another wooden Musil is the early translation of his play, Die Schwaermer, translated first as The Enthusiasts, which I retranslated as The Utopians. I realize this sounds self-serving, but I did the retranslations because I felt the others were not quite right. Of course translation is interpretation and my interpretations may not be yours or any one else's!
I’m half way through The Magic Mountain in the old translation. Apparently, the new one is much better. But so far, coming off The Man Without Qualities (trans. Sophie Wilkins) from a few years ago, it’s a bit of a disappointment. There’s one moment so far where Mann’s own essayism catches fire: Chapter 5 - Research.
Have you read Mavis Gallant‘s story, “Irina”? Although, Irina’s late husband was a poet (as far as I recall), he reminds me strongly of Mann, the public intellectual, or rather the public moralist. The story is not forgiving.
I have H. T. Lowe-Porter's English translation of Tod in Venedig (to my surprise: twice), and I have Visconti's film. I found the translation to be redolent of the era (it dates from 16 years after the book was written). I found the film excruciating in places as a telling of the story, and brilliant in places as evocative of the era, and outstanding throughout as a vehicle for the acting talent of Dirk Bogarde. I read the book one day years ago, in a morning, shelved it and that was that. I enjoyed it and I thought I understood it. But I'm not sure I do. It's a little like Jason and the Argonauts: they voyage afar and undergo many trials and tests, and finally reach the Golden Fleece, whereupon, as Jason reaches up into the tree for it, its glister dies in his arms. Just like Wilde's ignorance - touch it, and the bloom is gone.
At the time I think the Helen Lowe-Porter was the only English translation. I think he favored its elegantly engaging style and perhaps more humanizing feminine touch to the original, which he may have remembered as too stuffy at times. Just a guess.
There's a passage in MWQ where Ulrich dreams of attempting to climb a steep mountain and failing. I take it to mean The Magic Mountain and Musil's desire to take it measure.
A German-speaking friend said he preferred the Lowe-Porter translation -- "Less pompous!"
That's a wonderful interpretation and image! Did your friend mean he preferred the translation to the original, or to other translations? I think to the German?! I've read it in both the original and the Lowe-Porter, but just enjoyed it thoroughly in both. Maybe I am not critical enough!!
Mann’s irony apparently suffers in translation as opposed to Musil’s, which I assume is less vulnerable to being smudged in the process. Mann himself complained that his books came off as too Olympian and pompous in English and that his humor and “lightness of tone” were being lost. David Luke’s Death in Venice reads far more clearly and at a better tempo than Lowe-Porter’s, at least to my ear - but unfortunately no MM from him. Wonder if you had any thoughts on that. Am enjoying your Musil posts as I revisit MWOQ after many years.
Well, I've read The Magic Mountain in both English and in German (the German was Lowe-Porter's.I reread it about 5 years ago with a friend who doesn't read German, aloud, and found it to be wonderfu, extremely funny and scintillating....l but I have not compared line by line with the German. I have looked at John E. Woods and found the passages well-done but have really not done enough of an analysis to say. Susan Bernofsky is now working on a new Magic Mountain, so perhaps she will find the touch you are looking for!? I don't know David Luke's Death in Venice, alas. As to whether Musil's irony can be smudged in the process of translation, I would say it certainly can. While one certainly must be grateful to Kaiser and Wilkins for their early translation of MWQ, I believe Pike's is much closer to the lightness and airiness of Musil. I especially must warn people against Kaiser-Wilkins' translation of Unions (The Temptation of the Quiet Veronica and The Completion of Love), which I redid because theirs was so wooden. Another wooden Musil is the early translation of his play, Die Schwaermer, translated first as The Enthusiasts, which I retranslated as The Utopians. I realize this sounds self-serving, but I did the retranslations because I felt the others were not quite right. Of course translation is interpretation and my interpretations may not be yours or any one else's!
I’m half way through The Magic Mountain in the old translation. Apparently, the new one is much better. But so far, coming off The Man Without Qualities (trans. Sophie Wilkins) from a few years ago, it’s a bit of a disappointment. There’s one moment so far where Mann’s own essayism catches fire: Chapter 5 - Research.
Have you read Mavis Gallant‘s story, “Irina”? Although, Irina’s late husband was a poet (as far as I recall), he reminds me strongly of Mann, the public intellectual, or rather the public moralist. The story is not forgiving.
I don’t know the Gallant story, but would love to read it. I actually love The Magic Mountain, have read it thrice, in English and in German….
Fascinating! I can see it's complicated. And worth devoting a chapter to! A good way to learn about Musil and Mann. Keep it up.
I have H. T. Lowe-Porter's English translation of Tod in Venedig (to my surprise: twice), and I have Visconti's film. I found the translation to be redolent of the era (it dates from 16 years after the book was written). I found the film excruciating in places as a telling of the story, and brilliant in places as evocative of the era, and outstanding throughout as a vehicle for the acting talent of Dirk Bogarde. I read the book one day years ago, in a morning, shelved it and that was that. I enjoyed it and I thought I understood it. But I'm not sure I do. It's a little like Jason and the Argonauts: they voyage afar and undergo many trials and tests, and finally reach the Golden Fleece, whereupon, as Jason reaches up into the tree for it, its glister dies in his arms. Just like Wilde's ignorance - touch it, and the bloom is gone.