Terrible Translation

books:


	• The Count of Monte Cristo: Abridged Edition (Dover Value Editions) Alexandre Dumas pÃ¨re Dover Publications, 2007 - 448 pages average customer review:based on 1 review view larger image
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Terrible Translation

The Count of Monte Cristo is my favorite novel (the unabridged Robin Buss translation), so I ordered 40 of these books to read to my summer school class.

This Dover Edition is based on the antiquated English traslation from about 100 years ago, and it shows. The jaw-breaker sentences and intimidating vocabulary offended even a word-nerd like myself. On top of that, there are many typos in the book--as if they ran a quick spell-check and substituted incorrect words (ex "door" instead of "doctor:" p 357: "The door laid the girl back on her chair.") I don't know if there is a better abridged version, but I recommend the 1100-page Robin Buss translation. It's longer, but is written in modern English, so it's much easier to read.

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Falsely accused during the final days of Napoleon's reign, Edmond Dantès is imprisoned in the bleak Chateau d'If. After a hair-raising escape, he launches an elaborate plot to extract a bitter revenge against those who betrayed him. Amazingly based on actual events, Dumas' labyrinthine tale is popular fiction of the highest mark.