The Strugatsky Brothers

[Rumpelstilzchen]

The renowned sf writers from Russia do not have a thread yet??

I got reminded recently that they have been treated awfully in English translation: double translations or translations full of mistakes. Then Orthofer (Mr Complete Review) recently twittered that there is a new translation upcoming of one of their best books and at the same time one of the all time classics of sf:

Roadside Picnic



The book that was the basis for Tarkovsky's Stalker.

But why for christ's sake is the translator not even mentioned on the webpage??

[pigeonweather]

Just came across this review about a new book about the film 'Stalker'
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2012/03/geoff_dyer_s_tarkovsky_book_zona_reviewed_.html

aside from that, 'Roadside Picnic' is a tremendous SF story, one of my all-time favorites. I especially like how they don't feel the need to explain everything, as if it's okay to actually leave you with some actual mystery! Typically, most books that claim to contain some 'mystery' really don't, in the end.

[Eric]

I wonder whether this is a reprint of the Antonia W. Bouis translation from 1977, or whether a brand new one has been commissioned. If it is new, why are they keeping the name of the translator under wraps?

I would never have heard of the Strugatsky Brothers or of Stanislaw Lem, had not Andrei Tarkovsky made his films, all those years ago. Tarkovksy gave added value, no doubt, to the works of these three authors, because his films, although based on other people's stories, have become key cultural artefacts of the 20th century. Tarkovsky remains one of the key makers of serious and poetic films.

[Rumpelstilzchen]

This is indeed a new translation, the translator is Olena Bormashenko as I found out in the meantime. Why they do not mention her? I think it is just the typical stupid disrespect for the translators that comes through here, particularly stupid in this case because they explicitely praise the "new translation".

Yes, I think especially in the Western world many people only learned about those writers through Tarkovsky's films, though one should not forget that all of them were already very well known writers in Eastern Europe before the films came out. But also in West Germany especially Lem has been a cult writer.

[Eric]

Interesting that a maths lecturer (Austin, Texas) with a Ukrainian name has translated Russian sci-fi. They should indeed mention her. We literary translators are regularly complaining that we are often left out of reviews. Although putting the name on the book spine in letters as large as those of the author (as I saw on another WLF thread) is perhaps going a bit far.

I presume that the earlier translation of the Strugatsky book will have been done by a Russian with a good knowledge of English. That is how Progress Publishers and other Soviet publishing houses seemed to work.