# Good translations of classic works **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-translations-of-classic-works/179405 "2003-06-03T17:00:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bryanmcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@bryanmcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmcc)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-translations-of-classic-works/179405/1 "2003-06-03T17:00:56Z")
I was just updating my Amazon wishlist, and I thought I would try to solicit a few opinions about the “best” translations of a few classic works. Specifically, I was wondering which translations people enjoyed for “Don Quixote,” “The Art of War,” “Tao Te Ching,” “War and Peace,” and “The Count of Monte Cristo.” Oh, and perhaps Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” while we’re at it. (I remember that I read a version once, which I thoroughly enjoyed, where it was translated from the original Italian, but retained the rhyming pattern. I was most impressed, but have since been unable to find the same translation.) Thank you all for any help you can offer. -b ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-translations-of-classic-works/179405/2 "2003-06-03T17:07:30Z")
The absolute best version of Dante is by John Ciardi. [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451208633/qid=1054660330/sr=2-1/ref=sr\_2\_1/103-2324492-5418210](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0451208633/qid=1054660330/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/103-2324492-5418210) Beautifully done; it captures the rhyme and reason (pun intended) of Dante’s epic poems. ---
**Author:** ![bryanmcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@bryanmcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmcc)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-translations-of-classic-works/179405/3 "2003-06-04T20:56:20Z")
Thanks, **dantheman**. That looks like if may be the version that I’m remembering. The name certainly seems to ring a bell. Does anyone else have any other recommendations on good translations? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-translations-of-classic-works/179405/4 "2003-06-05T11:49:40Z")
Well, lets see. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-translations-of-classic-works/179405/5 "2003-06-05T11:57:18Z")
Seamus Heaney’s translation of **Beowulf** is excellent. Robert Fagles’ translations of the **Iliad** and the **Odyssey** are also very good. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-translations-of-classic-works/179405/6 "2003-06-05T12:22:12Z")
Most people consider Brian Hooker’s translation of “Cyrano de Bergerac” to be the best, though it may be hard to find. It was used in the Jose Ferrer film. Gabriel Garcia-Marquez had praised the English transation of “One Hundred Years of Solitude.”