# Reading Something in Translation and the Original **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 8, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763 "2014-10-08T16:04:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/1 "2014-10-08T16:04:48Z")
Ever read anything both in translation and in the original? I’ve read “Mateo Falcone” and “The Little Prince”, both in English and French, in high school. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/2 "2014-10-08T16:06:29Z")
Does New Testament Bible Study count? Aside from that, a few works in Latin and Classical Greek. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/3 "2014-10-08T16:07:29Z")
yeah everything I read in Latin and Greek I also read in English ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/4 "2014-10-08T16:46:53Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Does New Testament Bible Study count? Same here. Also some stuff in German - _Die Verwandlung_/The Metamorphosis by Kafka, and _Der Besuch der alten Dame_/The Visit by Friedrich Durrenmatt. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/5 "2014-10-08T16:56:07Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > _Der Besuch der alten Dame_/The Visit by Friedrich Durrenmatt. Apparently that’s a favorite with high school German teachers - I read it too. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/6 "2014-10-08T17:06:49Z")
The Little Prince and Cyrano de Bergerac. Also The Inferno. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/7 "2014-10-08T17:16:53Z")
About the only things I’ve read in both English and the original are some works by Gogol, since I was using parallel texts to write a paper. Except for some _ **Asterix** _ comics, all of the other Russian and German stuff I’ve read has been in the original only. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/8 "2014-10-08T19:16:36Z")
The entire works of Saint-Exupery. Several short stories by Guy de Maupassant. _Callahan’s Crosstime Salon_ in both the original English and a French translation, which title was, if I recall correctly, “Le Bar Sur Le Coin De Temps” ---
**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:** [October 8, 2014, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/9 "2014-10-08T20:43:21Z")
I read **Cyrano de Bergerac** both in French (for high school French and a college theater class in English). I also read Alfred Bester’s **The Computer Connection** in both languages. The French title, for some reason, was **[Les Clowns de l’Eden](http://www.amazon.com/Les-clowns-leden-Bester-Alfred/dp/B0071MTYU2)**; it’s a line in the book, but the choice of title is inexplicable. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/10 "2014-10-08T22:21:19Z")
Does Middle English count? I took a couple classes of medieval literature, and some of the older ME texts I had to use side-by-side texts to get through. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/11 "2014-10-08T22:34:38Z")
I’ve read a number of books in both English and French, including _The Red and the Black_, _The Counterfeiters_ and _The Plague_. Also a number of works by Ionesco (_The Bald Soprano_, _Rhinoceros_) that are unintelligible in any language. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/12 "2014-10-08T22:56:45Z")
For perhaps the most unusual nominee, I own (and have read) a copy of _Les aventures de Tom Bombadil_ with facing-pages French translation and original English version. I’m a big fan of improving foreign-language reading knowledge by reading works you’re already familiar with in your own language, so the list continues with practically every language I’ve taken a stab at over the years. Also in both French and English, I’ve read Dumas’ _Three Musketeers_ novels, a couple by Andre Gide (_Immoraliste/Immoralist_, _La porte etroite/Strait Is the Gate_) and some of the _Asterix_ comic books. Oh, and _Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_. German/English: Nietzsche’s _Also Sprach/Thus Spake Zarathustra_ and the first part of Goethe’s _Faust_. Dutch/English: A few of Patricia Wentworth’s Miss Silver mysteries, and _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_. Hindi/English: Got partway through the Hindi version of _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone_. And for pretty much anything I’ve read in a classical language (Latin, Greek, Arabic or Sanskrit) I’ve either read an accompanying English translation or written one. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/13 "2014-10-09T23:56:02Z")
I read a number of Maigret stories in French and then in English and a few Asterix graphic novels too (notably, En Bretange). That was in days that I still thought I could learn French. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/14 "2014-10-10T22:48:56Z")
The _Harry Potter_ series in English (all 7 books), French (first four), Italian (first one), and Welsh (first one). The _Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_ in English, French, Spanish, Italian. Quite a few other children’s books written in English and then translated into French or Italian—I find it’s a great way to build vocabulary with minimal effort. For things written in something other than English, generally if I have read both it’s been to help with my own translation for a class, or it’s been a very short excerpt. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/15 "2014-10-11T01:04:04Z")
I read Canadian statutes and Supreme Court judgments in either language, as needed. Of course, neither one is the original or translation; just different versions. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/16 "2014-10-11T01:06:12Z")
I’ve also read Agatha Christie en français. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/17 "2014-10-11T01:40:55Z")
I’m surprised no one has read Don Quixote in both English and Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Saturn\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Saturn\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/18 "2014-10-12T00:02:23Z")
Most of Haruki Murakami’s work in both Japanese and English. The only title that came close to encapsulating the original was, IMHO, “Norwegian Wood”. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-something-in-translation-and-the-original/700763/19 "2014-10-12T03:19:25Z")
I read a lot of Disney Comics growing up, and when I lived in Brazil for a couple of years in high school, I read a lot of comics there as well. Some of them were Portuguese translations of stories I had read before. I actually read Carl Barks’s famous \*[Lost in the Andes\*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_the_Andes!) in its Portuguese translation _first_, and didn’t read the original English version until a couple of years later. Some of the differences were interesting, most notably the Portguese translator’s completely ignoring the punny name “Plain Awful” (It was translated as “_Quadrópolis_,” or “Square City”) as well as the residents’ phonetic Southern accents (they instead spoke standard Brazilian Portuguese), which took away a lot of the humor.