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1anthonywillard
Has anyone read the new translation of Herodotus by Tom Holland in Penguin Classics? If so, what do you think?
2Conte_Mosca
>1 anthonywillard: Not yet. It isn't released until tomorrow (not in the UK at any rate, I am not sure about elsewhere). I have pre-ordered it though, and hope to receive it on Friday.
3anthonywillard
>2 Conte_Mosca: Oh. OK. I thought it had been available for a while in the UK. I don't know when it comes out in the US, but I can get it from the UK.
5PossMan
It's certainly available in UK as I saw it in Waterstones a few days ago and flicked through it. I can't really comment on the translation but 3 years or so ago I got The Landmark Herodotus and can't help feeling that is much better because of the many maps and other supplementary material. But I have other Tom Holland books and he's a good writer.
6timspalding
I agree about the Landmark. The maps and notes are great.
7Conte_Mosca
I have now had a chance to spend some time with the new Holland translation and it is quite wonderful. I agree that the Landmark Herodotus is a stunning achievement, but one should never limit oneself to just a single edition of The Histories :-)
8pmackey
Yes, why settle for one when three or four will do. ;)
I have multiple versions of Boethius's The Consolation of Philosophy because each translation adds to my understanding and enjoyment.
I have multiple versions of Boethius's The Consolation of Philosophy because each translation adds to my understanding and enjoyment.
9Conte_Mosca
>8 pmackey: I quite agree! Although three or four is not enough for me! The Holland translation is my seventh. Here is a picture from another thread of five others prior to purchasing the latest (with the seventh being the Robin Waterfield Oxford World Classics translation on my Kindle). They are pictured amongst a few different editions of Thucydides too. The Landmark editions of both are shown, and of course are highly recommended.
http://www.librarything.com/topic/99033#4147256
http://www.librarything.com/topic/99033#4147256
10matthewmason
> 9
I find Rawlinson's translation wonderful as a side-by-side for my OCT -- his English syntax can be a little twisted , but it works well if you're following along the Greek.
I find Rawlinson's translation wonderful as a side-by-side for my OCT -- his English syntax can be a little twisted , but it works well if you're following along the Greek.
11Conte_Mosca
>10 matthewmason: I couldn't agree more. The pictured Everyman edition is the Rawlinson translation, and was my "first love" when it comes to Herodotus.
12PossMan
Just seen a review of Holland's book by Edith Hall in last weeks TLS (Nov 15th). She's not at all entranced by the Landmark edition and is very positive about Holland's translation. She says in part (it's a long 2-page review):-
"......makes Holland's unquestionably the best English translation of Herodotus to have appeared in the past halfcentury, and there have been quite a few. It knocks out of the water the colourless, trudging "Landmark Herodotus" of Andrea Purvis (2007). It is more pleasurable to read than Robin Waterfield's worthy but slightly flat 1998 translation for Oxford World's Classics, and is comparably accurate.......
...... Tom Holland's Herodotus, unsurprisingly, writes like Tom Holland - which means fast, funny, opinionated, clear and erudite. I can pay his translation my highest compliment: as I read it straight through, cover to cover, I frequently forgot that I was supposed to be evaluating the translation and became swept away by the vertiginous forward thrust of Herodotus' own storytelling. The only other translation that has ever had this effect on me is the earlier, 1954, Penguin Classic by Aubrey de Sélincourt. Indeed, I suspect that de Sélincourt's pacy, natural-sounding rendering, as superbly revised and annotated by John Marincola (2003), not only informs Holland's fundamentally, but will deservedly remain a serious rival."
She has quite a bit to say about other editions.
"......makes Holland's unquestionably the best English translation of Herodotus to have appeared in the past halfcentury, and there have been quite a few. It knocks out of the water the colourless, trudging "Landmark Herodotus" of Andrea Purvis (2007). It is more pleasurable to read than Robin Waterfield's worthy but slightly flat 1998 translation for Oxford World's Classics, and is comparably accurate.......
...... Tom Holland's Herodotus, unsurprisingly, writes like Tom Holland - which means fast, funny, opinionated, clear and erudite. I can pay his translation my highest compliment: as I read it straight through, cover to cover, I frequently forgot that I was supposed to be evaluating the translation and became swept away by the vertiginous forward thrust of Herodotus' own storytelling. The only other translation that has ever had this effect on me is the earlier, 1954, Penguin Classic by Aubrey de Sélincourt. Indeed, I suspect that de Sélincourt's pacy, natural-sounding rendering, as superbly revised and annotated by John Marincola (2003), not only informs Holland's fundamentally, but will deservedly remain a serious rival."
She has quite a bit to say about other editions.
13anthonywillard
12 - Glad to see someone agrees with me about the Landmark translation. It is a beautifully produced book however. I have the Holland translation right here. I will start on it tout suite.
14anthonywillard
Here is the link to the TLS review: Review of Holland translation.
15PossMan
It looks as if in my comment about the Landmark (#5) I should have said something along the lines of "more superficially attractive" rather than "much better"
16anthonywillard
15 There are pros and cons to the Landmark edition. It is attractive, and has good, though redundant, maps. There are lots of notes but they are often redundant too. For me, it's too big and heavy a tome, no good for reading in bed or recliner. But it follows the Greek very closely. The style, as the reviewer says, is somewhat plodding and dull, but it is helpful when I get stuck on the Greek, in a way that Holland probably would not be. For a reading edition Holland does seem to take the palm. (Though I agree with the reviewer about de Selincourt and Grene.)
17PossMan
#16: Actually the "redundant" maps are one of the features I liked - having a relevant map close to, and adapted to, the text I found very helpful. Much better than having to keep referring to a set of general-purpose maps at front/back . And this is one of the things that inspired me to buy the Barrington Atlas.
18anthonywillard
17 Wowie. That would be a treat. Actually, maps such as those in the Landmark series are one of the great benefits of digital publishing. They are particularly good for well-documented modern battles, where they can present a map of the battlefield at hourly intervals, or even fifteen-minute intervals.