This isn't a matter of reading in translation, but reading epic poetry in translation. I will most likely have this same problem if I ever get around to reading Shahnameh some day, but I do not get the anxiety bellow when I'm reading Calvino or Pezeshkzad.
I checked out the bilingual text with the Robert Pinsky translation in order to "prep" for Katabasis by R.F. Kuang. As someone into lingusitics, I look at the pages side by side and I notice how much gets lost. Not only is the terza rima (the rhyming scheme used that follows ABA BCB CDC…) hard to translate, but keeping every line to be 11 syllables must be hard. The translation also seems to take up less lines than the original work and I worry that other quirks of the text or Italian get muddled in the English version. I just freeze up and put the poor paperback to the side. Will I even be able to fully absorb this work in my life? Is it worth reading if I am missing so much? How much time should I dedicate to its study, if I should not just read it straight? What would Dante Alighieri think of all of this?
Apologies for formatting, I am on mobile.
by rooftoppastryshop