Three translations, each with its own quota of linguistic connotations, and therefore different friction values. It's a good example of how comprehension is affected by vocabulary used, and also how those words are organized and flow in the reader's mind.
For me as a German native translation 2 is both the closest to the original and the easiest to read.
Translation 1 is second place. Reasonably close to the original text in meaning, syntax and stile but at times it appears as translated one half-sentence at a time, like a low-level student might do it. Also, as far as I can asses it, some words are not translated in their correct meaning, e.g. "unbedeutend" --> unimportant (1) vs. insignificant (2) or "begreiflich" --> intelligible (1) vs. comprehensible (2)
Translation 3 is really poor, heavily simplified and lacking precision. Active becomes passive and the other way round. The acting subjects change. Additional specifications appear that do not occur in the original. In some cases, not only the style but also the meaning differs from the original, e.g. "...Chef des Batallions is verantwortlich für die Ausführung ..." --> correct: "commander [...] is responsible for the execution...", here: "[his] duty is to carry out..."
The syntax is unexpected to me and harder to follow which in my case of course might indeed mean it is more "englisch" and less german.
P.S. I would be interested in a German edition bound in leather.
1 seems to have an older style of writing. It is quaint, however it does not flow as well as the other translations.
2 had the best flow of the three translations in my opinion. The author did the best job at building a bridge between himself and the reader, while maintaining an appropriate level of complexity for today's reader and a high level of diction throughout. To give an example of what I enjoyed about translation 2, this troublesome sentence, with all it's commas, comes out best in translation 2 in my opinion: "He will therefore not easily find himself in a position to expose a weakness, which in war, if it happens frequently, shakes the very foundation of confidence and is extremely dangerous."
3 - what's up with all the colons and em-dashes? There's even two colons in the same sentence, "By the same token, theorists who have never swum, or who have not learned to generalize from experience, are impractical and even ridiculous: they teach only what is already common knowledge: how to walk." Don't love the basically very simple diction: "The military machine—the army and everything related to it—is basically very simple and therefore seems easy to manage."
This translation was clearly written for a more contemporary reader, but it just doesn't flow as well for me and doesn't have that sparkle nor excitement which translation 2 provided.
Seems like a great book, excited to read this one! Thank you.
I voted for #2. Translation 1 reads more like a translation of the German to English without fully taking into account the different syntaxes of the two languages. Translation 3 was the easiest to comprehend, but in my opinion, is "English-ified" to the point that it lost all the uniqueness of the original writing and I felt that it might be too simple to convey important points in the original.
Translation 2 really strikes the right balance between readability and sense of rightness. Translation 1 feels a bit archaic (though not too badly so) while translation 3 just doesn’t hit my ears right because of how contemporary it reads.
I voted for 3, but would be happy with 2 as well. It was definitely the easiest to read, but not much more than 2. Translation 1 has the characteristic German flavor I’ve found in all older German books I’ve read and I find it tedious. I think it’s actually the most readable of such books in my experience, but the 10 line sentences with 7 commas and a parenthetical gets aggravating fairly quickly. It strikes me as an academic translation as opposed to a literary one. Excited for the final product!
All of the translations are fantastic and easy to follow. Regardless of which translation wins / is chosen for the next book, I hope Castalia will make its translation available. It’s nice having good translations from a source that is independent.,
Translation ONE had me imagining almost German syntax, as if the translator didn't rearrange the sentence structure to account for things like vocative and dative cases, which English does not use. It was a bit of a slog to get through. Maybe I didn't attack it with the right mindset. Translation TWO was better, but for me Translation THREE was the easiest to read, flowed quite well and was generally more intelligible. I enjoyed no. 2 and it had some great moments, had solid descriptions that painted an interesting landscape in the mind as it was read. Translation 3 seems to be the most modern and a bit easier to digest, especially to anyone who is unfamiliar with participating in warfare. Translation THREE for the win, IMHO.
Translation three is slightly more readable. Also, where the others have me thinking "I believe he means this?" the third has me reading "this."
The second isn't bad, either. There was one bit where the second really shone: where the third says
"(he belongs to the anxious type so common among experienced commanders)"
the second puts it
"since this produces that class of timid generals so commonly found among the experienced ones"
Timid seems a better description of what I see in the history books. Of course, my German is nill, so I have no idea which is closer to the author's original wording.
Three translations, each with its own quota of linguistic connotations, and therefore different friction values. It's a good example of how comprehension is affected by vocabulary used, and also how those words are organized and flow in the reader's mind.
#3 is the most accessible but lacks the distinctive flavor of the original language and the era
For me as a German native translation 2 is both the closest to the original and the easiest to read.
Translation 1 is second place. Reasonably close to the original text in meaning, syntax and stile but at times it appears as translated one half-sentence at a time, like a low-level student might do it. Also, as far as I can asses it, some words are not translated in their correct meaning, e.g. "unbedeutend" --> unimportant (1) vs. insignificant (2) or "begreiflich" --> intelligible (1) vs. comprehensible (2)
Translation 3 is really poor, heavily simplified and lacking precision. Active becomes passive and the other way round. The acting subjects change. Additional specifications appear that do not occur in the original. In some cases, not only the style but also the meaning differs from the original, e.g. "...Chef des Batallions is verantwortlich für die Ausführung ..." --> correct: "commander [...] is responsible for the execution...", here: "[his] duty is to carry out..."
The syntax is unexpected to me and harder to follow which in my case of course might indeed mean it is more "englisch" and less german.
P.S. I would be interested in a German edition bound in leather.
1 seems to have an older style of writing. It is quaint, however it does not flow as well as the other translations.
2 had the best flow of the three translations in my opinion. The author did the best job at building a bridge between himself and the reader, while maintaining an appropriate level of complexity for today's reader and a high level of diction throughout. To give an example of what I enjoyed about translation 2, this troublesome sentence, with all it's commas, comes out best in translation 2 in my opinion: "He will therefore not easily find himself in a position to expose a weakness, which in war, if it happens frequently, shakes the very foundation of confidence and is extremely dangerous."
3 - what's up with all the colons and em-dashes? There's even two colons in the same sentence, "By the same token, theorists who have never swum, or who have not learned to generalize from experience, are impractical and even ridiculous: they teach only what is already common knowledge: how to walk." Don't love the basically very simple diction: "The military machine—the army and everything related to it—is basically very simple and therefore seems easy to manage."
This translation was clearly written for a more contemporary reader, but it just doesn't flow as well for me and doesn't have that sparkle nor excitement which translation 2 provided.
Seems like a great book, excited to read this one! Thank you.
No 1 is difficult to read fluently. But it is exact thus a careful reader should be able to extract all meaning.
No 2 reads fluently, but lacks personality. Still, most people should be able to process this easily.
No 3 strikes me as pretentious, puts me on edge so to say.
All in I decided to vote for no 2 but secretly hope for no 1.
No 3 would be a tragedy as it would ruin a nice book.
I voted for #2. Translation 1 reads more like a translation of the German to English without fully taking into account the different syntaxes of the two languages. Translation 3 was the easiest to comprehend, but in my opinion, is "English-ified" to the point that it lost all the uniqueness of the original writing and I felt that it might be too simple to convey important points in the original.
Translation 2 really strikes the right balance between readability and sense of rightness. Translation 1 feels a bit archaic (though not too badly so) while translation 3 just doesn’t hit my ears right because of how contemporary it reads.
I'm pretty sure Translation Two is yours, and I hope you release it as an ebook even if it doesn't win this poll!
There are nuances in it that make me curious to read the whole thing and compare to the Howard-Paret translation. Which I think is #3
I enjoyed the first, the third seemed most approachable.
Ex. Calvary in heavy ground, deep ground, and mud.
I had to think more on the first, my idea was confirmed by the second, and spoon fed by the third.
I voted 2 as a middle ground.
Also, TIL I need to read more military history. This was intriguing. Much more so than books written by academics.
I voted for 3, but would be happy with 2 as well. It was definitely the easiest to read, but not much more than 2. Translation 1 has the characteristic German flavor I’ve found in all older German books I’ve read and I find it tedious. I think it’s actually the most readable of such books in my experience, but the 10 line sentences with 7 commas and a parenthetical gets aggravating fairly quickly. It strikes me as an academic translation as opposed to a literary one. Excited for the final product!
All of the translations are fantastic and easy to follow. Regardless of which translation wins / is chosen for the next book, I hope Castalia will make its translation available. It’s nice having good translations from a source that is independent.,
Translation ONE had me imagining almost German syntax, as if the translator didn't rearrange the sentence structure to account for things like vocative and dative cases, which English does not use. It was a bit of a slog to get through. Maybe I didn't attack it with the right mindset. Translation TWO was better, but for me Translation THREE was the easiest to read, flowed quite well and was generally more intelligible. I enjoyed no. 2 and it had some great moments, had solid descriptions that painted an interesting landscape in the mind as it was read. Translation 3 seems to be the most modern and a bit easier to digest, especially to anyone who is unfamiliar with participating in warfare. Translation THREE for the win, IMHO.
Translation three is slightly more readable. Also, where the others have me thinking "I believe he means this?" the third has me reading "this."
The second isn't bad, either. There was one bit where the second really shone: where the third says
"(he belongs to the anxious type so common among experienced commanders)"
the second puts it
"since this produces that class of timid generals so commonly found among the experienced ones"
Timid seems a better description of what I see in the history books. Of course, my German is nill, so I have no idea which is closer to the author's original wording.