Rewriting the classics

divey

cynic 4-6-2018 03:26 PM
I completely identify with the last bit. But I feel it is okay not to enjoy reading. There are way  ...

Another reason that we have not read Hindi Classics is their unavailability. Look at the sites which offer classics of Hindi or other Indian Language or how many such classics are available in forums such as ours.

coolveenu19

Classics will always remain classics. However, many readers may like different endings or tracks - people being imaginative and creative, may like to re-think what may have happened if a certain situation or event was different. I find no fault in rewriting classics - not just to match current age, but even to give a different thought for that age itself.

cynic

divey 5-6-2018 05:30 PM
Another reason that we have not read Hindi Classics is their unavailability. Look at the sites whi ...

There are a few classics available, but it is a pain to read them on an ereader.
I tried reading Footprints on Zero Line on a Kindle, but it ended up with garbled text. Somehow, the charm of the poems was lost in the English translation. Had to switch to a print book.

divey

That is surely a reason, not just with Hindi many languages lose their charm and beauty if translated to English, take Sadat Hasan Manto. His short stories if read in Hindi or Urdu are like a beauty in itself but when translated to English they look really dry....Also there are not many people who are fluent in Urdu or Hindi and English so translating these works somehow doesnt do full justice with them

cynic

divey 6-6-2018 09:25 AM
That is surely a reason, not just with Hindi many languages lose their charm and beauty if translate ...

I have read Manto's Toba Tek Singh in both Hindi and English. There is a world of difference. That said, Ghachar Ghochar is originally in Kannada and is an excellent book. Unless we can read the language, we would never know what has been lost in translation.

jhsurti

Of course translation kills the charm of the original. But had it not been for translations, we would be deprived of so much literature! Only when you know the author's language and the language it's translated into, you can feel the difference. Otherwise you at least get to read something good. Likewise, a classic written in English would lose its charm when translated into another language. So I guess it's a balance we look into. The only idea behind translations I think is to reach out to more audience.

soothsayer

cynic 2-6-2018 11:00 PM
I agree about the timeless classics and their adaptation. The Shakespearean plays listed are not r ...

about kindling interest yes. that could be definitely possible . the human mind is always inquisitive and would be interested in finding out what really makes for the difference between the two

divey

jhsurti 6-6-2018 05:46 PM
Of course translation kills the charm of the original. But had it not been for translations, we woul ...

Yes it does but we can only wish to have more people with skills to make such translations better and juicier

cynic

Since we are talking about translations too, what are your thoughts on translators using their "creative freedom" decide what would work (often at the behest of the publishers)? It happens all the time in movie adaptations.

jhsurti

cynic 7-6-2018 11:34 AM
Since we are talking about translations too, what are your thoughts on translators using their "crea ...

When reading a translated work, and not knowing the original language and hence not read the original, it is probably not possible to learn if something has changed and has been a result of the translator's creativity.
That said, I recently saw the movie "Red Sparrow". It did not go well with me but I found the plot quite interesting and read the book. It was then that I realized how many changes were made to the original work. The book was more engrossing and I am looking forward to reading the second part of the trilogy.