Great list ! I have several reasons for wanting to comment on your choices. Let's begin with Hugo, I've never been read Toilers of the Sea, but I have looked for a stage adaptation unsuccessfully. On the other hand your remarks about Notre Dame de Paris echo my own sentiments as regard the stage adaptation by Paul Meurice and Hugo's brother-in-law Paul Foucher, and his son Charles Victor Hugo. The only way you could improve upon it is to get Shakespeare to write the dialogue. It's that good. Next let's talk about Madame Bovary by Flaubert. I read it in French in College, and was surprised how easy it was to read. I thought it would make a good play and dabbled with the idea of adapting it, but never got further than that. However, some years ago O came upon an adaptation of Madame Bovary by Gaston Baty who was one of the greatest metteurs en scene of the 1920's and thirties. He did, I think, a great job with it. I translated it and published it about 9 years ago. Baty also worked on a play from Cervantes called Dulcinea. The Brothers Karamazov was another play I considered adapting but I discovered that someone had already done it, and it had been translated. I was able to obtain a copy of the translation and thought it very good. This was while I was in Law School(1962-65). I gave it no more thought until I came across the original French adaptation by Copeau about 15 years ago. The translation that I had found when I was in Law School was buried deep in the bowels of the Boston Public Library and unavailable.. I decided to translate the French version by myself. I think it came out very well and published it a decade ago. Don Quixote. I read all of Part I and about a 100 pages of Part II. I got bored by Part II and never went back. But a few years ago I came across several French versions. The first was DQ and Sancho Panza by Anicet-Bourgeois, which is, I think a good adaptation. But I've never even typed it up, although I hope to someday. Then, I came across Victorien Sardou's Don Quixote which is, I think, the definitive adaptation. This I translated and published,. Sardou was one of the greatest playwrights of all time. And he lavished all his considerable talents on it in his glorious adaptation. While we are on the subject, let's speak a bit about Gaston Baty's Dulcinea. This is a very bleak play about the pig girl who Don Q thinks is Dulcinea. Her life is one long misery. A good play, but not one to cheer you up. I've never typed it up or attempted to publish it, I even wrote my own play about Don Q. It's called Rehearsing Don Quixote. It's a short play about a Mexican School teacher trying to do an adaptation of Don Q for a High-School play here in Mexico. Don Quixote is popular in Mexico so it might easily happen. Things become complicated when a girl wants to play Don Q, and the politically correct teacher doesn't want to discourage her. That I did publish a few years ago, but it has never been staged. Your choice of The Magic Mountain is fine, I've never read this book, but I have read other works by Mann, for example, the one that deals with Goethe's friend Charlotte. What can I say--it was good, but didn't enthuse me enough to want to read more of Thomas Mann. The pacing was extremely slow. As you said, with Mann sometimes you feel like you are hitting the wall. When I feel that way about a book, I hit the road.
Glad to see Magic Mountain on there, it's my all time favorite novel! I've only read the Woods translation also but I recently found a copy of the original Lowe-Porter translation in a local bookstore so I plan to do a read of that one sometime this year hopefully. And I am learning german so I have a goal to read it in the original german at some point in my life. Also my other 4 top translated would probably be Crime and Punishment, Don Quixote, Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig, and Mephisto by Klaus Mann (TM's son)
'Madame Bovary,' amen: a real gem, a rare 'perfect' novel. [Knausgaard's #1 pick, all-time favorite, if I'm not mistaken.] I'm embarrassed how long I put off reading it. Flaubert's attention to detail is stunning. / Generally unable to read Russian Lit. w/ any enjoyment (notable exception: Tolstoy), but I made it through David McDuff's translation of 'Karamazov.' / The Signet Classic translation of Quixote (Tom Lathrop) was one I'd recommend, though it's been a while .. /Stay awesome 😊.
I read about one half of Magic Mountain and thought oh my god I am trapped in the same complacency as the main character and 7 years will just past me by while reading this. The Brothers K was superb.
I made the great mistake in reading the signet Madame Bovary and I did not like it at all. Not only did I get the feeling like the translation was bad, but the introduction was written by a feminist who trashed Flaubert and the novel. I will definitely seek out the Lydia Davis translation for my reread.
@@MayberryBookclub That's exactly why i was intrigued - much of the modern feted Scottish writing is horror/crime based, and that's not your bag. Or there's Alexander McCall Smith with his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - again, not your boat to float.Although you could make a case for Arthur Conan Doyle as being a Scottish writer.
