I wrote the first draft of 'Madame Bovary' without studying the previous translations, although I gathered them and took the occasional peek.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I first read 'Madame Bovary' in my teens or early twenties.
Many of the books I read, I had to read them in French, English, or Italian, because they hadn't been translated into Spanish.
Yes, translation is by definition an inadequate substitute for being able to read a masterpiece in the original.
The best translations are always the ones in the language the author can't read.
I wouldn't mind an original letter from Napoleon to Josephine - in the early days, his letters arrived torn to pieces because he was overwhelmed by his passion for her.
I always read the translator's draft all the way through - a very laborious business.
A translation is no translation, he said, unless it will give you the music of a poem along with the words of it.
As far as modern writing is concerned, it is rarely rewarding to translate it, although it might be easy. Translation is very much like copying paintings.
I encourage the translators of my books to take as much license as they feel that they need. This is not quite the heroic gesture it might seem, because I've learned, from working with translators over the years, that the original novel is, in a way, a translation itself.
Madame Bovary is myself.