Books on Sturmgruppen

[Del Davis]

Like Eric I have been hearing about Barry Smith's work for a long time. Is it really close to publication?

[FalkeEins]

probably not ..depends who's publishing... if you get my drift. Back in October Barry was thinking of self-publishing & starting the lay out of Vol 1 in Jan 2007 - he visits here occasionally ..perhaps he might post some news..

[kb]

Originally Posted by WEISNER

Well, there you have it, too bad about Prien's IV./JG3 work not in the future. this I think would be an excellent unit to read about..... and as far as Luftwaffe books go.... may be a decent seller? are any worthy book publishers reading this?
What a great complimentary book this would be for the JG300 works?
I would pre order it if it were ever to be published.
Kevin

I would highly recommend buying yourself a good German-English dictionary and try reading Herr Prien's work in the original text. I began doing this about ten years ago and while by no means "fluent" in reading German, I have reached the point where I can understand about 70% of what is written without resorting to the dictionary to translate every word. Given the huge amount of fantastic work produced by Herr Prien, it beats relying on the whims of UK/US publishers.

[Ruy Horta]

Although I have an advantage through my native tongue dutch, I actually prefer to read in German when it concerns the German armed forces. Comparing the original with the translations always illustrates that something is lost in the translation.

Sometimes it is just a matter of style or small errors, but more important, almost always the feel is lost, especially when it concerns biographies or (early) unit or campaign histories. These are rich with jargon and military slang, all lost when translated.

Although I have a fair share of English translations, I prefer to collect the original, even if it means that I have to read Fraktur. Again, something that takes a little to get used to, but once you have adjusted it reads (almost) as easily as normal latin script. However reading late 19th century (Moltke, Schlieffen etc) and (post) WW1 literature in Fraktur just adds to the experience.

Some people tend to regard reading the original German to be superfluous, I regard it to be essential.

Now if only I could read Russian and Japanese... now that would leave me with no time to eat, drink, (not to mention "explicit",) sleep and er... work.

[FalkeEins]

Originally Posted by Ruy Horta

Comparing the original with the translations always illustrates that something is lost in the translation.

...you'll forgive me if I say that I completely disagree with you - 'always..' ?? what a crass generalisation ! in many cases the translator will have 'enhanced' the original...see the comments from Peter Spoden on my website with regard to my translation of his foreword for Theo Boiten's forthcoming Nachtjagd War diaries....'superb & cultured English, much better than we pilots talk..'
There are plenty of other examples of good translations, Galland's memoirs (French edition), Steinhoff Straits of Messina (English), Norbert Hannig's memoir (John Weal)...anything by Dave Johnston... perhaps your problem is that you are not a native English speaker..

http://members.aol.com/falkeeins

[Ruy Horta]

Of course a generalization, but you illustrate my point more than you may realize. Perhaps the rough original, incl. rough pilot slang and jargon are what I regard as more important than a translation that has removed the rough edges (for the english reader).

My german reading skills are equal to my english language skills, so no preference in terms of ability.

It is clear we will not agree on this issue.

Tastes differ, as do opinions...

[O.Menu]

Well, sure i would like to learn German!
But unfortunately i m afraid not to be able to find the time to do that before 15 or 20 years...

[FalkeEins]

Originally Posted by Ruy Horta

It is clear we will not agree on this issue.

..no I agree with your point about being able or even preferring to read the original German...but 'slang and jargon' ?..well unless we're dealing with dialogue - fairly rare in memoirs or histories - then they don't really have any place in a formal written account....actually I think we did pretty well with 'Infantryman in Stalingrad' in that respect ....

http://www.amazon.com/Infantryman-St...e=UTF8&s=books

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by FalkeEins

...but 'slang and jargon' ?..well unless we're dealing with dialogue - fairly rare in memoirs or histories - then they don't really have any place in a formal written account...

Do you mean you wouldn't use direct quotation from your sources?

[FalkeEins]

getting away from the point of this thread a little ..but anyway..

..a translation is a translation ..not a resume or precis..but when considering the 'feel' of a piece there has to be some consideration of tone and style...I would still say that most accounts are fairly formal, being written down after the event and after time for reflexion...Obviousy a good translation will be technically accurate but it won't follow the original slavishly - thats what machines (& altavista ) do. The language being translated ordinarily has no importance for the target readership. It matters not one jot how brilliantly a particular expression has been rendered - accurately of course - since a non linguist can have no conception of the thought processes involved. The non-German speaker is interested only in a good read in their language. A good translator is not somebody who has three languages and can read in any of them - he simply has to be a good manipulator of his own language. As I indicated to Ruy thats the nature of 'bilingualism' - you will never be as completely at home in either or all of your languages as a native speaker is in his - you may be able to read a German or English text comfortably enough but judging what might have been 'lost' and what impact this may have had on the 'feel' of a piece....not really..
I will concede that when looking at, say, ' JG 300 ' there were a number of instances of vulgar language 'toned' down and one crude incident slightly 're-written' but these don't detract from the overall feel at all..concrete examples of something being 'lost' in translation perhaps ..but not something that could be detected by the reader.
By the way if you go to http://www.crellin.de (copywriting and translation) you 'll see a current job ad for translators of German into English ...sums up nicely what translation is about ..." demonstrate the ability to create English texts that are not word-for-word renderings of the German....no applications from non-native speakers even if you've spent 30 years in New York.."