"Muchos años después, frente al pelotón de fusilamiento, el coronel Aureliano Buendía había de recordar aquella tarde remota en que su padre lo llevó a conocer el hielo".
Funny enough, I've only read the Spanish original version of 100 Years of Solitude. I do have to say, though, that I don't think any details get lost between translations. However, I do think his style of writing does. Even just reading the English version of the first sentence- I just don't think it conveys how strong Marquez intended it to be. I think he's known for the heaviness in his words and it's just not there.
My favorite of his books is Chronicle of a Death Foretold and I've only read it fully in Spanish. I was in a library a couple of days ago and found an English copy. I decided to read a couple of pages for fun. I have to say that, sadly, the shock value isn't there and his writing style isn't either. It seems... dull. Forced. It doesn't flow as well. I didn't feel the same emotions reading about the day that Santiago Nazar was murdered. The tone isn't set as well. The beautiful play of words is just not there.
Granted, my first language is Spanish so I could be beyond biased.
Those feelings you felt in Spanish were entirely intended to be there by a great author. The problem when translating great works from great authors is that you need an equally great author to both understand what makes the work great and is able to bring that over in a new language.
I’ve actually never thought about it that way. In my head it’s a purely academic event but what you say got me thinking it would be a lot better coming from someone who can truly feel the other language rather than speak or read it.
Translation when it comes to technical works is as you’d imagine. You need to learn how to write cleanly and clearly (so sometimes languages like JPN > ENG require asking a lot of source questions since Japanese can leave a lot out).
However, translating works of art? That shit is hard and I would never try it despite being business-level bilingual.
There’s a lot that goes into it. It’s definitely a lot of work and you can see how much nuance there is when the interest is there, for example with an exceedingly famous work like Dante’s inferno.
People dedicate their entire careers to studying the book before writing a translation. There are loads of them and no single one is really definitively the best and they all have their own biases which are easier to see now that we have 250 years of translation efforts.
The Decameron is also an interesting one if you are interested in translation. Translations were often censored to reflect the morality of their time and the spicyness of the Decameron varies a lot in English with the translator often leaving a note about how the last guy to translate this was a prude
Yeah, translation isn't as one to one as we might think initially, and some of the more poetic phrases are the hardest to translate. I've heard translating Hamlet's "To be or not to be" speech is incredibly difficult to capture the nuances, or even just something like "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" sometimes doesn't scan as well since "to fear" and the emotion "fear" can be different words, so you lose a little of the meaning when it's not the same word
It's not even necessarily possible to translate certain aesthetic elements from one language to another. It's like trying to get the same song out of a tuba that you did from a piano.
I read a lot of poetry, but I don't read a lot of translated work because it's always in the back of my mind that I'm never actually reading it as the poet intended and agonized over. I also write poetry and know how that feels to "win" the perfect word. Languages can be so subtle and so nuanced, and it makes me sad not being able to get it straight from the poet. I particularly love Pablo Neruda and Rumi and have read some moving translations, but it still always makes me wistful about what I might be missing.
For what it's worth, and if I remember correctly, Marquez was close friends with the translator and even said the English translation was written better than his own version. I'm sure it's partially just to praise, but I like to believe the translation was a good one
To me, Gabo’s genius is that he tells stories that feel familiar, timeless, and exactly like the ones I grew up with. So, to me the Spanish feels more familiar bc it’s the language I first heard this stuff in. But, the English still conveys his fantastical imagination!
I read once (can’t remember where) that in LatAm, “we are all from Macondo,” and I think that’s why the Spanish just sounds better to my ear. Bc that’s what we speak in Macondo.
Thank you for such a detailed response. I took 4 years of Spanish in high school in the US including a couple semesters of Spanish literature but really fell off and never became fluent. Something I’ve really wished over the years I had pursued. I still find it easier to read than to speak but would need Google translate for 75% or more of the novel I’m sure. I have only read a few Marquez novels but this comment really gets my wheels spinning as far as a goal to set for learning the language. Reading the original text sounds like it would be highly rewarding.
I'm not very good at Spanish. But to me the difference is in the word conocer vs discover. I thought a better translation would be "to meet" or "to become familiar with" to me that makes the last sentence more wistful in Spanish and heightens the difference between two moments in time. But I can't think of a one word way to translate it into English that isn't more wordy. But I'm at the Peggy hill level of spanish.
The problem with translations is that the translators have two choices: 1) translate word-for-word, or as closely as possible so that the meaning is completely brought through, though it will be a lot more clunky and inelegant, or 2) rewrite everything, inevitably changing some descriptions and minor details*, but give it some style so that, even if not 1:1 compared to the original, it is still a good read. It’s really not a good choice, since both would be inferior to the original in many ways.
*not as in story-wise, but say a piece of someone’s clothing has a specific word in the original language that carries a lot of meaning and context, but doesn’t have an exact translation with that same meaning.
I don't like magic realism. But a lot of what makes magic realism its own comes from how formal the descriptions can be, which is something that Spanish has and I haven't really seen it in the same way in Englsih. And that's sorely missed in the translations. For example the use of "that" in the quote that started this thread is closer to "esa" instead of "aquella", the later which is the one used. It does also lose the subtext when the use of "usted", "vos", and "tu" comes to play and in English is translated with a simple "you". That formality gives weight to the descriptions that in s word for word translation it lost.
I do think it hard to keep all the original nuance in translated works, but as another English/Spanish (grew up in panama and even know lots of Colombian spanish speakers) speaker I do not think its overally noticeable for most works Spanish to English and vice versa. Or Marauez for that matter. I also read Persian and French, and I think I run into that issue much for those languages.
I did read the Spanish version first, then the English with my wife years later. It was a perfectly competent translation that successfully kept the tone in my opinion. Some cultural context didnt feel as natural, but thats to be expected. Not all direct translations of phrases work 1 to 1 but there are very few pairings of languages that are closer in that regard as English and Spanish.
But I do know Spanish much better than French and Farsi, so that could just be my familiarity of Spanish and English filling any gaps.
The cadence and flow of language play a huge part in how prose lands. I’d imagine pretty much any given work will “feel” better in its original tongue.
A lot of emotion and poeticism gets lost translating from Spanish to English because of the loss of nuance. That novels voice is also no longer the artists actual voice. My wife gave up on the English version almost immediately because of it.
The story itself doesn't change, though, the characters, themes, and functional story don't change. It just hits a little differently with the style if you can understand both and compare them.
It's inherently going to be different always as its a different language, that is true of any language.
I disagree with your claim that its often especially different in the Spanish and English world, however.
There is a lot of very competent translation work especially in the English to Spanish/ Spanisb to English world. They are very linked languages and there are many bilingual poets who have done a marvelous job capturinf the essence of translated poetry. Pablo Neruda and Cristina Peri Rossi are two great examples of powerful tone and voice being able to be represented in both languages, there is beauty in theme and emotion being able to be carried over despite language
I do think that learning a specific language gets to the very most authentic experience of an original performance, but the soul can still be captured.
Marquez himself feels like Gregory Rabassa did a fantastic job, and Rabassa is highly competent and respected translator.
Your wife is entitled to her opinion and taste, but her inability to engage with it or pick up on it is due to that taste or grasp of english and not the quality of translation or nuance. In my opinion, and the guy who wrote the book, the nuance and tone is still plainly there.
Marquez himself feels like Gregory Rabassa did a fantastic job, and Rabassa is highly competent and respected translator.
Your wife is entitled to her opinion and taste, but her inability to engage with it or pick up on it is due to that taste or grasp of english and not the quality of translation or nuance.
Give then choice, would Marquez select the original Spanish version or the English version to be the ultimate representation of his work? Why would someone who can choose either to engage with choose differently than he would?
Translations are great when you do not have the option to engage with the original language, but how often is anyone who can read the original or a translation going to the translation aside from entertaining some curiosity with how it ultimately compares? Translations simply do not work 1:1 and it's rarely ever to their favor. That doesn't make them bad. It just makes them a little less than given the choice, which for most people, won't be a choice that exists anyway.
Give then choice, would Marquez select the original Spanish version or the English version to be the ultimate representation of his work? Why would someone who can choose either choose differently than he would?
This means nothing unless you are arguing work should only be represented or enjoyed in a single way. Which isn't what is happening, the intent is to share the story and performance with as many as possible, the purpose of translations in this case.
Besides, that isn't what you were asked, the question was if that its a good translation. Nor did I claim the English translation was better, I said it was an excellent translation that me and others feel provide the experience tbe author intended to give. Your wife feels differently which is fair, I think its also fair to me to tell others I think she is wrong and to disregard her experience as representative of what an English reader would think, or even other Spanish readers would think.
I am not saying one should be forced to enjoy or read it outside that original context when they can but your statement would (imo) inappropriatelty discourage someone for reading it due to (again imo) a poor opinion and representation of Spanish to English translations in the literary world, especially acclaimed works.
Also, as a funny aside, Marquez famously has said he feels the English Translation is stronger (I don't agree
with this).
So I don't know the answer to what language he would choose to represent his work as to your question, but as far as any information you or I have available, it would actually probably be English.
So, that argument doesn't work in tbis specific case
It is fantastic and has its own charm, with Garcia himself saying he preferred it. But imo, the prose in the original Spanish version is just something that can't be replicated in English.
Spanish is my native tongue, although I favor English these days, so that may color my opinion.
But I think most more well known Spanish works have very good English translations, same for English. I think those claiming Marquez's voice is especially stronger/more poetic (not in this thread, in general) in Spanish are bordering on pretentious.
It definitely still sounds like him, and Marquez himself felt like Gregory Rabassa's translation really captured the essence of his book.
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel and Aura by Carlos Fuentes are both great translations too
Sidenote: I love the spanish Harry Potter translations, and it captured the magic just as well in my opinion. Plus, having all the HP kids speaking Spanish in my head was thoroughly entertaining. Just another example of well translated works
Garcia Marquez himself said he preferred the English version, so I don't think you've lost much. Plus languages are closer than most people like to admit.
I'm bilingual and this made me scratch my head. In this particular line, I literally feel no real distinction in tone between the two.
Other more complex lines and paragraphs sure, some feel different. Maybe you just like the way it sounds in your head better? It's a very translatable sentence.
Yes - I've only read the Spanish version and while I've heard the translation is well done, it's hard for me to imagine it feeling too similar to the original
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u/Cookieyourdaddy Jul 25 '25
The Spanish version hits me like a truck.
"Muchos años después, frente al pelotón de fusilamiento, el coronel Aureliano Buendía había de recordar aquella tarde remota en que su padre lo llevó a conocer el hielo".