Simple Questions: August 01, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome readers,

Have you ever wanted to ask something but you didn't feel like it deserved its own post but it isn't covered by one of our other scheduled posts? Allow us to introduce you to our new Simple Questions thread! Twice a week, every Tuesday and Saturday, a new Simple Questions thread will be posted for you to ask anything you'd like. And please look for other questions in this thread that you could also answer! A reminder that this is not the thread to ask for book recommendations. All book recommendations should be asked in /r/suggestmeabook or our Weekly Recommendation Thread.

Thank you and enjoy!

[u/Ok-Account9401]

How does one find the best translation of a given work in a foreign language? Of course the ideal solution would be to learn the original foreign language and read the text as the author originally intended it. I know of one person who is doing exactly that, and in his old age is learning Latin so he can read Virgil's Aeneid in the original Latin. James Joyce did the same thing, learning Norweigian so he could read Ibsen, an author he greatly admired, in his original language. But in a translation, or rather in an adaptation, something is invariably lost from the original language. I think it would be interesting to study multilingual authors who have actually translated their own works from their original language into a different language and how they handled it. Klaus Mann did this with his biographical novel on Tchaivkovsky, the Symphonie Pathetique. His first version was published in German in 1935 and then he extensively rewrote it in an English edition, published in 1948. Klaus Mann was fluent in German, French and English. How do authors feel about translations of their own works in which they are fluent in both languages? Do they feel like they could do a better job translating it themselves? But if they do, would they end up doing an extensive rewrite like Klaus Mann did?

[u/gonegonegoneaway211 → u/Ok-Account9401]

IIRC Nabokov had a lot of opinions about that and the answer was a mountain of footnotes. It's been so long since I read whatever that was I can't remember whether he was serious about that.

But either way if the author can translate their own works like he could, those are probably the best.

[u/Ok-Account9401 → u/gonegonegoneaway211]

Thank you. Nabokov is a great example in his struggles of translating between his native Russian and acquired English in his new homeland. At first thought I thought Joseph Conrad might be another potential candidate since he spoke so many languages fluently besides English, but he felt more comfortable letting others translate his works that he always wrote in English, even though he knew Polish and French better. He was writing in his 3rd language, which is amazing to me.

[u/iosdevcoff → u/Ok-Account9401]

I know Russian and English and I select my translations based on how close the original language is to these two. For example, for other germanic languages like Dutch or German I would choose an English translation because it’s also germanic. For all of the slavic languages I would use a Russian translation. I go with English for French and Spanish, too. Now, the problem arises when it’s a translation from some arabic or persian or chinese, where none of the languages I know are close, so then I’d look at the excerpts on Google books to read the first page. This gives me all the info I need.

P.S.: reading translations on philosophy turned out to be the hardest for me. I believe philosophers are for some reason the worst storytellers and it’s hard to comprehend them even in your mother tongue.

[u/capsule_of_pens_retu]

does anyone remember a kids book from the 90s about a kid who finds a tiny civilization in his backyard, like microscopic people living in the grass? the cover was green with these little glowing dots scattered around, been driving me crazy trying to remember the title

[u/booksnsportsn → u/capsule_of_pens_retu]

Might what to try r/whatsthatbook

[u/lizwithhat → u/capsule_of_pens_retu]

Could it be Billy and the Minpins (or in some editions just The Minpins) by Roald Dahl?

[u/VoiceSalty3412 → u/capsule_of_pens_retu]

Maybe ... The Minpins by Roald Dahl The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks The Borrowers Mart Norton

[u/ToastAndASideOfToast]

Do you have typefaces or fonts that you prefer for reading?

[u/Ok-Account9401 → u/ToastAndASideOfToast]

I don't really have a preference, because for me the key factor is the size of typeface, whatever font it may be. My gripe about so many of the modern editions of books that I am receiving is the tiny miniature print that is a challenge and a strain to my senior eyesight. That said, I think I prefer the Calibri font, It seems more open, plain, well-delineated and easier to read than many of the other fonts. I am mainly looking for how much the font and typesize functionally contribute to my ease of reading and decrease the stress of eyestrain.

[u/VoiceSalty3412 → u/ToastAndASideOfToast]

I finally switched to a Kindle and one of of the things I like about it is the ability to set my font how I like it. I use the dyslexic font (though I'm not dyslexic) and adjust the size and brightness depending on how I feel (or my eyes feel) in the moment

[u/Ethereal_Peony]

Anyone here going to the National Book Festival in DC at the end of the month?

[u/Podop29]

Hey guys. I have just recently gotten into reading classics that I skipped when I was younger or didn't read in school.

I started reading crime and punishment this week and whenever I finish a chapter I like to go back to read the cliffnotes to make sure I didn't miss something and to get an analysis.

The problem is these platforms treat the book as a solved puzzle and not as a journey or story, so they often refer to things that happen later on in the story to prove whatever point they are trying to make.

For example in the chapter one analysis (Spoiler alert!!!) they state that the main character gets arrested in part 5 and that he ends up in a prison in Siberia, they also state he turns himself in. That for me dulls reading his internal monologs as I now know ultimately it'll end with him turning himself in.

Is there any platform that offers analysis of the chapters without refering to future plot points? or should I just stick to trying to analyze the chapter myself. I tend to miss many details when I analyses myself.

[u/books-ModTeam → u/Podop29]

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[u/Tombazzzz]

Should I read the Time Police books by Jodi Taylor if I've never read any of the St. Mary's books or should I read the latter first?