Back to Magic Mountain

Someone seemed to be beating a carpet out-of-doors - which was not very probable, and proved not to be the case, for it was the beating of his own heart he heard, quite outside of himself and away in the night, exactly as though someone were beating a carpet with a wicker beater.

-- “The Magic Mountain” by Thomas Mann (Translated by Helen T. Lowe-Porter)

Yup, it is time for another visit to the International Sanatorium Berghof atop Magic Mountain. It has been almost four years since I last read it. The funny thing is, after the last time, I thought I had gotten my fill of the novel to last a while, and that I probably wouldn’t pick it up again until I was settled into my fifties. However, those critical essays that Susanna got me have succeeded in rekindling my old love affair with the book, and that is a great gift indeed.

As it so happens, I just received today the new John Woods translation. I only ordered a paperback edition, since I assumed that I would continue to favor my Helen T. Lowe-Porter hardcover edition. The only reason why I got the Woods translation was because one of the critical essays mentioned that Woods translates the French that is used in the climactic love scene between Hans Castorp and Clavdia Chauchat, and I am delighted to see that this is true. Although the critic complained that the scene really does call for the French, I have to get all my literature in English. So, this is the first time that I will get to enjoy that extended love scene in one smooth translation. It always annoyed me terribly that Porter couldn’t at least provide an English translation of that scene in an appendix for we terminal monolingualists.

However, I now have some regrets about not getting a good hardcover instead of this paperback. Since this is a novel that I love to reread from time to time, about on par with “Lolita,” a good alternative translation may serve to freshen and sweeten the reading experience, allowing me to alternate between the two. Maybe I'll pick up the Woods translation next time, perhaps in a couple of years.

Back to Magic Mountain

Someone seemed to be beating a carpet out-of-doors - which was not very probable, and proved not to be the case, for it was the beating of his own heart he heard, quite outside of himself and away in the night, exactly as though someone were beating a carpet with a wicker beater.

-- “The Magic Mountain” by Thomas Mann (Translated by Helen T. Lowe-Porter)

Yup, it is time for another visit to the International Sanatorium Berghof atop Magic Mountain. It has been almost four years since I last read it. The funny thing is, after the last time, I thought I had gotten my fill of the novel to last a while, and that I probably wouldn’t pick it up again until I was settled into my fifties. However, those critical essays that Susanna got me have succeeded in rekindling my old love affair with the book, and that is a great gift indeed.

As it so happens, I just received today the new John Woods translation. I only ordered a paperback edition, since I assumed that I would continue to favor my Helen T. Lowe-Porter hardcover edition. The only reason why I got the Woods translation was because one of the critical essays mentioned that Woods translates the French that is used in the climactic love scene between Hans Castorp and Clavdia Chauchat, and I am delighted to see that this is true. Although the critic complained that the scene really does call for the French, I have to get all my literature in English. So, this is the first time that I will get to enjoy that extended love scene in one smooth translation. It always annoyed me terribly that Porter couldn’t at least provide an English translation of that scene in an appendix for we terminal monolingualists.

However, I now have some regrets about not getting a good hardcover instead of this paperback. Since this is a novel that I love to reread from time to time, about on par with “Lolita,” a good alternative translation may serve to freshen and sweeten the reading experience, allowing me to alternate between the two. Maybe I'll pick up the Woods translation next time, perhaps in a couple of years.