Comments on: Book Meme

By: Basil

Basil — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 11:47:30 +0000

Erich, good point. I should clarify that if the epithet is really a family name — ie, a person has that name because it’s been their family name for generations — then transliterate it as accurately as possible, unless a more common form is prevalent. If, however, they are the subject of the epithet (as in the case of Ss Alexander of the Neva or Seraphim of Sarov in my comment above), then probably translation is the way to go. St Alexander is a borderline case, though; I don’t much get worked up over him.

By: Erich

Erich — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 05:16:58 +0000

Family names do get tricky. The problem is that a huge chunk of family names in Russian come from and most languages started off as epithets. Any Russian name you can think of that doesn’t end in -in or o/ev is actually adjectival. This includes Dostoevskii (which I don’t know is translatable), Tolstoi, etc. Think of all those Polish -ski surnames! They’re mostly if not all adjectives, I think. My tendency, for purposes of translation between alphabets, is not to translate any of them, but to transliterate them as accurately as possible.

By: Bryan_Peter

Bryan_Peter — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 02:50:31 +0000

Man! Links to individual books and everything! Good stuff here, though. Should have known you’d go beyond the required five.

By: Basil

Basil — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 19:53:37 +0000

I’m torn on family names, since that can become very confusing. (Of course, translating first names could be argued to be confusing, but that’s only because it’s done inconsistently.) If it’s truly a family name, I tend to leave it. If, however, it’s an epithet like “Nevsky” or “Sarovsky” or some such, I’d say translate it.

By: Erich

Erich — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 01:33:40 +0000

So, as per your system, what do we do with last names?

Giuseppe Verdi = Joe Green
Lev Tolstoi = Leo the Thick
Aleksandr Nevskii = Alexander of the Neva
Konstantin Pobedonostsev = Constantine the Dragon Slayer

Should we translate everything?

By: Basil

Basil — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 21:32:01 +0000

Pete, probably St Vladimir’s in New York. It has a strong academic reputation and has admitted women for a very long time now, so if I’m married (God only knows), my wife can earn a degree as well, if she so chooses. The other choices available pale in comparison on nearly every point.

St Tikhon’s is run by monks, which has positive and negative aspects, and it is cheaper. It is also far more conservative that St Vlad’s. Holy Cross is Greek. St Herman’s in Alaska merely offers a certificate of theological education to graduates. Holy Trinity in Jordanville is run by monks and is not yet in communion with the mainstream Church.

Those are the major American institutions I’m aware of, though I think there’s a Carpatho-Russian seminary somewhere. I’m still open to studying abroad, though I’m not really intent on pursuing that option.

By: Basil

Basil — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 21:15:21 +0000

Erich, ah, yes. Good point about Lev/Leo (which I note is nearly always translated in the case of Leo Tolstoy). I tend to leave the names of the living alone, though. I’m not quite so hung up on final A’s in women’s names. For example: Anna should be Anne, though one could possibly make a case for both variants being acceptable in English. Anne is simply older and has the weight of English history and tradition behind it.

By: pete

pete — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 15:32:10 +0000

1. Total number of books IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve owned
Hundreds and hundreds. We have a dedicated library room in our house, and we still don’t have enough room.

2. Last book I bought
I buy books for a living. No, seriously. Last year I spent over a million bucks on books that weren’t mine. The last book I personally bought, though, was The Between the Lions Book for Parents : Everything You Need to Know to Help Your Child Learn to Read

3. Last book I read (revisiting some high school English classics…I’m married to a high school English teacher, what can I say?)
All the way through: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Currently: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

4. Five books that mean a lot to me
1. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
2. The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
3. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
4. Beginning Chinese by John DeFrancis
5. Novum Testamentum Graece

5. People I will infect with this meme
Aaron Klinefelter, Annie, Jenell Paris, Matt Malette, Kate Nordbye, Pat Kahnke, Rick Bennett, Rebecca (I don’t know your last name now), Todd Johnson

By: Erich

Erich — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 14:23:28 +0000

Harping on that linguistic consistency issue, I do want to point out that you translate Fyodor to Theodore, but left Lev as Lev, when it should be Leo… Not that I’m as bothered by these things as you are, but I figured after the jolt I got from reading Theodore, I should nit-pick something. Also, maybe Julianna should be Julianne?

By: pete

pete — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 14:03:19 +0000

Cool deal. Very glad to hear it. Any idea which you might be attending? I don’t know the differences between the Orthodox seminaries, except for their locations.