Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

JPHutchy01 t1_j1ipah9 wrote

I still desperately need to read Asterix, from what I've heard the English translations are good now which is for the best because my French is horrific and by this point probably nonexistent.

18

Hattix t1_j1j5uo1 wrote

René Goscinny is on record several times praising the English translators, at least once saying he'd wished he'd have thought of a pun they used.

For example, he preferred Dogmatix to Idéfix. They both mean "fixed idea", the dog is in every book, but Dogmatix works better.

21

CaptainBaoBao t1_j1joz28 wrote

Gosciny have lived in England. It is how he made a Asterix And The Briton so accurate.

8

13gecko t1_j1jscqj wrote

Oooh, I didn't know some names were different. I'm going to have to google the OG French version now.

He's right, "Dogmatix" is perfection.

7

storxian t1_j1ju913 wrote

The original translation is the single greatest collection of puns in the English language

5

joncgde2 t1_j1l4v6b wrote

“Now”?

They’ve always been great. There’s no real excuse not to read them, other than you just haven’t gotten around to it.

4

JPHutchy01 t1_j1l52yh wrote

That's very true. I remembered after writing that, it's Jules Verne that had the bad translations and that Goscinny worked in the US so of course they'd be fine. There's no excuse for that mistake beyond tiredness and them both being French icons I need to read.

1