Originally posted by Seeker
Even English changes over the years.
This is Victorian English. Substitute "awareness" for intelligence.
How else would one translate a typical military question of "any intelligence of the front?"
I never thought that changes were so visible, and I thought Wells is more like a "modern" author.
Russian language didn't change that much. When you read Dostoyevskiy or Tolstoy - you can see difference in style and some lexics, but no such figures of speech as I quoted
I understood what it meant (mostly because I was comparing English original text to a translation), but I don't think I'll be ever able to write such sentences myself
English: "It would seem they were regarding this new antagonist with astonishment. To their intelligence, it may be, the giant was even such another as themselves."
Russian: "Марсиане как будто с удивлением рассматривали нового противника. Быть может, этот гигант показался им похожим на них самих."
Back to English: "Martians looked at a new enemy as if they were surprised. Maybe they thought that this giant looked similar to them."
English original should be read with a hard British accent, by an aristocrat wearing a monocle. A Russian translation sounds like it is told by a third-class provincial theatre actor.
I have almost finished first part between drinking on weekend, the overall impression is very strange. Wells's hero looks like a professional journalist who simply flows down the stream making only theoretical conclusions. People he meets are something like stupid NPCs, even those who are drawn more carefully like artillerist or vicary.
Re-reading the book after 20 years is like reading it for the first time.
