Which translation of Augustine's Confessions is the easiest to read in English?
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Not all translations are created equal, and often the public domain ones freely available online are some of the worst.
Augustine fans out there – whose translation of *Confessions* is the best in English? I'm looking for readability (out-loud or otherwise) here, not necessarily technical accuracy.
Here are the English translations that I'm aware of (I doubt this is a complete list):
+ E.B. Pusey (1838) In Public Domain, free online at Project Gutenberg
+ J.G. Pilkington (1886), free online at www.newadvent.org
+ F.J. Sheed (1948)
+ Albert C. Outler (1955), free online at www.ccel.org
+ John K. Ryan (1960)
+ Maria Boulding (1997)
+ Hal M. Helms (2010)
+ Pusey translation revised by Cormac Burke (2012), free online www.cormacburke.or.ke
+ Benignus O'Rourke (2013)
Here are four excerpts from different translations, all from the first few sentences of Book I, Chapter 3:
Pusey:
> Do the heaven and earth then contain Thee, since Thou fillest them? or
> dost Thou fill them and yet overflow, since they do not contain Thee?
> And whither, when the heaven and the earth are filled, pourest Thou
> forth the remainder of Thyself? or hast Thou no need that aught
> contain Thee, who containest all things, since what Thou fillest Thou
> fillest by containing it?
Burke:
> Do the heaven and earth then contain You, since You fill them? or do
> You fill them and yet overflow, since they do not contain You? And
> whither, when the heaven and the earth are filled, pour You forth the
> remainder of Yourself? or have You no need that aught contain You, who
> contain all things, since what You fill You fill by containing it?
Boulding:
> So then, if you fill heaven and earth, does that mean that heaven and
> earth contain you? Or, since clearly they cannot hold you, is there
> something of you left over when you have filled them? Once heaven and
> earth are full, where would that remaining part of you overflow? Or
> perhaps you have no need to be contained by anything, but rather
> contain everything yourself, because whatever you fill you contain,
> even as you fill it?
O'Rourke:
> Do heaven and earth contain you, then, since you fill them? or do you
> fill them, and is there something of you left over because they are
> not able to contain you? If so, where else do you pour the rest of
> your being, when heaven and earth are filled? Or is it that nothing
> can contain you, because you contain everything and fill everything?
My initial impression is that Boulding sounds the most contemporary and in many regards is "easier to read," but perhaps it is weak in other areas. Sheed seems to be a very close second (and superior in other regards). The book reviews on Amazon rarely address the translation, so I'm asking here.
Asked by Matt J.
(578 rep)
Sep 19, 2013, 08:28 PM
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Last activity: Apr 22, 2018, 10:23 AM