Book suggestions in languages other than English

PatrickLondon · Post by **PatrickLondon** » October 30th, 2011, 2:53 am

Just recently I was listening to BBC Radio 4's Poetry Please programme, and someone read an English translation of La Chèvre from Jules Renard's Histoires Naturelles.

I was so charmed, it struck me that the whole book would be a good candidate for Librivox:

http://www.inlibroveritas.net/lire/oeuvre2632.html

Takver · Post by **Takver** » October 30th, 2011, 10:20 am

Hello,
are there any book suggestions for Greek? I have found some translations of Dostojiefski in e-books, does this work? How can i help you in order to find more?
Thanks in advance,
Chris

Takver · Post by **Takver** » October 30th, 2011, 12:14 pm

http://www.free-ebooks.gr/gre/tag/15/page:6
the first book here is Crime and Punishment of Fyodor Dostoyevsky published for the first time in 1866.
What do you think?

Post by **chocoholic** » October 30th, 2011, 12:34 pm

Hi, Takver --

Translations as well as the original texts must be in the public domain in the US in order for Librivox to record them. (Not all free books are public domain -- PD means their copyrights have expired.) In nearly all cases, this means that both the original and the translation must have been published in 1922 or earlier.

In regard to the text you are asking about, I'm afraid I can't read Greek so I can't tell when that translation was originally published or if the website has reproduced it with no changes at all to the text (that is also required). Can you tell if this information is included on the site?

Takver · Post by **Takver** » October 31st, 2011, 2:36 am

Well i cannot find any such information in this site.

I would really like to read a book in Greek but i haven't find any in gutenberg site. Do you happen to know where i can find one that can be used?

neckertb · Post by **neckertb** » October 31st, 2011, 2:47 am

Finding a text source can be a real pain when it's not in English.
I would recommend investigating the site for the National Library, for instance.
I have tried archive.org, but nothing in Greek there as far as I can tell.
Try and google it in Greek, adding the words "public domain" to your search, it might help.

Good luck! We would love to get your readings

Piotrek81 · Post by **Piotrek81** » November 9th, 2011, 4:28 am

It would be great to see more Polish literature, in Polish of course. Having said that, I don't have any favourites in mind at the moment, at least not of handy size. I assume that recording a mammoth novel could be a mission impossible when there is a shortage of volunteers who are not only able to read the language but who also have plenty of time on their hands.

neckertb · Post by **neckertb** » November 9th, 2011, 4:49 am

Yes, it would be a forever dragging project. I've started one in Danish around Christmas after several Danes registered following an article about LV in the Danish press, and am still waiting for the first section. Les Miserables in French is still not finished

My advice: your English seems quite good. Do a bit of collaborative projects, just to get rolling, and then go solo. You can always continue with the collabs so as not to get too lonely. If you're uncomfortable with the English, do some PL a bit, that works too

Piotrek81 · Post by **Piotrek81** » November 9th, 2011, 7:07 am

neckertb wrote:Finding a text source can be a real pain when it's not in English.

That's true. I've just visited Project Gutenberg site, and found less than 50 items, translations included. I've also tried archive.org, but I was unable to search content by language, because of some sort of error.

neckertb wrote:My advice: your English seems quite good. Do a bit of collaborative projects, just to get rolling, and then go solo.

I might contribute to some collections and other project as a reader in the future, although, to be honest, I don't see the point of reading in a foreign language, when I can do it more confidently in Polish.

neckertb · Post by **neckertb** » November 9th, 2011, 7:14 am

I know how you feel, believe me. But doing a solo can get a bit lonely, and just being around for a couple of group things will help you to see how the forum works (although you seem to be online an awful lot, so maybe you don't need that).

I seem to remember something about a solo in Polish that was done but for the PL because there was no one around. I will look into it.

Piotrek81 · Post by **Piotrek81** » November 9th, 2011, 7:19 am

neckertb wrote:I know how you feel, believe me. But doing a solo can get a bit lonely

I can't remeber writing anything about wanting to do a solo. There seems to be quite a lot of work involved in that, apart from the recording/editing part, and I would like to avoid this

I seem to remember something about a solo in Polish that was done but for the PL because there was no one around. I will look into it.

I suppose you're talking about "Tajemnica Baskervillów" I'm a DPL there., so the problem has been solved

neckertb · Post by **neckertb** » November 9th, 2011, 7:31 am

That's great, then

This one has been dragging on for a long time...

Piotrek81 · Post by **Piotrek81** » November 10th, 2011, 1:44 am

It has just occured to me: would it be ok to use the text from the Polish-language edition of Wikisources (sister project to Wikipedia) together with information about the author's time of death?

neckertb · Post by **neckertb** » November 10th, 2011, 1:48 am

We have used Wikisource for projects in French once in a while, but only when the real source was stated (that is which edition they used, and then this has to be prior to 1923).
For French and Scandinavian languages, there are a couple of digital resources. The French Library has digitalised a lot of old books. Maybe there is something similar in Poland? You might want to ask your librarian, they should know.

Piotrek81 · Post by **Piotrek81** » November 10th, 2011, 1:52 am

neckertb wrote: Maybe there is something similar in Poland? You might want to ask your librarian, they should know.

That's a good idea. Plus, it should be rather easy to carry out, as there are many public libraries in the city, where I live.