Autobiography of a Chinese Family

The Dream of the Red Chamber is a novel which has won worldwide reputation almost without readers— except the Chinese, of course. No complete translation in any European language has appeared until this year. Now, in a single season, we have two translations that cover about five-sixths of it and give us its whole story. One is by Dr. Franz Kuhn, originally in German, later translated from German to French, and now published in the English of Florence and Isabel McHugh (Pantheon, $7.50). Another, directly from the Chinese, titled Dream of the Red Chamber, done by Chi-chen Wang, who teaches at Columbia University, was issued on the same day by Twayne ($6.00).

Both translations cover much the same ground, though the selection of incidents differs. Mr. Wang’s is closer to the original, which is written in the speech of the people. The colloquial quality of Mr. Wang’s book appears in his use of American slang, and especially in his free translations of poetry. This is not to denigrate Dr. Kuhn’s translation but to call attention to the origins of the novel in China.

HC

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Holger Cahill

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The Dream of the Red Chamber is a novel which has won worldwide reputation almost without readers— except the Chinese, of course. No complete translation in any European language has appeared until this year. Now, in a single season, we have two translations that cover about five-sixths of it and give us its whole story. One is by Dr. Franz Kuhn, originally in German, later translated from German to French, and now published in the English of Florence and Isabel McHugh (Pantheon, $7.50). Another, directly from the Chinese, titled Dream of the Red Chamber, done by Chi-chen Wang, who teaches at Columbia University, was issued on the same day by Twayne ($6.00).

Both translations cover much the same ground, though the selection of incidents differs. Mr. Wang’s is closer to the original, which is written in the speech of the people. The colloquial quality of Mr. Wang’s book appears in his use of American slang, and especially in his free translations of poetry. This is not to denigrate Dr. Kuhn’s translation but to call attention to the origins of the novel in China.