Self-Reliance, Translated - Ralph Waldo Emerson's Self-Reliance Translated Into Modern English (Paperback)


This very small book is Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, Self-Reliance, translated into modern English by me, Adam Khan. When I tell people about translating Emerson, the first thing people always ask me is, "Why would his work need to be 'translated?' After all, he lived a fairly short time ago and he spoke English." I've found when I share quotes from Emerson, it becomes clear why a translation might be helpful. For example, this is from the original Self-Reliance: "As soon as he has once acted or spoken with eclat he is a committed person, watched by the sympathy or the hatred of hundreds, whose affections must now enter into his account. There is no Lethe for this. Ah, that he could pass again into his neutral, godlike independence Who can thus lose all pledge and, having observed, observe again from the same unaffected, unbiased, unbribable, unaffrighted innocence, must always be formidable, must always engage the poet's and the man's regards." I enjoy Emerson's prose. But it took some time and I had to look up a few words before I really understood what he was saying in that paragraph. My little "translation" is just something that helps. Hopefully, when you're done, you can go back and read Emerson's original essay and understand it better.

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Product Description

This very small book is Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, Self-Reliance, translated into modern English by me, Adam Khan. When I tell people about translating Emerson, the first thing people always ask me is, "Why would his work need to be 'translated?' After all, he lived a fairly short time ago and he spoke English." I've found when I share quotes from Emerson, it becomes clear why a translation might be helpful. For example, this is from the original Self-Reliance: "As soon as he has once acted or spoken with eclat he is a committed person, watched by the sympathy or the hatred of hundreds, whose affections must now enter into his account. There is no Lethe for this. Ah, that he could pass again into his neutral, godlike independence Who can thus lose all pledge and, having observed, observe again from the same unaffected, unbiased, unbribable, unaffrighted innocence, must always be formidable, must always engage the poet's and the man's regards." I enjoy Emerson's prose. But it took some time and I had to look up a few words before I really understood what he was saying in that paragraph. My little "translation" is just something that helps. Hopefully, when you're done, you can go back and read Emerson's original essay and understand it better.

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Product Details

General

Imprint

YouMe Works

Country of origin

United States

Release date

May 2012

Availability

Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days

First published

May 2012

Authors

Dimensions

203 x 127 x 4mm (L x W x T)

Format

Paperback - Trade

Pages

64

ISBN-13

978-0-9624656-1-1

Barcode

9780962465611

Categories

LSN

0-9624656-1-5



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