I don't think it's a meme, there's something there. I've read P&V (underground), Katz (demons), Garnett (brothers), and McDuff (house)
I get that underground is supposed to sound more erratic, but there's this sort of clunkiness behind P&V that other translations don't have. I usually compare translations before buying and I notice it there too
Katz and McDuff were good. Garnett not bad. But P&V is just feels god awful to read, prose is just too unnatural sounding
I can't relate to that feeling, but then again I had no issues reading Pynchon or DeLillo. I appreciate the difference in cadence and don't believe prose has to conform to the same beats every time. It's true some books are easier to read (I'm reading a Murakami right now) and that is pleasant in its own way, but once you get into a flow I find it opens up and becomes enjoyable, in a particular way.
I would not want that all the time, but one doesn't read Russian lit all the time either. Becomes part of the experience for me.
I get that underground is supposed to sound more erratic, but there's this sort of clunkiness behind P&V that other translations don't have. I usually compare translations before buying and I notice it there too
Katz and McDuff were good. Garnett not bad. But P&V is just feels god awful to read, prose is just too unnatural sounding