As pretty as those leather-bound, gold-paged volumes are, I avoid them because the translations are always dated. I'm a real stickler for having the most up to date translation possible for foreign literature. Modern translations pay more attention/homage to the style or tone of the novel, as opposed to an old translation done by some overly-wordy Brit. Matthew Ward for Camus, Volokhonsky for Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, Raffel for Cervantes, Steegmuller for Flaubert, Fitzgerald for Homer/Virgil, etc etc. Ok ok, Robert Fitzgerald might not be the most recent translator for the ancient Greek and Roman works, but damn it, he is STILL the best.
Your point is noted, but I honestly don't care that much. I liken it to eeking the last 5-10% of performance out of a graphics card. I've read Dostoevsky and Tolstoy for instance, but I haven't a clue of who the translator was. The copies I read were probably printed in the 60s or 70s.
I'm curious, do you have direct experience with the Easton Press books? I can't imagine why their translations would be particularly dated given they were printed so recently. Regardless, as long as they're enjoyable to read, I don't care whether they represent the latest and most faithful translations.
