ABSTRACT
We are indebted to [Nicholas] Khmelnitskii for his lively verses in comedies. His translations of [Louis de] Boissy’s Chatterbox [Le Babillard] is superb, and so are his translations of [JeanFrançois] Collin d’Harleville’s Castles in the Air [Les Chateaux en Espagne] and some of his vaudevilles. He brings little of his own, but he has absolutely no false pretensions in imitating the original. [Andrei] Zhandr’s translations of several French tragedies and one comedy were co-authored with other writers. As a result, these translations are lacking in stylistic uniformity; the verses are too polished and often bear the rust of the archaic language. [...]
And now let us turn to our prose writers. [Mikhail] Kachenovskii’s sharp pen produces clear and significant writing. His knowledge of the rules of our language is hard to match. His articles on history and literary criticism are skillful, intelligent, and sophisticated. Vladimir Ismailov’s translations are colourful and orderly in style, like Kachenovskii’s. With their witty translations these two authors have made a solid contribution to introducing our public to foreign writers.
