Miguel de Cervantes
Edith Grossman · 2003
Edith Grossman's 2003 translation is the modern standard, and the one I'd start with — supple, funny, alive English that carries Cervantes's comedy without feeling dated, with a good introduction by Harold Bloom. Some scholars give Lathrop the edge on literal accuracy, but for sheer pleasure on a first read, Grossman has the prose. This is where I'd start.
John Rutherford · 2000
John Rutherford's Penguin translation won a major prize and is the funniest of the modern versions — broad, colloquial, happy to be silly where Cervantes is silly. A few readers find it leans too far into British slang. If you want the comedy turned up, this is the one.
Tom Lathrop · 2005
Tom Lathrop is a Cervantes scholar, and his translation is the accuracy choice — fresh and fluid, with well over a thousand footnotes catching jokes and references the others let pass. More apparatus than a casual reader needs; ideal if you want to know exactly what Cervantes is doing.
Samuel Putnam · 1949
Samuel Putnam's 1949 translation was the standard for a generation — Nabokov used it to teach the book at Cornell. Mid-century English, learned and graceful, with good notes. Still a fine read; it just predates the Grossman/Rutherford wave most readers now start with.
John Ormsby · 1885
John Ormsby's 1885 translation is out of copyright and free. Faithful and dignified, in a Victorian English that reads older than the modern versions but holds up well. Complete and free — a solid way to sample the book before buying a newer one.
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