En absoluto insípida como un rábano

[Michael30000]

Hola a todos,

La frase en cuestión es del libro Tinta invisible de Javier Peña.

A pesar de esa insospechada acromegalia de Karenina, Tolstoi nunca dejó de verla como novelita e hizo saber en no pocas ocasiones su desprecio por ella. Dijo de Karenina: No es que sea simple, ya que la simpleza es una virtud difícil de alcanzar, diría más bien que es de baja calidad, en particular los primeros capítulos. Del personaje principal afirmó: Mi Anna tiene menos sabor que un rábano insípido.

Pronto la Anna que había concebido de una pieza se convertirá en una mujer compleja, en absoluto insípida como un rábano, y le complicará la novelita. A Tolstoi le irritó atascarse con un texto que había iniciado para olvidar su atasco con Pedro el Grande y la única salida que encontró fue la procrastinación.

Am I correct in thinking that "en absoluto insípida como un rábano" means not at all tasteless (dull, boring) as a radish, i.e. she, later, wasn't tasteless at all?

Thank you.

[aleCcowaN]

You are correct. En absoluto here means "not at all". Similar to the use of "at all" in negative phrases.

I wonder which kind of rábano is tasteless and not pungent. A different thing is saying "X me importa un rábano" ("I couldn't care less about X" -how much I get upset when they say could instead of couldn't-)

[Michael30000]

Originally Posted by aleCcowaN

You are correct. En absoluto here means "not at all". Similar to the use of "at all" in negative phrases.

Thank you, aleC.

Originally Posted by aleCcowaN

I wonder which kind of rábano is tasteless and not pungent. )

I have to admit it's a mystery to me.

Javier Peña, for some unknown reason, changed a well-known Tolstoy's phrase. There are English translations of this phrase in materials devoted to Tolstoy's work.

https://leo-tolstoy.com/articles/the...anna-karenina/

The work resumes in January 1875, but goes hard, Tolstoy complains to his correspondents: “I take on a boring, vulgar Karenina,” “I hate what I wrote,” “my Anna bore me as a bitter radish. The turning point comes after a trip to Moscow in November 1876; Tolstoy’s wife Sophia Andreevna writes to her sister: “Tolstoy, animated and concentrated, adds a whole chapter every day.” In the spring of 1877, the novel is finished.

"my Anna bore me as a bitter radish" is an accurate and very close translation of Tolstoy's original phrase.

I sometimes wonder if the phrase in Spanish (Mi Anna tiene menos sabor que un rábano insípido) could have the same meaning as the phrase in English (my Anna bore me as a bitter radish).

[aleCcowaN]

Thank you, Michael.

I wonder if what's translated from Russian to English as "bitter radish" could be sort of an euphemistic interjection, like when we said ¡díantres! or ¡caramba! instead of ¡diablos! or ¡cara**! (as if somebody nowadays cared)

Following your explanation I found that Tolstoy also said something translated as "my Anna is boring me again, bitter radish".

It seems to me that Peña may have been the victim of a chain of translations working like the kid game Chinese whispers, known as the telephone game in North America (here is called "El teléfono descompuesto")

[Michael30000]

Thank you, aleC.

Well, if you mean this site:

https://kursal.ru/en/afisha/event-anna-karenina/823/

here, it's the same phrase - just translated a bit differently.

The "as a bitter radish" part is a set phrase/phraseological unit and its origin is as follows:

In the olden days, poor people used to eat radish all the time and treat colds with it. It was the most accessible food product. Radish has a bitter taste. Over time, it became so annoying to everyone that they began to say this about a person or an animal that is very annoying.

I also found an additional info on the phrase in question:

https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book...-Anna-Karenina

Tolstoy came to actively dislike the project. At various points he wrote that the book was “sickening to me,” “unbearably repulsive,” “terribly disgusting and nasty,” and “a bore, insipid as a bitter radish.” At one point he proclaimed in a letter, “[I] have stopped publishing my novel and want to give it up, I dislike it so much.”

[Michael30000]

And here is an excerpt from the book by Blaisdell:

He was in a low mood and even seemed to blame his novel’s heroine for disappointing him: “My Anna has become a bore, insipid as a bitter radish. I have to worry along with her as one would with an ill-natured pupil; but do not speak ill of her or, if you must, do it with ménagement, for after all I have adopted her.”

Having checked the Russian sources, I can say with full confidence that it's the same phrase which was also translated as "my Anna bore me as a bitter radish". In other words, "My Anna has become a bore, insipid as a bitter radish" and "My Anna has become a bore, insipid as a bitter radish" are translations of the same Russian phrase and the meaning of the Russian phrase is: I'm sick and tired of Anna.

In the light of the above-mentioned, what becomes absolutely unclear to me is:

What does the author mean by "Pronto la Anna que había concebido de una pieza se convertirá en una mujer compleja, en absoluto insípida como un rábano, y le complicará la novelita." -- I mean if the "insipida" part means that Tolstoi was sick and tired of Anna, what's the point of that sentence?

[aleCcowaN]

Thank you, Michael, for that research into the meaning of this sentence.

Originally Posted by Michael30000

What does the author mean by "Pronto la Anna que había concebido de una pieza se convertirá en una mujer compleja, en absoluto insípida como un rábano, y le complicará la novelita." -- I mean if the "insipida" part means that Tolstoi was sick and tired of Anna, what's the point of that sentence?

Peña is jumping here into the literal meaning of insípida in Spanish (tasteless, but also dull) to tell that boring and dull Anna would soon develop into a complex and attractive character that would challenge Tolstoy's abilities.

I have to say this topic has been sort of a trip down memory lane as I remenbered reading about characters forced to "recorrer verstas y verstas" and how I learned from Tolstoy's pen that six foot by three was all the land a man needed. Y mejor ni hablar de la continua sucesión de Genghis Khanes con telégrafo.

[Michael30000]

Originally Posted by aleCcowaN

Peña is jumping here into the literal meaning of insípida in Spanish (tasteless, but also dull) to tell that boring and dull Anna would soon develop into a complex and attractive character that would challenge Tolstoy's abilities.

Thank you, aleC!