About the Donougher translation--is she thorough/awkward enough that it's more of a studying translation than a reading translation? As in a translation for the person who has already enjoyed the story and now wants to go back and get all the references and the nuances of the words? Or is it still readable (just maybe not as pretty as the original French*)?

*which of course I would love to read someday, isn't that the dream, but I know better than to try right now; I have the capability, I think, but not the stubbornness to stick with it sentence by painful sentence.