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There are plenty of reviews here already for this oneiric/nightmarish German masterpiece, but after my recent reread, I thought I’d comment on the two different English translations, as there’s not much out there on the topic in internetland (at least that I’ve found). Some potential reader may find it useful.

While overall I think I prefer the more recent Mike Mitchell translation from 1995*, as it’s much clearer and more direct, and with slightly more modern-ish prose, there’s something about the 1928 Madge Pemberton version that I like as well. It can be a bit opaque and harder to follow at times, but there’s more of a strangeness or otherworldliness to the writing that suited the story. I’d recommend reading the Mitchell (published by Dedalus) first for clarity’s sake, and if you ever decide to have another go at it, check out the Pemberton (published by Dover) for a more detached, foggier sort of vibe.

It’s hard to get a feel for the styles based on short snippets, but here are a couple examples of the differences in approach, both from the second chapter:

(Pemberton)
Once, long, long ago, it is in my mind that somehow or other I took the wrong hat by mistake; at the time I was surprised how well it fitted me, for the shape of my head I always thought peculiar to myself. I had glanced at that time, down at the lining of the hat, and observed, in letters of gold in the white silk:

ATHANASIUS PERNATH

And, for some reason I did not understand, the hat filled me with fear and dislike.

(Mitchell)
I think �� I think that once, a long, long time ago, I took the wrong hat somewhere, and even then I was surprised that it fitted me so well, since my head has a very individual shape. And I looked into this hat that belonged to someone else �� all those years ago, and �� yes �� there it was in letters of gold on the white silk lining:

ATHANASIUS PERNATH

I was wary of the hat, frightened of it, though I didn’t know why.
—�Ĕ�Ĕ�Ĕ�Ĕ�Ĕ�Ĕ�Ĕ���
(Pemberton)
I did not meet her look.
I detested that insistent smile of hers and her waxy, rocking-horse face.
Her flesh must be white, surely, like that of the axolotl that I saw the other day at the birdshop in the salamander’s cage.
As for the eyelashes of the red-haired, I’d as soon contemplate those of a young rabbit.

(Mitchell)
I avoided her glances.
Her teasing smile and waxy, rocking-horse face disgust me. I feel she must have white, bloated flesh, like the axolotl I saw just now in the tank of salamanders in the pet-shop. I find the eye-lashes of people with red hair as repulsive as those of rabbits.

I have no idea which is considered more “accurate��, but Mitchell’s is a bit more immersive to me, and Meyrink’s humor comes across better as well. I noticed I tend to favor more recent translations in general, despite my usual preference for vintage books. That trend continues here for the most part. Either way, you can’t really go wrong with either. Some damn eerie atmosphere any way you slice it.

* ETA: I know Mitchell revised his 1995 translation to some degree in more recent years, but I’m not aware of what the differences are between the two. I only have experience with the 1995 Dedalus edition. Also, the 70s Dover editions of Pemberton’s translation were “emended��** by the literary scholar and editor E.F. Bleiler, which is what I’d read (and quoted here).

** TIL that “emended�� is a word that means something slightly different from “amended��.