Do feel like you have really read a work of literature translated into your language? So, for example, can somebody really "experience" Shakespeare in French or German, or the works of Victor Hugo or Goethe in English, since you aren't just reading the words as the author wrote them, but through a translator as well?

What are your experiences with translated works?

Something is lost, ussually too much. But then again you lose something as well if you read it from the original, but the original not being your own language. You simply cannot feel the foreign language as native speakers of it do.

That said, i have compared translations of classic works to classic greek works, and the translations tend to have a monotony. Ussually they are lifeless, needlessly austere etc.
But most of what i have read was translated.

well a good translation can be a work of art in itself imho. having said that I usually only read or watch stuff where I can access the original (so anything not English, German or Spanish passes me by).

I believe the effect of losing a lot, compared to the original, when watching something translated is even more noticeable when you watch dubbed movies or tv shows since hearing the voice is so important in these mediums.

Is it really possible to know if something has been lost in translation without reading both an original and a translated version, with an equal understanding of both languages? As a general theory, I would think that if a text is not able to be understood universally, then it's probably not all that good a text.

I think that a good text will have value in all languages, if the translation is adequate, but each language has its own depths, and they are sensed more deeply by the native speaker.

Is it really possible to know if something has been lost in translation without reading both an original and a translated version, with an equal understanding of both languages? As a general theory, I would think that if a text is not able to be understood universally, then it's probably not all that good a text.

I don't think that's viable as a general theory. For instance, reading Shakespeare - even in a good translation - may leave you quite clueless about the original.

Recently there appeared a translation of Seamus Heamey's District and Circle in my native language. According to the review I read already the title was translated to Region and Ring (I'm translating literally back to English), which makes little sense, since Heamey was thinking of the London subway stations (District, Circle, etc). The reviewer pointed out other very basic translation errors and concluded that the translation 'has gone seriously wrong'. Now this is an extreme example, but I've read similar subpar translations of novels as well. So if at all possible I prefer to read an original.

For reasons such as these I prefer to have a bilingual edition of any non-native poetry if it isn't in English, French or German.

Ideally a translation should be done by a specialized translater; in practice however, this isn't always the case.

Sometimes the translator can try to "improve" the original, or just not pay much attention to the original work. I am currently translating Lovecraft's "The outsider" and noticed that the translation of it i had read is full of mistakes, but moreover there are many words there which just have not been in the original at all!

A translation will never be the same thing. A translator can bring something to the original, though, and make it his own. See Longfellow for Dante and Seamus Heaney for Beowulf.