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Re: The Mighty Orinoco

From: Walter J Miller <wjm2~at~nyu.edu>
Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 17:09:03 -0700
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
Cc: wjm2~at~nyu.edu

Thanks, Rick, for praising my annotations to Orinoco. But to everybody who doesn't already know it (I make it clear in the annotations themselves), I want to proclaim that without Rick's massive help I could not have done a decent job. Cheers! Walter James Miller

----- Original Message -----
From: Rick Walter <rwalter1~at~houston.rr.com>
Date: Tuesday, December 31, 2002 6:26 pm
Subject: Re: The Mighty Orinoco

>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: William Denton <buff~at~pobox.com>
> To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
> Sent: Tuesday, December 31, 2002 8:33 AM
> Subject: RE: The Mighty Orinoco
>
> >is THE MIGHTY ORINOCO good?
>
> It's a 2-vol. opus, which means that in contrast to INVASION OF
> THE SEA,
> there's ample room for humor, amosphere and character development;
> plus,it's a shrewdly organized specimen of the well-made plot,
> with several
> well-calculated surprises (which, hopefully, critics and
> commentators will
> refrain from betraying); finally, it's very rich thematically, as
> WalterMiller's annotations will make fascinatingly clear.
>
> However, whether one regards THE MIGHTY ORINOCO as "science
> fiction" depends
> on one's definitions, assumptions, and expectations. Clearly it's
> not one of
> Verne's techno-thrillers, though there's a fair amount of science
> along the
> way (hydrography, herpetology, anthropology, etc.), and it all
> culminates in
> a utopian vision that's both startling and plausible.
> Consequently, it can
> readily be classified in the handy category of "speculative fiction."
>
> My verdict: B+ Verne. Zippy, humorous, engrossingly plotted. Not
> one of his
> supreme masterworks, but a gem on its own terms.
>
> Best,
> Rick Walter
> Houston, TX
>
>
> > Is there a paperback edition of this as well? I see only a
> hardcover> listed, but I think there were simultaneous
> hardcover/paper editions of
> > MYSTERIOUS ISLAND from Wesleyan and I hoped they'd do the same
> for this.
> >
> > By the way, is THE MIGHTY ORINOCO good? What's the general
> opinion from
> > those who've read a non-English edition?
> >
> > Bill
> > --
> > William Denton : Toronto, Canada : http://www.miskatonic.org/ :
> Caveatlector.
> >
>
>
Received on Thu 24 Apr 2003 - 03:10:31 IDT

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