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Re: Rating/translations

From: Garmt de Vries <G.deVries~at~phys.uu.nl>
Date: Mon, 3 Jul 2000 21:35:32 +0200 (MET DST)
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~math.technion.ac.il>

On Mon, 3 Jul 2000, Ralf Tauchmann wrote:

> I have never read the Thompson Travel Agency. As to Keraban, I needed three
> attemps before I was able to get through the first three chapters, but then I
> was "trapped and entrained", if I can say so in English.

I had the same experience with 'L'invasion de la mer', which I first tried
to read (in a good dutch translation) when I was 12 or 13. I put it away
when I reached the lecture by De Schaller. I read the entire novel again
some years later, and though it very gripping. It's one of the titles I'm
eager to read in French now, because I've forgotten most of it.

Some personal feelings, in reply to Christian's list:

- I didn't like Cesar cascabel that much. Part I is OK, and the idea of
the journey is very original, but the plot with Ortik and Kirschef is so
ridiculously infantile. What villain with the least bit of brains would
participate in a play and let himself be arrested?

- Another weak novel is 'Bourses de Voyage'. Again, an incredibly stupid
gang of pirates, and hardly any plot. The descriptions are really nice,
and I learned a lot about the West-Indies from this novel, but
M. Patterson and his pupils were no real contribution.

- Only 2 stars for 'Famille-sans-Nom'? I read this one breathlessly, and
sometimes with tears in my eyes. The end may be a bit over-dramatic, but
it's so refreshing to have a novel without a happy end forced on it. (The
same applies to 'Un drame en Livonie', by the way, though it's weaker
the FSN.)

- Trois Russes & Trois Anglais: excellent. Who else but Jules Verne could
write a novel about measuring a meridian and make it so exciting? I'm
especially fond of the chapter about 'the metre'. (this may be my
physicist's point of view playing a role...)

It's funny to see that most people agree about the 'great' novels, such as
Strogoff, Tour du Monde, 20.000 Lieues etc., but that opinions differ
considerably as to the lesser known titles, like Keraban.

I think it's a great idea to have a survey on the Forum. Actually, I
thought about starting one before, but I never found the time to do it.

It would be nice if someone could make a web-page with a form to rate all
the titles on a scale of, say, 1-10, and write a script to process the
results. You could also investigate how well-known all titles are. But
this takes time...

Regards,
Garmt.
Received on Mon 03 Jul 2000 - 22:38:25 IDT

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