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Re: new 20K

From: Walter J Miller <wjm2~at~nyu.edu>
Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2005 21:48:24 -0400
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

Brian:  sweet, concise, lyrical, and well appreciated.  Cheers!  Walter----- Original Message -----

From: Brian Taves <btav~at~loc.gov>

Date: Wednesday, October 12, 2005 7:55 pm

Subject: Re: new 20K

> And of course the next Annotated JV volume of Walter's shifted to an
> entirely fresh translation, From the Earth to the Moon.
>
> (I say that as one of the generation whose first JV book was the
> Scholastic press edition of From the Earth ... sold to us
> unsuspecting 5th
> graders in 1969 for about 35 cents at the time of the first Apollo
> moonlandings. And given how bad the [dumbed down Mercier] text
> was, I swore
> no more Verne. But my mom picked up the Washington Square Press
> editionof 20K at the local library, persuaded me to try it, and
> ... here I am on
> this forum.)
>
> Brian Taves
>
> On Wed, 12 Oct 2005, Walter J Miller wrote:
>
> >
> > Ron and all: A little background on this Mercier Lewis-Annotated 20K
> > discussion.  When I felt that my 1965 essay "Jules Verne in
> America: A
&g! t; > Translator's Preface" had failed to rouse publishers/readers
> to strive to
> > rehabilitate Verne in the anglophone world, my editor at Crowell-
> --the
> > great Hugh Rawson---suggested that we do an annotated edition of the
> > "standard" [Lewis] edition and (1) annotate all his errors and
> (2) fill
> > in the gaps with my translation of the 23% Lewis had omitted---and
> > annotate the reasons maybe for the omissions!  I think that this
> Crowell> edition ('76) did more than the Washington Square Press
> edition ('65) to
> > get things moving.  And you are right, Ron, to wonder why we did
> not take
> > the other route: Many readers asked why did you not just correct and
> > fulfill the ML version.  Rawson thought the other route would be
> more> dramatic, and I think that on the one hand he was right for
! > THE TIME, but
> > that actually the! other route s hould also be tried.  Of course, one
> > would have to feel, as Ron does, that ML has intrinsic values,
> which I
> > don't, obviously.  I think his only value to us THEN was that he
> typified> the whole Verne-translation scandal and  had to
> be exposed as such in
> > great detail. So now, with your Unicorn edition, we have both routes
> > traveled, but clearly better treatments were called for, and I
> think that
> > the Miller-Walter USNIP and the Butcher Oxford versions were
> > inevitable----one on the big hardcover level, the other on the mass
> > paperback level.  I will still order the Unicorn (amazon.com?)
> just to
> > see how the "other route" that Rawson and I considered has
> worked out. 
> > And incidentally, it was not the word "bullshit" that I regarded
> as a
> > criti! que but the words "non sequiturs." "Bullshit" alone would be
> > "intellectual bullying," but "non sequiturs" are a serious
> intellectual> concern.Cheers!  Walter James Miller----- Origina! l
> Message -----
> >
> > From: spaceart~at~att.net
> >
> > Date: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 12:09 pm
> >
> > Subject: Re: new 20K
> >
> > > I'm glad you realize that I meant no insult to you or your own
> > > work (or anyone else's for that matter). Perhaps I took your word
> > > "bullshit" a little too seriously---though I have to admit it is
> > > not quite what I am used to hearing refered to as a "critique".
> > >
> > > In any event, I hope that through my subsequent comments I have
> > > managed to make myself clearer. And that everyone will enjoy the
> > > coming reissue of th! e (much improved) Unicorn edition. Many people
> > > have asked me about doing this sort of thing over the past several
> > > years and I'm very glad to have finally found a way to gratify
> > > these requests.
> > >
> > > I hope, too, to be seeing everyone in Norfolk...though it seems
> > > that there may be a conflict with a book deadline. I hope not!
> > >
> > > Ron
> > >
> > > --
> > > Black Cat Studios
> > > http://www.black-cat-studios.com
> > >
> > > > Ron et al.--- I am glad that my one-sentence critique of your
> > > third paragraph produced so much interesting reaction by Tom
> > > McCormick & Ralf Tauchmann. I had not taken your announcement as
> > > directed at my (and Frederick PAUL Walter's) editions, not at all.
> > > I was not insulted. I think your edition (which you and I once
> >! ; > discussed as you drove me to your house) is one of many valuable
> > > ways of approaching the problem of making Verne available in
> > > English. Yesterday I was just protesting the non-sequiturs in
> > > said graf, and it seems others have had similar reactions. Thanks
> > > for quoting from my various editions and thereby reminding us all
> > > that the typos were my sole complaint about the original Unicorn
> > > edition. I assume I'll see you in Norfolfk? Cheers! Walter
> > > James Miller---- Original Message -----
> > >
> > > -------------- Original message ------------------! ----
> > > From: Walter J Miller <wjm2~at~nyu.edu>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>
> Brian Taves
> Motion Picture/Broadcasting/Recorded Sound Division
> Library ! of Congress
> 101 Independence Avenue, S.E. Washington, D.C. 20 540-4692
> Telephone: 202-707-9930; 202-707-2371 (fax)
> Email: btav~at~loc.gov
>
>
> Disclaimer--All opinions expressed are my own.
>
>
>
>
>
> Received on Thu 13 Oct 2005 - 03:48:57 IST

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