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Re: new 20K

From: thomas mccormick <tom_amity~at~hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 04:36:31 +0000
To: jvf~at~Gilead.org.il

My remarks weren't about R.M.'s edition, which is a welcome addition to the
Verne lit. Heaven knows I'm buying a copy.

Tom


>From: spaceart~at~att.net
>Reply-To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
>To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
>Subject: Re: new 20K
>Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 02:31:38 +0000
>
>There was never meant to be a discussion, let alone a debate, about the
>relative merits of the various editions of 20K. I realize that I triggered
>just such a discussion this past week, albeit altogether inadvertantly.
>However, the book that I've just made available is not at all about the
>merits or demerits of Lewis or even flawed translations in general---in
>fact, Lewis' name is not mentioned anywhere in the book, nor is any issue
>made regarding the flawed origins of the text and its restoration (other
>than a brief mention on the back cover). This 20K is presented as 20K and
>nothing else. The end matter---the maps and charts and schematics and
>whatnot---are there only to add to the overall enjoyment of the story. In
>fact, there are only about a dozen footnotes in the book itself beyond the
>ones Verne himself provided. (All of which may make this edition more
>peculiarly suited for young adult readers.) This 20K is one that is meant
>strictly for people who want to read it for
> entertainment---as a good novel and nothing more---and I think I am
>justified in believing that it will not only do that but will also enable
>the reader to experience something of the flavor of the era in which the
>book was written and takes place. And I *absolutely* insist that all of the
>foregoing is merely a descriptive statement about the book that is not
>meant in any way to compare it qualitatively with other editions, nor to
>incite any argument about the relative values of assorted translations, old
>or new. I would like to think that it exists---and is worthwhile---for its
>own merits...and I do believe it has some. It is *different* from other
>available editions but I make no claim that it is superior to them. The
>"students and Vernophiles" that Tom refers to, who want or need something
>beyond a good read, have Butcher and Miller, who, with their fine
>translations, copious and meticulous footnotes and scholarly supporting
>texts, have done far more, and far better, in
> that vein than I could possibly have hoped to. The only possible
>advantage I can think of regarding my 20K is that it is interactive. The
>nature of the POD process allows me to make changes easily between
>printings of individual copies. This means that I can incorporate ideas,
>suggestions, corrections and revisions from readers...in much the same way
>that I was able to add a map to my Journey to the Center of the Earth
>because readers requested it. I think this would be both fun and
>interesting for everyone involved.
>
>RM
>
>PS---
>The book is now available online. I will post the address tomorrow as soon
>as I make sure everything is as it should be. The book itself is a 6x9 inch
>paperback, 352 pages long, printed on a heavy cream book paper. I took some
>care to make it a nice-looking volume, with readable type and handsome page
>design. There is a full-color cover and about two dozen B&W illustrations
>(based on the original illustrations from the Unicorn edition). The back
>matter consists of a detailed two-page perspective cutaway of the Nautilus
>with 3-view plans and elevations; a map of the world with the course of the
>Abraham Lincoln and the Nautilus indicated; maps of Keeling Is. and
>Vanikoro (with a section view of the latter based on 19th century surveys);
>detail maps of Santorin and the Torres Straits (the latter based on the
>actual chart mentioned in the book); a scale cutaway of Nemo's secret
>island; a drawing of mid-19th century steam frigate like the Abraham
>Lincoln; a schematic drawing of a
> Ruhmkorff coil and lamp; a page comparing the Nautilus to about two dozen
>19th century submarines, to scale; a page of text, with a photo, on the
>origin of the Nautilus; a page on Verne's source for his description of the
>squids, with a contemporary illustration; and a schematic drawing of the
>Rouquayrol-Denayrouse diving apparatus and suit.
>
>From: "thomas mccormick" <tom_amity~at~hotmail.com>
> > Of course, we must bear in mind that this sort of discussion about
> > 20,000Leagues-in-English will be otiose in a few years. By that time we
>will
> > have a new cohort of students and Vernophiles, whose impressions of
>20,000
> > Leagues will be gathered from good translations (such as Miller's or
> > Butcher's), and when they want more of Captain Nemo they'll have Kravitz
>or
> > Stump or whatever. A debate about the merits and demerits of Lewis will
>be
> > regarded as a quaint period piece, of interest only to philologists.
>Most of
> > Verne's readers will be too busy being entertained and moved by his
>works to
> > care about the fate of flawed translations, which they will jump over or
> > blow up.
> >
> > Tom McCormick

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Received on Fri 14 Oct 2005 - 06:36:45 IST

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