Jules Verne Forum

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Re: Some new Verne books; and Amazon.com

From: Walter J Miller <wjm2~at~nyu.edu>
Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2006 14:49:03 -0400
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

Norman, sorry I'm late with my thanks for your endeavors on my----and Rick's----behalf.  It is astonishing that a professor should do such sloppy work.  Neither Parrett nor Blake seems to have done any homework.  I'll follow up as best I can.  Thanks, thanks. thanks,  Walter James Miller----- Original Message -----

From: Norm Wolcott <nwolcott2ster~at~gmail.com>

Date: Sunday, June 11, 2006 2:50 pm

Subject: Some new Verne books; and Amazon.com

> I recently came across two books in the Barnes and Noble "Classics
> Series" One is "From the Earth to the Moon". an unillustrated
> reprint advertised as being translated by Edward Roth, and with an
> introduction and edited by Aaron Parrett. Mr. Parrett is
> apparently an English professor at Montana State University. His
> introduction trods the usual ground of Verne biography, but
> without reference to the merit of the translation, except in an
> appendix "For Further Reading" to suggest that the reader might
> want to consult Walter Miller's "Annotated From Earth to the
> Moon". My guess is that the "editor" provided what the publisher
> wanted, and paid for.
>
> This version might have sunk into oblivion along with all the
> other bad reprints, except with the imprint of Barnes and Noble it
> is bound to find itself on the shelves of all Barnes and Noble
> stores, where I and thousands of others will find it.
>
> I also found another of the same series, "2000 Leagues under the
> sea", edited by a Victoria Blake, a name which sounds
> suspiscioiusly like a pseudonymn of someone who does not want
> their real name associated with the work. Again in the appendix it
> is suggested that for further reading one might consult a real
> translation that of Walter Miller and Frederick Paul Walter.
>
> As a result I posted reviews of the two books on Amazon.com. In so
> doing I found that Amazon treats all books with the same title as
> being identical. Thus all versions of "From the Earth to the
> Moon", Roth and Mercier, are considered the same book, and the
> reviews are all lumped together. For this reason I identified my
> review by referring to the publisher and the ISBN. In fact the
> first sentence of the Roth book is listed identical to the Mercier
> version! Unfortunately Amazon no longer provides ISBN numbers, so
> identifying different publications is difficult.
>
> I also added a review to Walter Miller's Annoted Earth to the Moon
> since there were zero reviews of this. It is unlikely that anyone
> will ever read these reviews, but there is always the possibiity
> that someone will encounter them and be pointed in the right
> directiion.
>
> nwolcott2~at~post.harvard.edu Received on Sun 25 Jun 2006 - 21:49:12 IDT

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