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Re: Fwd: Google Alert - "Jules Verne"

From: <1001~at~atlanticbb.net>
Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2007 12:57:20 -0400
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

The article also appeared in julesvernenews on the day of its publication!!
nwolcott2~at~post.harvard.edu
----- Original Message -----
From: "Walter J Miller" <wjm2~at~nyu.edu>
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 9:00 AM
Subject: Re: Fwd: Google Alert - "Jules Verne"


> Thanks, Brian. Cheers! Walter
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Brian Taves <btav~at~loc.gov>
> Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 7:46 am
> Subject: Re: Fwd: Google Alert - "Jules Verne"
> To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
>
>
> > http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119007144221930439.html?mod=2_1167_1
> >
> > A Century After His Death,
> > A Jules Verne Revival
> > By JOHN J. MILLER
> > September 18, 2007; Page D8
> >
> > Before his career took off like a rocket to the moon, Jules Verne was
> > a
> > stockbroker -- and he is said to have made a boast to his pals at the
> > Paris exchange: "I've just written a new kind of novel, and if it
succeeds
> > it will be an unexplored gold mine. In that case, I'll write more such
> > books while you're buying your stock. And I think I'll earn the most
> > money!"
> >
> > Verne's friends may have laughed, but they would have been wise to
invest
> > in the budding author. His first book, "Five Weeks in a Balloon," was
> > published in 1863, and it provided a taste of what would come. Within
> > a
> > decade, Verne wrote several of the world's greatest tales of scientific
> > adventure: "Journey to the Center of the Earth," "20,000 Leagues Under
> > the
> > Sea," and one of the best-selling novels of all time, "Around the
> > World in
> > 80 Days."
> >
> >
> > Jules Verne
> > These titles have never been out of print, and they remain popular among
> > readers who marvel at Verne's knack for storytelling. He invented iconic
> > characters such as Captain Nemo and Phileas Fogg. Fans also credit him
> > with an uncanny ability to anticipate future events and technologies --
> > everything from the Apollo space program to cellphones.
> >
> > What Verne probably couldn't have predicted was his revival a century
> > after his death in 1905. Yet we're in the midst of a Verne renaissance
> > brought on by new manuscripts, improved translations, and scholarly
> > reassessments. Biographies by William Butcher and Herbert R. Lottman
have
> > helped, too.
> >
> > The trend's latest manifestation is tomorrow's publication of
"Lighthouse
> > at the End of the World," by the University of Nebraska Press. More
> > precisely, it's the first English translation of this minor work from
> > Verne's original manuscript -- it had previously appeared only in a form
> > posthumously altered by Verne's son, Michel, who was guilty of perhaps
> > nothing more than trying to extend the commercial life of the family
> > Jules. Critics disagree about which version is better, but in truth
> > neither shows off Verne at the top of his game.
> >
> > When long-gone authors enjoy new respect, however, their most obscure
> > books come back into view, which is precisely what's happening to the
> > prolific Verne. Last year, Nebraska released "The Meteor Hunt" and next
> > year it plans to put out "The Golden Volcano." Wesleyan University Press
> > is issuing its own set of rarities, including "The Kip Brothers," which
> > had never appeared in English before a few months ago.
> >
> > Yet the main problem for translations of Verne hasn't been scarcity but
> > quality. Unesco ranks Verne as one of the planet's 10 most translated
> > authors, along with Agatha Christie and whoever wrote the
> > Bible. Oftentimes, however, readers have had to settle for hackwork
> > without even realizing it.
> >
> > "Most of the standard English translations were bowdlerized," says
Arthur
> > B. Evans, a DePauw University professor who has studied the texts. "They
> > suffered from errors, abridgment, and even censorship."
> >
> > In "The Mysterious Island," a semi-sequel to "20,000 Leagues," Verne
> > observes that "the British yoke had weighed perhaps too heavily on the
> > Hindu population." A popular translation into English actually reverses
> > the meaning of this comment: The people of India are described as full
> > of
> > "ignorance and gross superstition" and their colonial masters as having
> > "brought them out of a state of anarchy and constant warfare and
misery."
> >
> > Many translations weren't exercises in political correctness. Instead,
> > they were slapdash efforts to dumb down the prose. Verne always has
> > had a
> > reputation as an author of books for boys -- and therefore as a writer
> > sophisticated readers were supposed to outgrow. It didn't help that
Disney
> > World once featured an attraction based on "20,000 Leagues," complete
> > with
> > an attack by a giant squid.
> >
> > One of the reasons for Verne's initial popularity in France sprang from
> > the fact that parents saw his stories as educational tools. In this
sense,
> > "Journey to the Center of the Earth" is a geology lesson embedded in a
> > potboiler. Verne isn't merely a figure from the early days of science
> > fiction, but a founding father of a subgenre known as "hard SF," because
> > it emphasizes technological accuracy and scientific detail.
> >
> > Whereas many science-fiction writers set their stories in the distant
> > future, Verne typically placed his in the present. A significant
exception
> > involves one of the first novels he ever wrote. His editor actually
> > rejected it and the manuscript lay hidden in a safe until 1989, when
> > Verne's great-grandson hired a locksmith to crack it.
> >
> > The subsequent publication of "Paris in the Twentieth Century" showed
> > that
> > Verne's editor was probably smart to snub the story. It isn't a gripping
> > page-turner, and its bleak view of scientific progress contrasts with
> > the
> > optimism of Verne's best books. Despite its dystopian sensibility, it
> > was
> > a literary time capsule -- and readers were fascinated by its vision of
> > cars powered by gas and computers linked by telegraph. "Paris in the
> > Twentieth Century" fueled Verne's reputation as a prophet.
> >
> > And there apparently aren't any major gripes with the translation --
> > something that still can't be said for many of the Verne titles commonly
> > sold today. Mr. Evans of DePauw recommends the Oxford University Press
> > translations by Mr. Butcher, who is also the translator of Nebraska's
> > "Lighthouse at the End of the World."
> >
> > In his introduction to the new book, Mr. Butcher speculates that Verne
> > was
> > drawn to the image of a lighthouse at the forsaken tip of South America
> > because, late in life, he was going blind. Thanks to efforts such as
> > Mr. Butcher's, however, it's now possible for the rest of us to see
Verne
> > more clearly than ever before.
> >
> > Mr. Miller writes for National Review.
> >
> > RELATED ARTICLES AND BLOGS
> >
> > On Wed, 19 Sep 2007, Walter J Miller wrote:
> >
> > > Forgive my ignorance, but how do I get directly to the Evans story?
> > W J M
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd <g.devries~at~phys.uu.nl>
> > > Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 3:16 am
> > > Subject: Fwd: Google Alert - "Jules Verne"
> > > To: JVF <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
> > >
> > >
> > > > Today's Google News informs me that our friend Art has been
> > > > interviewed by
> > > > the Wall Street Journal.
> > > >
> > > > Garmt.
> > > >
> > > > ------- Forwarded message -------
> > > > From: "Google Alerts" <googlealerts-noreply~at~google.com>
> > > > To: g.devries~at~phys.uu.nl
> > > > Cc:
> > > > Subject: Google Alert - "Jules Verne"
> > > > Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2007 04:11:24 +0200
> > > >
> > > > Google News Alert for: "Jules Verne"
> > > >
> > > > Wall Street Journal Story on Resurgence of Jules Verne Quotes Prof
> > ...
> > > > DePauw University - Greencastle,IN,USA
> > > > September 18, 2007, Greencastle, Ind. - When it comes to the work
> > of
> > > > Jules
> > > > Verne,
> > > > "Most of the standard English translations were bowdlerized,"
> > Arthur
> > > > B. ...
> > > > See all stories on this topic
> > > >
> > > > This once a day Google Alert is brought to you by Google.
Received on Wed 19 Sep 2007 - 18:58:32 IST

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