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Re: Jules Verne E-Book Editions -- Nook

From: Raymond Macon <maconr~at~speakeasy.net>
Date: Sat, 21 May 2011 19:39:23 -0600
To: "'Jules Verne Forum'" <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>


Rick,

 

Thank you very much for your reply. It was full of useful information.
From what I have seen of the B&N offerings, it is as you say. I think I
will contact the organization and point out what you have said with respect
to the editions they offer as well as the fact that their rivals at
Amazon.com have consistently better texts available on their Kindle.

 

By the way, on 7 June B&N will release Extraordinary Voyages, a collection
featuring Around the World in Eighty Days, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the
Sea, and Journey to the Center of the Earth. I think the JCE translation is
the one done by Bill Butcher, so it will be worth obtaining for that alone.
I will endeavor to find out who has translated the other texts.

 

Raymond

 

From: owner-jvf~at~Gilead.org.il [mailto:owner-jvf~at~Gilead.org.il] On Behalf Of
Rick Walter
Sent: Saturday, 21 May, 2011 14:47
To: Jules Verne Forum
Subject: Re: Jules Verne E-Book Editions -- Nook

 

>I am in the process of selecting certain Jules Verne novels for purchase
and downloading [from Nook]. . . . Would you be so kind as to recommend
editions I should own?

 

Hi Raymond--

 

I'm afraid I can't give you much encouragement at this time. I've spent over
an hour scouring what B & N are making available in their Nook format, and
it has been a dispiriting experience. Virtually all of it consists of the
same old public-domain material many of us are heartily sick of.

 

The significant exceptions are:

 

* The Castle in Transylvania -- Charlotte Mandell, translator. A brand-new
text you'll probably enjoy.

 

* Journey Through the Impossible -- Edward Baxter, translator. A modern text
of a Verne theatrical collaboration.

 

* The Bantam Classics editions of 20,000 Leagues & From the Earth to the
Moon -- readable, mostly complete modern texts.

 

 

Otherwise, Raymond, it's samo, samo. The problem is that Barnes & Noble is
itself such an aggressive publisher: They stand to make more money off their
own editions and off p.d. items than by licensing from other publishers. I'm
sure that's why so few copyrighted Verne texts are available in their Nook
format.

 

Which is a huge shame, Raymond, because Amazon's Kindle, their big rival,
has a generous selection of modern Verne editions available. But hopefully
Nook will become more competitive in the months ahead. When that happens, I
warmly recommend these splendid modern editions:

 

* The Oxford World Classics texts, translated by William Butcher and based
on his pioneering research into Verne's manuscripts.

 

* The University of Nebraska offerings in their Bison Frontiers of
Imagination series -- annotated modern texts based on Verne's unedited
originals.

 

* The titles in the Wesleyan Early Classics of Science Ficition series,
edited by Arthur B. Evans -- standard-setting modern texts.

 

* State University of New York's popular omnibus "Amazing Journeys: Five
Visionary Classics" -- which I busted my butt over and generally feel good
about.

 

 

Meantime cross your fingers, Raymond. Maybe you won't have to wait too long.
Or you might contact B&N and light a fire under them...

 

 

All the best,

 

Rick

 

Frederick Paul Walter

Albuquerque, New Mexico

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Raymond Macon <mailto:maconr~at~speakeasy.net>

To: Jules Verne Forum <mailto:jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>

Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2011 11:01 AM

Subject: Jules Verne E-Book Editions

 

My friends,

 

A good friend has given me Barnes & Noble's e-Reader called the NOOK. I was
absolutely surprised and delighted by this gift. You can only imagine how
eager I am to download the many titles I have wished to own in this new
digital format.

 

I am in the process of selecting certain Jules Verne novels for purchase and
downloading. I want to avoid at all cost the horrible public domain ones as
well as any that abridge or make alterations to names in the original French
text. Would you be so kind as to recommend editions I should own? I am
especially interested in the following titles: Twenty Thousand Leagues
Under the Sea; Journey to the Center of the Earth; The Mysterious Island;
From the Earth to the Moon; and Around the Moon.

 

I know that several Forum members have produced their own translations, and
if they want to recommend them I would be happy to obtain them. I wouldn't
mind having several versions of the same title so long as the translations
are first rate. Also, if any of you want to recommend other Verne titles I
will be happy to consider them. This new era of digital technology is both
exciting and somewhat frightening as changes are coming at blinding speed.
The idea of carrying an entire library in a machine that is as slim as a
magazine; has the same size as a medium paperback or softcover book; and
which can fit into a deep coat pocket is simply mind-boggling. I never
thought I would live to see such advances, and I want to take full
advantage. Why, the very fact that I can make this request to so many Verne
scholars, enthusiasts, and fans by means of the Internet and World Wide Web
is nothing short of miraculous!

 

So I ask for your aid and counsel in full confidence that the
recommendations you will give me (as well as others) will be sound ones. I
want to thank all of you in advance, and I look forward to your replies.

 

"Et quacunque viam fortuna dederit, sequamur!"

 

Raymond Macon

 

"Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent,
literature dumb, science crippled, thought and civilization at a
standstill." -Barbara Tuchman

 
Received on Sun 22 May 2011 - 04:58:23 IDT

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