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Re: please MORE English JV translations

From: Rick Walter <rick1walter~at~comcast.net>
Date: Thu, 26 May 2011 07:44:42 -0600
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

Cyrus,

Many thanks for your kind remarks. As for Bill having the "definitive" translation of 80 Days, all I can say is that his is an indispensable text that every Anglophone Vernian needs to own -- of unique value are his many explorations into the manuscripts. (BTW, his 2009 Gallimard text of the French is, in addition, the closest thing we have to a critical edition of this masterwork.)

My own translation of 80 Days is, as usual w/ me, targeted particularly to U.S.readers, converting from metric and getting the lingo right for Americans ("cable cars" rather than tram cars in the San Francisco episode, etc.) The world is big enough for the two of us . . . and more.

Again, thanks for your enthusiasm and generosity.


Warmest regards,

Rick

Frederick Paul Walter
Albuquerque, New Mexico

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Cyrus
  To: Jules Verne Forum
  Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 11:02 PM
  Subject: Re: please MORE English JV translations


  Rick,


  Thank you for the detailed response.


  BRAVO on The Sphinx of the Ice Realm. Excellent news! Was going to add it to the list below. Read the Fitzroy edition years ago, and was that a headache. Look forward to your Circling the Moon as well.


  Am under the impression, that Butcher held the definitive version of 80 Days. Curious.


  Your previous translation/ editions of 20K and The Meteor Hunt are wonderful by the way. A treat.


  Regards.


  Cyrus








  On May 25, 2011, at 5:11 AM, Rick Walter wrote:


    Hi Cyrus--


    Your easy questions first:


    * In 2010 Castle in the Carpathians appeared in a new U.S. translation published by Melville House. The publishers have (shrewdly, I think), retitled it The Castle in Transylvania. It's an inexpensive paperback readily available from amazon.com.


    * I've just finished a new translation myself, and it's now in press. It's entitled The Sphinx of the Ice Realm, the first complete English rendering of Le Sphinx des glaces (1897). The publisher will be State University of New York, and when they set a pub date I'll let the forum know.


    * The North American Jules Verne Society is sponsoring new translations of some of JV's short fiction. Hopefully Brian Taves will keep the forum continually updated.


    In my opinion the Verne translation industry is in marvelous shape -- the last few decades have seen over 40 new English translations, many of offbeat or previously unavailable titles. As for the popular ones being retranslated, in my case I felt there were legitimate grounds. I developed SUNY's omnibus Amazing Journeys (JCE, both moon novels, 20K, 80 Days) for several reasons that seemed good to me:


    * Omnibuses of the bad old Victorian translations still clog the market (B&N, Borders, Outlook, etc.).


    * The astounding development of the www in the past fifteen years makes it possible to conduct wide-ranging research in a way not previously possible, including Verne's manuscripts and primary sources.


    * Circling the Moon had received only one modern translation (Baldick, 1970), which has been out-of-print for a quarter century.


    * I felt American readers would appreciate texts that converted the metric figures and tried to convey Verne's wit and humor.


    * 80 Days hadn't been translated by an American in over a century, yet a huge chunk of it (chaps. 25-33) takes place in our wild west and eastern seaboard.


    * I've been a fossil hunter since boyhood and couldn't resist grappling with the paleontology in JCE.


    Many thanks, Cyrus, for your inquiry and suggestions for future projects.




    All the best,


    Rick


    Frederick Paul Walter
    Albuquerque, New Mexico






    ----- Original Message ----- From: <aynberg~at~lavabit.com>
    To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
    Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2011 9:38 PM
    Subject: please MORE English JV translations




      Dear JVF,


      Interested to know of any future JV title translations.


      And forgive the following naive question.


      Why do the same five or so classic JV titles continue to be re- translated, when there are dozens more we really, really, would like to read?


      Captain Grant
      Michel Strogoff
      Castle in The Carpathians
      Hector Z
      Robur


      Et cetera, etc...


      Univ of Nebraska, Wesleyan, Bison, etc,...have done superb, outstanding editions. Money is a factor of course. However, it would be wonderful to read all the Extraordinary Voyages in a lifetime.


      Regards.


      Cyrus
      arqforthnib/
    ____________________________________________________________________________________
Received on Thu 26 May 2011 - 16:44:57 IDT

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