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Re: Children of Capt Grant

From: Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd <garmtdevries~at~gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2011 08:26:47 +0200
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

If only it could go on forever! :)

Garmt.

On 29 August 2011 07:51, Christian Sánchez <chvsanchez~at~arnet.com.ar> wrote:
> Part one (which is set in Argentina!) is arguably the most adventurous of
> Verne output, surpassing maybe Five Weeks. Unfortunately I couldn't read it
> in my childhood.
>
> However, some people see a weakness in the novel, and I quote author and
> humorist Alejandro Dolina, who says "It's a story that seems to never
> end...".
>
> Best regards,
>
> Christian Sánchez
> chvsanchez~at~arnet.com.ar
> Rosario, Argentina
>
>
> ----- Mensaje original -----
> De: Alex Kirstukas
> Para: Jules Verne Forum
> Enviado: sábado, 27 de agosto de 2011 11:02
> Asunto: Re: Children of Capt Grant
> Hi everyone,
> I'm delighted to see Captain Grant come up on the Forum again - I believe
> it's one of the most underrated of the Voyages Extraordinaires, especially
> in the English-speaking world. That Verne thought enough of it to make it
> his longest work, to adapt it for the stage, and to link it with two other
> masterpieces (20L and MI) certainly speaks in its favor, and in the original
> French it's a glorious comic adventure with some extraordinary
> protofeminist, religious, and political undercurrents.
>
> A note on translations: the Routledge version ("Voyage Round the World") is
> definitely the best of the three existing English versions, but it does have
> its problems. Volume 1 is very lively and readable, but messes up some of
> Verne's descriptive passages; volume 2 is a little more clumsily written,
> but still pretty good; and volume 3, which is drastically abridged and full
> of errors, seems to have been translated by a different writer altogether.
> All three volumes also carry the usual problems of Victorian translations -
> most of the facts, figures, proper names, and historical details haven't
> been researched, leading to some unfortunate mistranslations and omissions.
>
> The one-volume Vincent Parke version (available on the JVC, Project
> Gutenberg, and elsewhere as "In Search of the Castaways, or, the Children of
> Captain Grant") is based on the Routledge translation, but goes much further
> from Verne's intentions, making additional drastic cuts and importing
> irrelevant, non-Vernian chapter headings from the appallingly bad Lippincott
> translation.
>
> That said, Captain Grant is definitely worth a look in any language; I'm
> working on a new annotated English translation myself, which I hope will
> give the book some of the Anglophone renown it's richly deserved for the
> last 150 years. That's a long time to wait for a complete and researched
> edition - but as Paganel says in Part One, "It's never a bad time to learn."
>
> Alex
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: "rfbagby~at~aol.com" <rfbagby~at~aol.com>
> To: jvf~at~Gilead.org.il
> Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2011 7:35 AM
> Subject: Re: Children of Capt Grant
>
> I'm pretty sure this is best known in Russia, the 1930's Soviet film there
> having the same classic reputation as the Disney 20K or the Todd 80 DAYS, so
> there have been several remakes both film and TV. (Some may recall when a
> Russian extreme sports team contacted us some years back seeking sponsorship
> for a Reality Show re-enactment of the adventure route.)
> I myself recall my childhood puzzlement when MYSTERIOUS ISLAND took
> familiarity with this work as a given in its own plot!
> Ross
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd <garmtdevries~at~gmail.com>
> To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
> Sent: Sat, Aug 27, 2011 3:05 am
> Subject: Re: Children of Capt Grant
>
> Harry, perhaps you know the novel under its more common English title "In
> Search of the Castaways"?
>
>
>
> And I can confirm that Grant is indeed something of a classic on the
> continent. Speaking at least for the Netherlands, the general public is not
> as aware of this Verne story as it is of classics like Centre of the Earth,
> 20K, Strogoff or 80 Days. On the other hand, there are a few series that
> contain 10-15 volumes and these invariably include Grant. During my book
> hunts throughout Europe, I've always had the impression that Grant was one
> of the most common titles.
>
>
> As for age, I would guess that readers pick it up at the same age as Verne's
> other famous stories.
>
>
> Cheers,
> Garmt.
>
> On 27 August 2011 08:15, Harry Hayfield &lt;harryhayfield~at~gmail.com&gt;
> wrote:
> Well, I have to say that you will probably debate my status as a Vernian
> when I say that I have never heard of the Children of Captain Grant before,
> but do remember being in a television shop one day debating the virtues of
> changing from a normal set to a HD set when to demonstrate the difference
> the sales assistant switched from Channel 4 SD to Channel 4 HD when the film
> was being shown and thought "Mmm, why does that ring a Vernian bell?"
>
> From: "Brian Taves" &lt;briantaves1879~at~yahoo.com&gt;
> To: jvf~at~Gilead.org.il
> Sent: Saturday, 27 August, 2011 2:54:09 AM
> Subject: Children of Capt Grant
>
> I am reading again after decades this novel, in the translation by Routledge
> recommended by Art Evans.
>
> This seems to be highly readable version and the story is, with only a few
> exceptions, a fast-paced adventure.
>
> Sadly, tho, if it is known at all today to English-speaking readers, it is
> through the Disney connection.
>
> My impression is that it is still widely read on the continent, however,
> and occupies something of the status of a classic.  Is that correct?  At
> what age might readers be tackling it?
>
>
> Brian Taves
>
>
>
>
>
>
Received on Mon 29 Aug 2011 - 09:26:53 IDT

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