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Jules Verne: Favorite Translation / Translator?


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Anyone have a favorite translation / favorite translator for Jules Verne?

 

I tried the search, but didn't come up with anything. 

 

Also, which novel would you begin with?  Choices:  20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in 80 Days, Journey to the Center of the Earth. Reading level is not an issue.

 

I have never read Verne, so I am not sure where to begin.

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We used the annotated 20,000 Leagues, which was fantastic - it added back all the stuff that had been removed by the early translator in parens or italics or something, so you could compare it with/without and really see how the political message was watered down in translation.  I highly recommend the Annotated versions if you can get ahold of them.  Other than that, just make sure they are modern translations that have put back all the expurgated material.  We had two different versions of Around the World and the differences were pretty interesting.  That could be a good study right there! How stories can be changed in translation.

 

As far as which to do, we enjoyed Around the World the most, followed by 20,000 Leagues, then Journey.  It can be interesting to compare how he does characters in the three books - he always has 3 main male characters who are caricatures of different qualities.  The comparison is most direct between 20,000 and Journey.  20,000 Leagues definitely has the heaviest issues to ponder, so it is a more interesting book in some ways, but you may have to skip over some of the endless descriptions of fish and other undersea life . . . I know we did!

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Woohoo, the link actually worked. :)

 

We have at least one "good" translation of his major works... some of the contemporary translations were not only butchered by are also written in leaden prose. We particularly enjoyed 20,000 Leagues and the Wesleyan edition of Mysterious Island (20,000 Leagues *must* be read first). I used my best filmstrip narrator voice for the descriptive paragraphs in 20,000 Leagues... it got us through. :)

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losje22000:  Yippee for another literary field trip idea - thank you!

 

I was thinking of independent reading, but maybe 20,000 leagues would be better for a read aloud.  Hmm.

 

Thank you for the translation tips.  I learned my lesson several years ago when I read Kristen Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset.  I made the mistake of reading an old translation from Norwegian and I could hardly stand the book.  Luckliy, a friend pointed me to a modern translation by Tina Nunnally.  And then I fell in love with the trilogy.

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Depending on the child's age.  I would start with "Two years of Holiday", " Dick Sand: a captain at fifteen", "The Misterious Island",  "20000 leagus under the sea"  and than on with any other one you want.  My most favorite one as a child was "Two years of holiday" because I could relate to the kids in the story.  

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Definitely go with a newer translation - one of the new translators (Miller?) goes on a rant about what a hack job the older translations are - the ones done around the time the books came out (and apparently no one bothered to re-translate them much till recently; just reworked the old translations) - apparently those early translations were done just to sell copies, as Verne was considered pulp adventure fiction - accuracy wasn't prized, and anything that offended the Victorian Brits was cut as well.

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