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A review by sraev19
From the Earth to the Moon / Around the Moon by Jules Verne
2.0
What a difference a translator makes. The previous Verne novel I read, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, translated by William Butcher, was alive with action, excitement, and suspense. This edition of From the Earth to the Moon & Around the Moon, translated by T.K. Linklater, was dull, drab, and flat. Under the hands of different translators, Verne’s novels take on different authors.
T.K. Linklater exterminates the energy in Verne’s ideas. Linklater’s translation is literal and technical. The novel reads as if Linklater translated Verne on a word-by-word basis in order to convey Verne’s meaning as accurately as possible. In the process, however, Linklater loses Verne’s authorial touch. No poetics and artistry here; proper grammar rules.
The scientific content of the novel doesn’t help Linklater’s translation, either. Verne wields the knowledge and ideas of his time to explain the novel’s plot. Discussions of mathematics, probabilities, propulsion, gravitation, lunar mapping, and so on bounce between the characters like repartee.
Although such discussions are interesting, providing a glimpse into the scientific thought of Verne’s day, they are dry. Combined with the stiff vocabulary, word usage, and syntax of the surrounding narrative, the scientific digressions encourage skim reading. Sadly, my own interest in astronomy could not keep my mind from leaving the pages. I must have read the book over four times in my first reading.
I feel bad for Verne. From the Earth to the Moon & Around the Moon is probably a really good book in its native language. A good translation, such as one done by William Butcher, might have been able to capture more of Verne’s artistry than this Wordsworth edition did.
I could not get my hands on a Butcher or Miller or Walter translation, however. Thus, my review is for this specific translation of Verne’s work. I hope in the future I can find a better version and amend my opinion.
T.K. Linklater exterminates the energy in Verne’s ideas. Linklater’s translation is literal and technical. The novel reads as if Linklater translated Verne on a word-by-word basis in order to convey Verne’s meaning as accurately as possible. In the process, however, Linklater loses Verne’s authorial touch. No poetics and artistry here; proper grammar rules.
The scientific content of the novel doesn’t help Linklater’s translation, either. Verne wields the knowledge and ideas of his time to explain the novel’s plot. Discussions of mathematics, probabilities, propulsion, gravitation, lunar mapping, and so on bounce between the characters like repartee.
Although such discussions are interesting, providing a glimpse into the scientific thought of Verne’s day, they are dry. Combined with the stiff vocabulary, word usage, and syntax of the surrounding narrative, the scientific digressions encourage skim reading. Sadly, my own interest in astronomy could not keep my mind from leaving the pages. I must have read the book over four times in my first reading.
I feel bad for Verne. From the Earth to the Moon & Around the Moon is probably a really good book in its native language. A good translation, such as one done by William Butcher, might have been able to capture more of Verne’s artistry than this Wordsworth edition did.
I could not get my hands on a Butcher or Miller or Walter translation, however. Thus, my review is for this specific translation of Verne’s work. I hope in the future I can find a better version and amend my opinion.