The Schedule for July 2023 through Dec. 2023

[Lynn]

Here's the next schedule. Please let me know if you see any errors. I think we can look forward to lots of good reading to take us through the rest of the year!

July
Classics (starts on the 1st) – no book
Reading List (starts on the 15th) – Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, nominated by Justin (338 p.)

August
Classics (1st): The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by R. L. Stevenson, nominated by Ann D (107 p.)

Reading List (15th)- Lessons: A novel by Ian McEwan, nominated by Barb (498 p.)

September
Classics (1st) – The House in Paris by Elizabeth Bowen, nominated by Maya (269 p.)

Reading List (15th) – Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, nominated by Ann D. (416 p.)

October
Classics (1st) - The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, nominated by spoko (Matt), (510 p.)

Reading List (15th) – Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan, nominated by Barb (240 p.)

November
Classics: no book

Reading List (15th) – The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne, nominated by spoko (Matt) (582 p.)

December
Classics (1st) – Shadows on the Rock by Willa Cather, nominated by Barb (240 p.)

Reading List (15th) – The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré, nominated by Mary Anne (371 p.)

[Steve]

Not that anyone would or should care. But on the remote chance that one other person does care, I think that I can save them some time.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a formidable reading project. If I am going to undertake The Hunchback of Notre Dame one more time before I die, as I fully intend to, then I am determined at least to attempt to find the best English transaltion available. As I looked into it, I found that it depends on what you are looking for. Strange.

In any event there is a two-part article on line entitled "What's the best transation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame?" by someone whose name I have been unable to find. Whoever it is did a lot of work. Part Two of that article is here:

https://welovetranslations.com/2022/1...

That allowed me fairly quickly to narrow the options down to two--the translation by a guy named Alban John Krailsheimer and another by John Sturrock. Catherine Liu was in the running until I read the reader reviews at amazon.com by people who claim to know what they're talking about. The translation by Walter J. Cobb, the one the reading list links to, is also discussed.

After further floundering around, I settled on the 1978 translation by John Sturrock. It is a Penguins Classics edition that actually bears the original French title of the novel on the cover, Notre-Dame de Paris. Here it is:

https://www.amazon.com/Notre-Dame-Par...

I am absolutely confident that my reading of a different translation will make not a wit of difference in my discussion of the novel with spoko along with perhaps one other odd Constant Reader.

[Steve]

Another thing occurs to me. If someone would only like to sleep with The Hunchback a couple times rather than take up residence with him, then they might perhaps consider one of those translations that is an abridgement. The only thing they would miss out on is an awful lot of Parisian architecture.

I am confident they would not go to Hell for that. Probably only have to do a couple extra eons in Purgatory. But you can do a couple extra eons in Purgatory while standing on your head. A couple eons in Purgatory will just fly by compared to reading a complete and unabridged translation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

You will only go to Hell if you start talking about some damned movie version during the discussion of the book. There is a movie topic elsewhere in Constant Reader.

[Joan]

Steve wrote: "Another thing occurs to me. If someone would only like to sleep with The Hunchback a couple times rather than take up residence with him, then they might perhaps consider one of those translations ..."

I enjoyed the Walter Cobb translation as read by Homewood. I tried the Blackstone audio book but thought is abysmal. I chose an audiobook because I wanted to wander Paris in my mind hearing streets, districts and characters’ name pronounced correctly — and my own french is extremely lame.

Had I read the article you linked to I would have chosen Krailsheimer (I enjoy books with lots of annotations) or Liu’s because it sounds mind-bending.

[Steve]

Joan wrote: "I enjoyed the Walter Cobb translation as read by Homewood. I tried the Blackstone audio book but thought is abysmal...."

Thank you, Joan. I am open to any information on this issue. Very well might change my mind.

It was interesting reading that article about the various translations. It really does depend on what you are looking for.

[Joan]

Steve wrote: "Joan wrote: "I enjoyed the Walter Cobb translation as read by Homewood. I tried the Blackstone audio book but thought is abysmal...."

Thank you, Joan. I am open to any information on this issue. V..."

I found Sturrock’s translation of In Search of Lost Time, Volume 4: Sodom and Gomorrah very engaging — I can’t say how accurate since I’ve never read the original but it was good reading.

[Steve]

That jibes with my info. I did notice that he had done some work with Proust.

[spoko]

I’m reading the Isabel Hapgood translation, for what it’s worth. I don’t know that I can recommend it as being the best translation; I settled on it some time ago, and I can’t now recall why that was. I wouldn’t expect anyone else to stick to that translation, and in fact there may be interesting comparisons/contrasts to note (if the discussion gets to that point).

[Steve]

spoko wrote: "I’m reading the Isabel Hapgood translation, for what it’s worth. I don’t know that I can recommend it as being the best translation; I settled on it some time ago, and I can’t now recall why that w..."

Hey, spoko! I was hoping that you would notice.

I am not looking for the best translation in the sense of the one most "true" to the French, God's own gift among the languages. I don't give a hoot about that because there is no way I can make any judgment about it myself nor am I interested.

It is rather that I am shopping around for the best translation in the sense of the one that will be the most entertaining for me. As I was telling Tonya over in the discussion of the Ukrainian short story, it appears that it may just be the one that takes some creative liberties with the wonderful, beautiful French language according to somebody.

And yes, it did occur to me that there might be some interesting comparisons of different translations. But let's give you credit for that because you said it first. The author of that article I cited takes a couple of paragraphs from the book and sets out how each of the various translators rendered them in English.

Anyway, rest assured that I am looking forward to it. I would have preferred Les Misérables, but that's not a big deal. I'm game. We are gonna discuss the hell outa this book.

[Steve]

Joan wrote: "Had I read the article you linked to I would have chosen Krailsheimer (I enjoy books with lots of annotations) or Liu’s because it sounds mind-bending...."

Ms. Liu's translation interested me as well. She apparently sexed up Esmeralda appropriately in contrast to the stodgy, old Puritan whose translation she was revising.

Now then, Joan, voices in the night told me that you are the mysterious Third Man. Clean your weapon, get your gear together, and be ready to go in October. spoko and I are going to need a little help with this discussion, particularly with the architectural crap.

Yes, you are the latest Constant Reader star, but with that comes responsibility. You cannot simply waltz in here, dazzle us, and then waltz off to Edinburgh or some other benighted place like Kat did. There will be consequences if you do that, madam. For one thing I will do everything in my power to prevent your star from being installed in the Constant Reader Walk of Fame.

Very attractive batch of dogs and cats, by the way.

[Joan]

I am humbled — an unfamiliar feeling for me.

Thank you, we only have the dog & one of the grey cats left now.

[spoko]

Steve wrote: “spoko wrote: “It is rather that I am shopping around for the best translation in the sense of the one that will be the most entertaining for me.”

This was a large part of my decision as well, and I have a further wrinkle in that I am listening to it. So I have to admit that it’s fully possible I chose my translation based upon who read it for Audible. (In my case, Peter Noble, for what that’s worth.)

[Barbara]

Wow, this gives me an interesting decision. I do care about translations though I'm not obsessive about it. I've read different ones of some classic works and they really do make a difference.
I've read Hunchback before but in an audiobook production before a trip to Paris. I wandered around the cathedral entranced by imagining him among the gargoyles. And, those gargoyles are magnificent, by the way. My husband took a great photo of one which now hangs on a wall in our house.

[Steve]

Barb. Barb. I am not obsessing. Nor am I "fretting" as Tonya implied over in the discussion of the Ukrainian story. I tried to explain there why I was not fretting but at far too much length as usual. Nobody read that, of course, but the mere appearance of the length of it on the computer screen only made it appear that I was fretting even more.

I only thought that when undertaking a French classic that prints out in excess of 600 pages on real paper with real ink, then the choice of translation is one, but only one, legitimate consideration.

And anyway, it does not make any difference. spoko and I agreed above that it might be fun and interesting if each of the three participants in the October discussion had read different translations.

[Tonya]

"I tried to explain there why I was not fretting at far too much length as usual, which only made it appear that I was fretting even more."
Ain't it always the way?

[Steve]

Yes, Tonya. That is a distinctively feminine trait that I share with women.

[Barbara]

Steve. Steve. I was not implying that you were being obsessive. I was only talking about me. But, again, I am very interested in getting good translators.

[Steve]

Barb. Barb. It never occurred to me that it was about you. I naturally assumed that it was about me.

Whatever the case, we are on the same page now, pardner.

[Gina]

If it doesn't matter what translation you use, Hunchback is on sale for .49 for Kindle.

[Justin]

I love the “we love translations” website! I’m going to read the Alban Krailsheimer translation (Oxford). It’d be cool to discuss the differences between the translations that everyone reads.

[Steve]

Great, Justin. I will be interested in reading what you think of that translation. The Krailsheimer translation was a very close second for me.

[Steve]

Again for what it's worth on a different subject. As others have no doubt discovered, there are multiple ways to read The Strange Tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on line free.

I settled on an edition available in Google Books. I know that I have made snarky remarks occasionally about ereaders. However, this seems entirely different. In this case Google scanned the pages of a 1903 edition salvaged at some point in the distant past from the University of Michigan library. What with the appearance on the screen of these old, yellowed pages, it is not at all an unpleasant reading experience.

It actually works better on my phone than it does in a browser on a notebook computer, which is handy.

There is no way to bookmark a page that I have figured out, but with a novella this short, it doesn't make any big difference.




Tom Joad, the toad.
Amphibious Constant Reader.

[Lyn]

I just finished it. Not quite understanding why it's important to know who's reading this particular Constant Reader pick.

[Lyn]

Why ask then?

[Lyn]

You asked people to answer yes or no, if they were going to read this book. Just wondering why you asked that (then said you didn't care about the answer, with language I didn't understand about a moment slipping by). Just a bit of an odd comment to me, and I wondered what was behind your making it.