[Astra]

I just read on ebook forum:

Quote

The version I've uploaded is the "standard" (anonymous) English translation commissioned by the original British publisher, Chapman and Hall, in 1846, and used in the vast majority of unabridged printed English editions (eg the Oxford World Classics edition). One should be aware, however, that it's a little "censored". In the French original, one of the leading characters in the book is a Lesbian, and all material relating to that was omitted from the English edition, since it was unacceptable to a Victorian English readership.

Penguin Classics commissioned a new translation in the 1990s which retains all the material omitted from my version, but it's written in "modern" English which many readers find to be at odds with the age of the story

[teholbeddict]

Thanks for sharing this info! I've got an e-reader so it would be perfect if I could find this edition in e-book format. I had no idea that the version I'd read was probably censored. I certainly don't remember a lesbian being a part of the story.

[pat5150]

Just finished Holly Phillips' The Engine's Child.

Killer premise, vivid prose, but poor, poor execution. . .

Check out the blog for the full review.

Patrick

This post has been edited by pat5150: 28 November 2008 - 03:00 AM

[Chance]

Going through the last pages of Blood of Elves must say while well written and all it lacks a lot of the magic the first book had...still its a set up for what is to come in the next few doing little more then set up the scene and main characters.

/Chance...disappointed but not surprised...

[Deornoth]

I've just finished reading Brandon Sanderson's 'The Well of Ascension', second in the 'Mistborn' series and a big improvement on the first book as far as I was concerned. Have a look at my full review over Here.
I'll be reading 'The Hero of Ages' shortly but thought I'd have a go at Ian Graham's 'Monument' first...

[Mentalist]

Astra, on Nov 26 2008, 10:34 AM, said:

Finished A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny.
I liked it. Actually, it was very good for a short novel. 8 out of 10.

Surprisingly so, after a very big disappointment in Lord of Light and mediocre The Doors in the Sand.

Started to re-read The Count of Monte Cristo. In Russian! 12 years since I read it the last time.

ooh, I have loved this.... incidentally, also in russian
in fact I think Dumas' the best French writer, after Boussenard.....
alas, exams are upon me, and aside from sneaking in a couple dozen pages a day of "power struggles in Angola 1848-1975" ( a book I picked up int he library to expand my knowledge of the region, while I was writing my paper on the DRC), I am forced to read textbooks only....

[Chance]

About Dumas while interesting to read ones to get a insight in the times I really have a hard time re-reading them...


Just put down the newst Butcher offering in form of Codex Alera: Princepts' Fury and must say I think they are getting better and better...

...well back to A History of World Societies and The Swedish Society 1720-2000...

/Chance...

[Astra]

At the very beginning of The Count of Monte Cristo.

I started to read it in Russian but it didn't go as well as I hoped for (I read it twice mbefore. When I was 15 and 23, both times in Russian). So I started to read it in English...and then I learned that there is a new translation to English, which is different from the classic one supplied anonymously in the middle of 19th centery.
Robin Buss’s lively English translation is complete and unabridged, and remains faithful to the style of Dumas’s original
There is introduction in the beginning of the book and it is quite interesting, although if it is the first time you are going to read The Count of Monte Cristo, you absolutely MUST skip it because it is full of spoilers.

Apparently I will stick to the new English translation, it goes quite well.

[Deornoth]

Just finished reading Ian Graham's 'Monument', a fantasy novel that reminded me of 'The Fugitive' albeit with a protagonist who really did do all the things he had been accused of...
'Monument' is a book that suffers from uneven pacing and sketchy world building but still manages to give the reader enough to keep them going up until the end where there's a twist that I never saw coming. A frustrating read but good fun nonetheless. My full review is over Here.
I'm now reading an ARC of Charles de Lint's 'The Mystery of Grace'...

[polishgenius]

Just finished Steph Swainston's third book, The Modern World.
Swainston's an odd writer, because she breaks every rule that common sense would tell you a good writer doesn't, yet I still think she's brilliant. Third book is no different. Also it's the first one to leave dangling some really interesting stuff for the future of the series, which makes it slightly worrying that there's been zero word on the fourth. Hasn't been all that long yet, two years, so perhaps she's just taking more time over the next one.

[teholbeddict]

Astra, on Dec 2 2008, 06:06 AM, said:

At the very beginning of The Count of Monte Cristo.

I started to read it in Russian but it didn't go as well as I hoped for (I read it twice mbefore. When I was 15 and 23, both times in Russian). So I started to read it in English...and then I learned that there is a new translation to English, which is different from the classic one supplied anonymously in the middle of 19th centery.
Robin Buss's lively English translation is complete and unabridged, and remains faithful to the style of Dumas's original
There is introduction in the beginning of the book and it is quite interesting, although if it is the first time you are going to read The Count of Monte Cristo, you absolutely MUST skip it because it is full of spoilers.

Apparently I will stick to the new English translation, it goes quite well.

Hey Astra I managed to get my hands on this as well, thanks for the head up the other day. Also just a note I went and picked up the light cover for my Sony reader last night. It's actually worth it if you were considering it!

[QuickTidal]

Currently... Wit'ch Fire (Book 1 of the Banned and the Banished) by James Clemens...which I am enjoying thoroughly.

[Deornoth]

I've just finished reading Bruce Cordell's 'Plague of Spells', a Forgotten Realms book dealing with events arising out of the Spellplague... It's a nice light (and fun) read for the tube but it never really becomes any more than that. It does have a Kraken though which is pretty cool. My full review is over Here.
I'm now onto L.E. Modesitt Jr's 'The Lord Protector's Daughter' which should take me nicely up to the weekend.

[QuickTidal]

Briar King, on Dec 4 2008, 04:12 PM, said:

Going on a reread kick here enjoying A Game of Thrones once again.

I was thinking of doing that very thing right up till I grabbed Wit'ch Fire to....I may reread it after Christmas though.

[Fist Gamet]

Just finished The Ten Thousand (which, though good, would have been better if it were longer, ended up like a kind of poor man's Chain of Dogs) and have now begun Musashi, which I have been meaning to read for forever!

[Dr Trouble]

I finally found a copy of Return of the Crimson Guard. Its okay. Half way through and its barely keeping me reading.

[Aptorian]

The second part of RCG becomes more intense. There's a markable difference between the two parts of the book.

But yeah, it seems like a sloppy book with some odd storyline choices. Still, great stories that add a lot of meat to the malazan universe.

[teholbeddict]

Well now that I'm finally finished Bakker's PoN trilogy (didn't like it) I'm on to Paul Kearney's The Ten Thousand. Hopefully it's a good one!

[drinksinbars]

just fimnished the mars trilogy by kim stanley robinson, is a good set but the first novel is the strongest by far.

[Salt-Man Z]

Yeah, Red Mars was good. I started into Green Mars and it was a bit of a struggle... Then I picked up some Donaldson on a whim, and promptly forgot about the Mars books.