Recommended Books: Discussion

[nature]

Wonderfull! So, french readers are lucky.

 

[Christine]

You have a Robert Reissler's book available in french, and you don't want of it?
Above all, it's up to you.

I didn't say I didn't want it !?
Just that it didn't make sense to me.

I would put it in my next purchases.

 

[Christine]

Le contenu ne peut pas être exactement comme celui de « Whoever Fights Monsters » avec un titre et une couverture différente, pour moi ça n’a pas de sens.

The content can't be exactly like "Whoever Fights Monsters" with a different title and cover, for me it doesn't make sense.

When searching for the translation of a book, a very useful tool is the Bibliothèque National de France website. For this case, it says :

Auteur(s) : Ressler, Robert K. (1937-2013)
Voir les notices liées en tant qu'auteur

Titre(s) : Chasseur de tueurs [Texte imprimé] / Robert K. Ressler ; [avec la collab. de] Tom Shachtman ; [trad. de l'américain par Alexis Champon]

Traduction de : Whoever fights monsters

Publication : Paris : Presses de la cité, 1993

_http://catalogue.bnf.fr/index.do

And you know, High Strangeness has been translated in French with the title Ces mondes qui nous gouvernent, so ... (Though I don't know the history behind this choice) :)

Merci pour cette recherche, :)

C'est étrange de changer la couverture parce qu'il est dans une langue autre que l'original, j'aimerai comprendre cette chose bizarroïde.

Thank you for this research,

It's strange to change the cover because it's in a language other than the original, I would like to understand this strange thing.

 

[Jacques]

And you know, High Strangeness has been translated in French with the title Ces mondes qui nous gouvernent, so ... (Though I don't know the history behind this choice) :)

I'm not sure about the history behind that choice, but although High Strangeness could have been translated by « Grande Étrangeté », I think that we can say that that translation does not give any clue about the message of the book.

However, the actual title « Ces mondes qui nous gouvernent » tell us exactly what is in the book and it could have been a kind of a wink to Karla Turner. fwiw

 

[Maat]

Very true Gandalf ! And I guess that a cultural factor was involved. I don't really know for English people, but I do know that for French "Grande étrangeté" won't talk to you unless you already know very very well the subject.

So you have the beginning of a clue to what you found bizarroïd Christine !

Other than that, don't forget marketing, rights issues, and simply the fact that with different people involved, there is different views/desires, etc.

 

[Christine]

Thank you Gandalf and Maat for this explanation which can be understood. And the cover, why change it? Is it also for a better understanding? :)

 

[Adaryn]

And you know, High Strangeness has been translated in French with the title Ces mondes qui nous gouvernent, so ... (Though I don't know the history behind this choice) :)

I'm not sure about the history behind that choice, but although High Strangeness could have been translated by « Grande Étrangeté », I think that we can say that that translation does not give any clue about the message of the book.

I agree. The term "High strangeness" comes from Dr. J. Allen Hynek, and most French readers (among those who don't understand English) are probably not familiar with him and don't know what that expression actually means:

Dr. J Allen Hynek, of “swamp gas” fame, first used the term in a paper which he presented to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in December 1969. Hynek assigned cases a “strangeness” index as means of offering some kind of classification for UFO reports. Hynek further clarifies and defines this concept in his 1974 book The UFO Experience wherein he states that high strangeness is “a measure of the number of information bits the report contains, each of which is difficult to explain in common-sense terms.” (source)

It's strange to change the cover because it's in a language other than the original, I would like to understand this strange thing.

It's frequent to have different covers for the same book depending on the country where it's published (the same goes for movie posters). It has to do with cultural differences between countries, I suppose. The book cover will adapt to the 'market' at which it's aimed. See this article (it deals with fiction books, but I guess the same rule applies to non-fiction): http://www.slate.fr/story/69737/pourquoi-france-couvertures-livres-sobres

ADDED: just saw Maat's reply.

 

[Christine]

Thank you Adaryn for this very interesting link, I have the complete idea now.

 

[MK Scarlett]

Thank you Adaryn for this very interesting link, I have the complete idea now.

Christine, if the subject is of interest to you beyond knowing what was explained previously by others (or for anyone interested at it), you will find more explanations here: https://www.grapheine.com/histoire-du-graphisme/petite-histoire-des-couvertures-de-livres-4, as it is very interesting historically and culturally speaking (from my point of view).

The advent of Poche publishing in France in 1953 changed the intelligentsia and revolutionized access to books. The sober design of the Gallimard covers, which had previously been used as a reference, is challenged by the American influence and allows a certain graphic liberation of the book.

American influence is everywhere and especially in Culture for so long... I guess that sometimes it's great while often it's not and eventually frankly wrong.

I've read another article, but it seems it has disappeared: https://www.lamaisondubourg.net/single-post/2016/03/04/Explorons-en-profondeur-Les-couvertures-de-livre

In this latest, it was specifically about differences between France & USA for the same book but different cover. All is about Editors: In France, Editors had/have all power and the rule (initiated for the first time by Gallimard) was "minimalism, white & space". Over decades along 20e century, graphists & artists tried to change these rules, little by little.

The other main difference I remember was that the mention of the Editors on book covers in USA was (still is) not present on most of them while in France it was all about Editor name on 1st cover, spine and 4th cover.

 

[Christine]

Merci MK Scarlett, :)

Je prendrai le temps de lire le premier lien, effectivement le deuxième a disparue même en cache, impossible d'y accéder.

Thank you MK Scarlett,:)

I will take the time to read the first link, indeed the second one has disappeared even in cache, impossible to access.

 

[jhonny]

I just saw a list on the Recommended Books: List and Guide with the new books and I was wondering if ,The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haid and Healling Developmental Trauma by L. Heller, also must be added...Just a question

 

[hlat]

There's a duplicate entry under "8. Fourth Way" for "Brain Changer: How Harnessing Your Brain's Power to Adapt Can Change Your Life - David DiSalvo4.1"

Recommended Books: List and Guide

Note: Books available in other languages : in French: Ouvrages recommandés - Recommended books in Russian: Recommended books in Russian in Spanish: Recommended books in Spanish ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________...

cassiopaea.org

 

[hlat]

I'm halfway through Civil War by Caesar and it's amazing how much restraint Caesar had. He released captured enemy generals and soldiers even when the same enemy had executed Caesar's men captured during peace negotiations.

 

[Jacques]

There's a duplicate entry under "8. Fourth Way" for "Brain Changer: How Harnessing Your Brain's Power to Adapt Can Change Your Life - David DiSalvo4.1"

Recommended Books: List and Guide

Note: Books available in other languages : in French: Ouvrages recommandés - Recommended books in Russian: Recommended books in Russian in Spanish: Recommended books in Spanish ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________...

cassiopaea.org

Thanks hlat. It has been corrected.

 

[hlat]

The ending of Civil War seemed weird. Caesar's nemesis was killed by one of the factions of the foreign Alexandrian civil war. With this final victory, it seemed strange to me that Caesar decided that he was going to interfere in the Alexandrian civil war and arbitrate the matter himself, without his army to back him up. In response, one of the Alexandrian armies attacked Caesar and he was stuck in Alexandria.