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Fantods, whole no. 9, Winter 1945
Page 21
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EFTY-NINE page 21 By Ways The task of translating a work of fiction from one language into another must be at best a vexatious one. It may be that the host of foreign-language stef novels that Gernsback imported for publication in Wonder Stories were rendered into English by a more slapdash treatment than would be accorded best-selling works by authors of great renown. Yet, considering the problems of puzzling out obscure German or French idioms and paraphrasing them into reasonably approximate idiomatic American, an attitude of tolerance toward the peculiarities of style often found in these translations may properly be taken. It may even be asserted that some very dull stories in this category have had their entertainment value enhanced by amusing examples of too-literal translation. In no wise a fair example of this sort of thing, though, is Eugene Thebault's "The Radio Terror" [1-], for its plot is fantastically absurd enough to compel the amazed interest fo the reader and it was translated by no less a one than Fletcher Pratt who did, on the whole, a competent job. Yet he appears to have thrown in the sponge momentarily at one point to give us the following interesting passage: "She had not covered twenty yards when she felt herself suddenly lifted from the ground, then turned round and then -- It lasted only a split second, but it was like a century, and it was enough for Paulette to recognize that she had been hit from behind by an auto, and that in another fraction of a second she would be rolling with her wrecked bicycle beneath the wheels of the car." Also remarkable is Paul's illustration for the third instalment of this story. Thebault's description of the villainous Marquis de Saint-Imier's battle with himselves is wonderful, and Paul captures the picture perfectly. And speaking of illustrations, I have long wondered whether or not Marchioni had tongue in cheek when he illustrated Ernst's "Protoplasmic Station" in an early Thrilling Wonder [2]. Surely if he did not then we have here the prime example of unconscious humor in science-fiction illustrating. The facial expressions he puts on the characters being sucked to their doom by voracious protoplasm are terrific! But it appears that you don't always have to turn to the story and cover illustrations to find examples of fantastic art in stefzines. There's a War Advertising Council plug in the Summer 1944 Startling Stories, page 110, which pictures the famed 'Man With the Longitudinal Head'. The artists' conceptions of scientific apparatus have long been targets for readers' criticism. I don't recall, though, that anyone ever mentioned R. Isip's strikingly original depiction of a ringstand in a drawing for del Rey's ---------- 1. Wonder Stories, 5, i., ii., iii (June, Aug., Oct., 1933). 2. Thrilling Wonder Stories, 9, i (Feb. 1937).
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EFTY-NINE page 21 By Ways The task of translating a work of fiction from one language into another must be at best a vexatious one. It may be that the host of foreign-language stef novels that Gernsback imported for publication in Wonder Stories were rendered into English by a more slapdash treatment than would be accorded best-selling works by authors of great renown. Yet, considering the problems of puzzling out obscure German or French idioms and paraphrasing them into reasonably approximate idiomatic American, an attitude of tolerance toward the peculiarities of style often found in these translations may properly be taken. It may even be asserted that some very dull stories in this category have had their entertainment value enhanced by amusing examples of too-literal translation. In no wise a fair example of this sort of thing, though, is Eugene Thebault's "The Radio Terror" [1-], for its plot is fantastically absurd enough to compel the amazed interest fo the reader and it was translated by no less a one than Fletcher Pratt who did, on the whole, a competent job. Yet he appears to have thrown in the sponge momentarily at one point to give us the following interesting passage: "She had not covered twenty yards when she felt herself suddenly lifted from the ground, then turned round and then -- It lasted only a split second, but it was like a century, and it was enough for Paulette to recognize that she had been hit from behind by an auto, and that in another fraction of a second she would be rolling with her wrecked bicycle beneath the wheels of the car." Also remarkable is Paul's illustration for the third instalment of this story. Thebault's description of the villainous Marquis de Saint-Imier's battle with himselves is wonderful, and Paul captures the picture perfectly. And speaking of illustrations, I have long wondered whether or not Marchioni had tongue in cheek when he illustrated Ernst's "Protoplasmic Station" in an early Thrilling Wonder [2]. Surely if he did not then we have here the prime example of unconscious humor in science-fiction illustrating. The facial expressions he puts on the characters being sucked to their doom by voracious protoplasm are terrific! But it appears that you don't always have to turn to the story and cover illustrations to find examples of fantastic art in stefzines. There's a War Advertising Council plug in the Summer 1944 Startling Stories, page 110, which pictures the famed 'Man With the Longitudinal Head'. The artists' conceptions of scientific apparatus have long been targets for readers' criticism. I don't recall, though, that anyone ever mentioned R. Isip's strikingly original depiction of a ringstand in a drawing for del Rey's ---------- 1. Wonder Stories, 5, i., ii., iii (June, Aug., Oct., 1933). 2. Thrilling Wonder Stories, 9, i (Feb. 1937).
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