Translation Wednesday: Malevil by Robert Merle (translated by Derek Coltman)

[james_davis_nicoll]

Malevil — Robert Merle

Comments

[w. dow rieder (from livejournal.com)]

Interesting--sounds much less depressing in tone than the typical American post-holocaust story.

[joycemocha.livejournal.com]

A lovely review. It would be worth looking at the differences between the Reader's Digest Condensed Version and the unabridged edition. As I vaguely recall, the Reader's Digest emphasized the grimmer parts. Not sure if they were trying to conform to an American post-holocaust norm by that point, because I read a rather cheery Philip Wylie post-holocaust RD version (50s era) which I tore apart in Some Scholastic Essay On Post Holocaust Literature either late in my high school or early in my college years. I do remember comparing the Wylie to Alas Babylon and Malevil, which meant I read the nonabridged edition at that point.

I am not conversant in ROT-13, so I'll refrain from a spoilerish comment about Emmanuel, except to say that it was sadly ironic and not in line with the American post-holocaust story.

[rwpikul.livejournal.com]

If you are using Firefox there is an extension called LeetKey that offers a number of text transformers, including Rot13.

[bruce munro (from livejournal.com)]

"I invite speculation about why a French novel would favour democracy when American post-apocalyptic novels think - or perhaps firmly assert is better - that democracy would not survive."

Perhaps French democracy had enough detours over the first couple centuries that by the 70s the French had more of an ingrained sense that following the man on horseback[1] never led anywhere good? [2]

[1]Man on horseback = chevalier = feudal overlord, no? :)

[2] Of course, this may have changed for the worse: I have no idea what the preferred post-apocalyptic political arrangements are in French genre novels of the 2010s.

[monte davis (from livejournal.com)]

The phrase "man on horseback" as shorthand for a charismatic leader goes back to the mid-19th century (maybe Boulanger?), but I think it got its modern phrase-iness from French fascist Pierre Drieu La Rochelle's 1943 novel L'Homme a Cheval, about a Bolivar-ish South American.

[bruce munro (from livejournal.com)]

My derivation, not the historical one... :)

[johnreiher.livejournal.com]

I hit Amazon and there are only used copies of the book available for purchase. Three different editions it seems.

[awesomeaud.livejournal.com]

I remember reading this ever so long ago, but I definitely do not remember the transvestite! I remember the little girl with asthma, who Emmanuel had a somewhat creepy relationship with.