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Ramses-The Son of Light

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andrewoberg
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Ramses-The Son of Light

Post by andrewoberg » Sat July 10th, 2010, 8:35 am

I got this off of a bookshelf at work recently, it's by Christian Jacq. Has anyone read it? It looks okay to me, but not great. Anyway, it's the first of a whole series, and my work only had this one, so I'd be interested to hear any comments. Is this going to be worth getting into?
Teacher and writer living in rural Japan--very adept with chopsticks! Humorous serial shorts and historical fiction graphic novel at: http://drugstorebooks.com/

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LoobyG
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Post by LoobyG » Wed July 14th, 2010, 10:28 pm

I first read the Ramses series quite a few years ago and I did enjoy it at the time, particularly the first one which you've picked up :) I must admit I can't remember the series in great detail, and I haven't enjoyed a great deal of what I've read by Christian Jacq since. If you've got a particular interest in Ramses it's worth a look :)

annis
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Post by annis » Thu July 15th, 2010, 3:47 am

I think LoobyG has it - somehow this series is okay, but not in the memorable category. Some people love them, but about 3 of them were enough for me :)

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ejays17
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Post by ejays17 » Thu July 15th, 2010, 11:24 am

I've read the 5-6 of the Rameses books about 6 years ago now, I remember mostly enjoying them, but also vaguely remember that I thought there was some "language" problems in the first one or two (odd sentence structure or word choice). Which is probably a result of whoever was doing the translation from the original French.

I haven't been inspired to pick up any of his other books though.
"Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority." The Doctor, Wheel in Space

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Post by annis » Thu July 15th, 2010, 6:15 pm

Yes, the language is a bit clunky -- a problem I've also found with Valerio Massimo Manfredi's novels, which are translated from the Italian. I've never been able to decide whether it's his writing which is at fault, or the lost in translation factor!

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ejays17
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Post by ejays17 » Fri July 16th, 2010, 8:07 am

[quote=""annis""]Yes, the language is a bit clunky -- a problem I've also found with Valerio Massimo Manfredi's novels, which are translated from the Italian. I've never been able to decide whether it's his writing which is at fault, or the lost in translation factor![/quote]


I had the same thing with his novels too! I've enjoyed the storyline, but the language let things down.
"Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority." The Doctor, Wheel in Space

SLOC: Solid Lump of Comfort (from the Chalet School books by Elinor M Brent-Dyer)

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sweetpotatoboy
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Post by sweetpotatoboy » Fri July 16th, 2010, 10:41 am

I read this series in French a few years ago, so I can't really comment on the translation. The language was very plain style, which is nice and accessible for someone with pretty decent but not quite native-standard French, so I imagine that the English translation was a fair reflection.
Not high-quality literary prose, but highly readable fiction. Don't expect to be blown away but a decent storyteller.

I might read some of his other books one day but no urgency.

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Post by princess » Wed July 21st, 2010, 10:06 pm

[quote=""ejays17""]I've read the 5-6 of the Rameses books about 6 years ago now, I remember mostly enjoying them, but also vaguely remember that I thought there was some "language" problems in the first one or two (odd sentence structure or word choice). Which is probably a result of whoever was doing the translation from the original French.

I haven't been inspired to pick up any of his other books though.[/quote]

My thoughts exactly :)
Currently reading: The Poisoned Pilgrim: A Hangman's Daughter Tale by Oliver Potzsch

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andrewoberg
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Post by andrewoberg » Sat August 14th, 2010, 2:13 am

Hey all, thanks for your comments.

I actually stopped reading about midway through. It was just too terribly written. Very clunky language, as many of you commented on, and the pace was far too fast for my liking. Just when something interesting began to happen the next paragraph would have fast-tracked the entire scene.

Actually, that might be too negative. I would say that it's a good, light read for something like killing time on a flight. But I was looking for a book that would really open up life in ancient Egypt to me, and felt that Jacq's book didn't have the depth of detail to do that. There were times when it almost did, but not quite enough to keep me reading.
Teacher and writer living in rural Japan--very adept with chopsticks! Humorous serial shorts and historical fiction graphic novel at: http://drugstorebooks.com/

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Post by Rhunt » Sat May 26th, 2012, 7:59 pm

A translator can really make or break a translated book. It's always been my opinion that the well-translated books are those which actually skillfully rewritten by the translator during the process.

But then, I've always thought that language was more than just a set of symbols representing objects or actions. It's got its own unique cadence, rhythm, and flavor, and a well-written book is partly well-written because the words themselves are artistically arranged. In order for a book to retain that force and flavor, it needs to be rewritten enough to match the cadences of the new language.

If that makes sense.
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