Talk:Les Rougon-Macquart

Translations?

Re:

Excellent modern English translations are widely available for nine of the most popular novels in the cycle

Which nine? Thanks. -- Stbalbach 02:23, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

Well, that's out of date now, but the nine with modern (i.e. post-1980) translations in print were L'Assommoir, Nana, Pot-Bouille, Au Bonheur des Dames, Germinal, L'Oeuvre, La Terre, La Bete Humaine and La Debacle. Since then, OUP have issued new translations of La Curée and Le Ventre de Paris for a total of eleven. Fosse8 (talk) 15:20, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Ten years later, it's even more out of date. Modern translations are available (or will be by the end of 2018) for all of the novels except for Doctor Pascal. Although there's nothing about it on the OUP web site, I suspect that it's on their list of Things to Do. Note that whoever attempted to edit the page by deleting the references to the forthcoming OUP publications of His Excellency Eugene Rougon and The Bright Side of Life erred -- these are not reprints of old editions, but new translations, as can be easily confirmed by a quick visit to the OUP web site, specifically https://global.oup.com/academic/product/his-excellency-eugne-rougon-9780198748250 and https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-bright-side-of-life-9780198753612. Balok015 13:33, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

The list was not "out of date", it listed seventeen out of twenty which is exactly accurate. Neither of the two books you added have been published, yet, they won't be until later in 2018. Also, the ISBN for the Brian Nelson translation, when checked on Amazon.com, led to 19th C translations as confirmed by a user review. Following this link see the 1-star review: "This book is a re-publication of Ernest A. Vizetelly's translation from over a hundred years ago". Regardless, it is confirmed via the oup.com links that books will be available at some time in 2018, and I have no problem adding them in advance (even though we state "are available" and the books currently are not available). The 1-star Amazon review is probably an anomaly. -- GreenC 21:09, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

Apparently, you do not know how Amazon reviews work. Leaving aside the question of how someone can review a book that has not yet been published, one of the problems with Amazon is that they frequently combine all reviews for different versions of the same item, so it is impossible to know to which version the review actually refers. In fact, it takes about 5 minutes to discover that the edition that is actually being reviewed is the one found at this link - the same review appears on that page, and the back cover of the edition found there actually includes the bit about the translation being "designed for the American audience." Considering that Brian Nelson has already translated five other Rougon-Macquart novels for Oxford World's Classics, I am more inclined to believe their claim that this is a "new translation by Brian Nelson" as printed on the front cover and stated on the OUP website (did you actually check the page at the OUP site to which I provided a link?) than a claim made by some random Amazon reviewer that it's a reprint of a 19th-century edition. Balok015 7:58, 8 March 2018 (UTC)

No, I'm not expert on how Amazon reviews work, sorry. When a review for a book exists, it appears to be for the book. It was further confused because it called Nelson an "editor" not translator. Re: OUP, maybe you didn't see where I said Regardless, it is confirmed via the oup.com links that books will be available at some time in 2018 and The 1-star Amazon review is probably an anomaly.. Clearly, the oup has the correct information and Amazon does not. More so I accepted your edit and made corrections to it (you had the wrong date of 1983 and the column layout was out of balance) - again, clearly acknowledging OUP is accurate. What is the problem at this point? -- GreenC 15:29, 8 March 2018 (UTC)

Major revision

I m currently trying to improve this article. I use the article on the French Wikipedia for that, as well as my knowledge about the cycle (i read all of the books). However, i m not a native English speaker, so style and grammar corrections are welcome. Ksempac (talk) 19:40, 22 September 2008 (UTC)

Ok first part of the major edit done. If i can find enough references and time, i will add more information. Meanwhile, pls review and correct the article Ksempac (talk) 20:39, 22 September 2008 (UTC)

Translation and copyright issue

Ok i wanted the quote in the History section, but i'm not sure if copyright is a problem in this case. I found this excellent translation here  :

"The Rougon-Macquart - the group, the family, whom I propose to study - has as its prime characteristic the overflow of appetite, the broad upthrust of our age, which flings itself into enjoyments. Physiologically the members of this family are the slow working-out of accidents to the blood and nervous system which occur in a race after a first organic lesion, according to the environment determining in each of the individuals of this race sentiments, desires, passions, all the natural and instinctive human manifestations whose products take on the conventional names of virtues and vices."

However i can't trace the original source, so I'm not sure whether copyright apply to the work of the translator (remember, the original work in French is public domain) ? Until someone can help me clarify this, i decided to use the Project Gutenberg's translation, which is of lower quality but is under a free license :

"The great characteristic of the Rougon-Macquarts, the group or family which I propose to study, is their ravenous appetite, the great outburst of our age which rushes upon enjoyment. Physiologically the Rougon-Macquarts represent the slow succession of accidents pertaining to the nerves or the blood, which befall a race after the first organic lesion, and, according to environment, determine in each individual member of the race those feelings, desires and passions--briefly, all the natural and instinctive manifestations peculiar to humanity--whose outcome assumes the conventional name of virtue or vice."

So if you know about how copyright apply in this case, or if you can find the original source for the first translation that would help me a lot. Thanks in advance for your advices, Ksempac (talk) 11:34, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Reception and Themes

Some general information about the contemporary and historical reception of the cycle would be welcome. An overview of the themes covered by the cycle would also be useful: e.g. alcoholism, industrial conditions, impact of industrialization etc. Everybody got to be somewhere! (talk) 17:01, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

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Genealogy chart needs to be fixed for Octave Mouret

I don't know how to fix this problem as I just made a mess when editing the chart but the son and daughter of Octave Mouret are by his second wife Denise Baudu, not his first wife Caroline Hédouin --Astelian (talk) 10:57, 5 February 2022 (UTC)