THE MT VOID
06/21/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 51, Whole Number 2333
Co-Editor: Mark Leeper,
mleeper@optonline.netCo-Editor: Evelyn Leeper,
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Topics:
Star Trek Movies (film reviews by Mark R. Leeper)
BOYNTON BEACH CLUB (film review by Art Stadlin)
Ted Chiang Wins 2024 PEN/Bernard and Ann Malamud Award
Smaug's Net Worth
"A Subway Named Mobius" (letter of comment by Someone.Else)
Spilt Infinitives (letter of comment by Peter Rubinstein)
This Week's Reading ("The Circular Ruins" and
translations) (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
===================================================================
TOPIC: Star Trek Movies (film reviews by Mark R. Leeper)
This month is the 40th anniversary of STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH
FOR SPOCK, the 35th anniversary of STAR TREK V: THE FINAL
FRONTIER, and the 15th anniversary of STAR TREK (the 2009 reboot).
So here's a comparison of excerpts from Mark's reviews when each
of the three of them came out.]
STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK: No other science fiction
series ever succeeded in providing ideas, action, and drama as
often as STAR TREK. Up to the present, neither have the "Star
Trek" films. STAR TREK III by far comes the closest of the three
to what made a good episode of the TV series. Leonard Nimoy's
direction start a little maudlin and hammy, but soon takes on a
darker tone. In retrospect, it seems like there was not a lot of
plot for the screen time, but the tale never drags and the
characters are interesting and empathetic. At this point, it was
no small feat to make Kirk once again a sympathetic character. In
the previous two films he seemed a pompous incompetent whose
correct decisions never seemed to compensate for his blunders.
Welcome back, STAR TREK.
STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER: This is the most flawed of the
Star Trek movies. But it also has the courage to say something
controversial and for once something that is not pat. For reasons
I cannot say here without spoiling plot, I see this as a film of
subversive ideas. For that reason I have surprised myself by
liking the film a lot. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4).
STAR TREK (2009): The new film STAR TREK (the title is just the
two words) is J. J. Abrams's restart of the "Star Trek" series.
While nobody is going to give it any awards for great new ideas,
it does tell a good action-filled adventure story and makes a
prequel and origin to the original TV series that is almost
consistent. The viewer does see and hear the 1966 characters in
their younger incarnations--no small feat for the filmmakers. One
almost wants to go back and watch the original series to see what
happens next. A new fan of the series--and there are more that I
would have expected--can enjoy STAR TREK, but a veteran "Trek"
devotee will get a lot more out of it. I rate the new movie a +2
on the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10.
[-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: BOYNTON BEACH CLUB (film review by Art Stadlin)
[A discussion of The Villages and other retirement communities in
Florida on our retirees' mailing list prompted this review. -ecl]
Okay, I watched this one over the weekend. Married couples retire
and move to paradise to live out their golden years in an active
community with lots of activities. This could be Boynton Beach,
The Villages, Del Boca Vista, or hundreds of senior communities in
Florida (or elsewhere).
In the world of aging, eventually men and women lose a spouse and
find themself alone in paradise, grieving. And this is the
central theme of BOYNTON BEACH CLUB: losing a spouse, joining
others to grieve with in weekly meetings, and searching for a path
forward. In this movie, that path forward means finding a new
love interest.
So how does a faithful, loving husband or wife move forward after
losing his/her spouse to cancer after a 45-year marriage? As you
might imagine, there are many awkward moments. Also touching
moments.
This movie follows a few residents, each very different in how
they grieve and how they move forward. In that way, this movie is
a kind of two-hour soap opera. I wouldn't be surprised to see
this played on a Sunday afternoon on mainstream TV. No nudity, no
foul language, no violence any worse than THE WIZARD OF OZ.
If you were hoping to be entertained by some of the politics of
HOAs, this is not the movie.
I watched it on Peacock, with my lower cost subscription that
contains ads. For me, Peacock showed several ads before starting
the feature. Then somewhere in the middle was another batch of
ads (which was enough time for a bio break). Otherwise,
uninterrupted.
Now playing free or with subscription on Peacock, Tubi, Roku
Channel, Pluto, Prime Video, Hoopla. [-as]
[Mark's review of SOME KIND OF HEAVEN, about The Villages, ran in
the 04/02/21 issue of the MT VOID and can be found at
<
http://leepers.us/somekind.htm>.]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Ted Chiang Wins 2024 PEN/Bernard and Ann Malamud Award
"The PEN/Faulkner Foundation announces that Ted Chiang has been
selected as the winner of the 2024 PEN/Bernard and Ann Malamud
Award for Excellence in the Short Story. Given since 1988 in
honor of the late Bernard Malamud, the award recognizes writers
who have demonstrated exceptional achievement in the short story
form."
Full story at:
<
https://www.penfaulkner.org/2024/06/11/ted-chiang-wins-the-2024-pen-malamud-award-for-excellence-in-the-short-story/>
===================================================================
TOPIC: Smaug's Net Worth
In an article updated on 04/09/24, Forbes's 2011 calculation of
Smaug's net worth is discussed:
<
https://www.cbr.com/lord-of-rings-smaug-net-worth-explained/>
===================================================================
TOPIC: "A Subway Named Mobius" (letter of comment by Someone.Else)
In response to Evelyn's comments on the film MOBIUS in the
06/14/24 issue of the MT VOID, "Someone.Else" writes:
Evelyn wrote, "The story is, of course, 'A Subway Named Mobius' by
A. J. Deutsch. This may have achieved its greatest fame when it
was included in Martin Gardner's FANTASIA MATHEMATICA." [-ecl]
An understandable mistake, but FANTASIA MATHEMATICAL and THE
MATHEMATICAL MAGPIE were both edited by Clifton Fadiman. [-se]
Evelyn responds:
And as proof that I'm not paying attention, I originally read this
as saying I had named the wrong book, went to the shelf to check,
and looked under Martin Gardner to try to find it! [-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Spilt Infinitives (letter of comment by Peter Rubinstein)
In response to various comments on word use and mis-use in the
06/14/24 issue of the MT VOID, Peter Rubinstein writes:
Jim Susky wrote, "Sometime last century I read a New Year's review
in which certain non-standard (mis-) usages were cited. One I
remember--to NOT use "impact" as a verb."
And Evelyn wrote, "'Namesake' is another tricky one. It
originally meant someone named after someone else, but now seems
to also mean the reverse.
When I was a child, it was verboten to split an infinitive. When
I consider the matter now, it seems clearer in many cases to go
ahead and split them. [-pir]
And Evelyn adds:
Apologies to Jim Susky for misspelling his name in the last issue.
[-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Recently our book and movie group watched INCEPTION and read "The
Circular Ruins" by Jorge Luis Borges to accompany it. (No,
INCEPTION was not based on "The Circular Ruins".) What I
(re-)discovered is that not all translations are created equal.
The Original:
Lo cierto es que el hombre gris beso el fango, repecho la ribera
sin apartar (probablemente, sin sentir) las cortaderas que le
dilaceraban las carnes y se arrastro, mareado y ensangrentado,
hasta el recinto circular que corona un tigre o caballo de piedra,
que tuvo alguna vez el color del fuego y ahora el de la ceniza.
FICCIONES (Anthony Bonner, 1956, 1962):
What is certain is that the gray man kissed the mud, climbed up
the bank without pushing aside (probably, without feeling) the
blades which were lacerating his flesh, and crawled, nauseated and
bloodstained, up to the circular enclosure crowned with a stone
tiger or horse, which sometimes was the color of flames and now
was that of ashes.
LABYRINTHS (James E. Irby, 1962, 1964):
The truth is that the obscure man kissed the mud, came up the bank
without pushing aside (probably without feeling) the brambles
which dilacerated his flesh, and dragged himself, nauseous and
bloodstained, to the circular enclosure crowned by a tiger or
horse, which once was the color of fire and now was that of ashes.
THE ALEPH AND OTHER STORIES 1933-1969 (Norman Thomas di Giovanni,
Jorge Luis Borges, 1970)
The fact is that the gray man pressed his lips to the mud,
scrambled up the bank without parting (perhaps without feeling)
the brushy thorns that tore his flesh, and dragged himself, faint
and bleeding to the circular opening atched over by a stone tiger,
or horse, which once was the color of fire and is now the color of
ash.
A PERSONAL ANTHOLOGY (Anthony Kerrigan, 1967):
The certain fact is that the anonymous gray man kissed the mud,
scaled the bank without pushing aside (probably without even
feeling) the sharp-edges sedges lacerating his flesh, and dragged
himself, bloody and sickened, up to the circular enclosure whose
crown is a stone colt or tiger, formerly the color of fire and now
the color of ash.
COLLECTED STORIES (Andrew Hurley, 1998):
But in fact the gray man had kissed the mud, scrambled up the
steep bank (without pushing back, probably without even feeling,
the sharp-leeaved bulrushes that slashed his flesh), and dragged
himself, faint and bloody, to the circular enclosure, crowned by
the stone figure of a horse or tiger, which had once been the
color but was now the color of ashes.
Unnamed translator (from the Internet, probably later than all the
above):
What is certain is that the grey man kissed the mud, climbed up
the bank with pushing aside (probably, without feeling) the blades
which were lacerating his flesh, and crawled, nauseated and
bloodstained, up to the circular enclosure crowned with a stone
tiger or horse, which sometimes was the color of flame and now was
that of ashes.
Kerrigan is the most "variant", reversing the order of two pairs
("mareado y ensangrentado" and "un tigre o caballo de piedra"),
and also makes "caballo" a colt rather than a horse. ("Colt" in
Spanish is "potro".).
"Cortadera" is a word (and possibly a plant) specific to
Argentina, Chile, Cuba, and Peru, and Kerrigan's "sedge" is
probably too specific, as is Hurley's "bulrushes". "Sedge" is
usually translated as "juncia" in Spanish, and "bulrush" as
"espadana".
I have previously commented on another Kerrigan translation (The
Babylonian Lottery") in my column in the 06/10/2016 issue of the
MT VOID, and concluded that of the four translations of that story
I read, his was the worst. The original said, "Una jugada feliz
podia motivar su elevacion al concilio de magos o la prision de un
enemigo (notorio o intimo)...." Kerrigan translates this as "A
happy drawing might motivate his elevation to the council of
wizards or his condemnation to the custody of an enemy (notorious
or intimate)...." This is clearly better translated as "A happy
drawing might cause his elevation to the council of mages or the
imprisonment of an enemy (notorious or intimate)...." All the
other translators get it right. This story makes me conclude that
none of his translations should be trusted.
Also, everyone translates "unanime noche" as "unanimous night"
except for Norman Thomas di Giovanni in collaboration with Jorge
Luis Borges, who translates it "encompassing night." one could
argue that this is therefore the accurate translation, and all the
others are misled by a false cognate. It has been suggested that
"unanime" is supposed to also suggest "un-animated", i.e., not
alive, i.e., in a dream.
I have no idea where Irby found the word "dilacerated".
As noted, I had previously written about translations of Borges.
What I referred to above as "The Babylonian Lottery" is in the
original Spanish "La loteria en Babylonia", but is variously
translated "The Lottery in Babylon", "The Lottery of Babylon",
"The Babylon Lottery", "The Babylonian Lottery", and possibly
other variations. One can argue these are differences without
distinctions, but they do indicate *something*. [-ecl]
===================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net All models are wrong but some are useful.
--George Box
MT VOID, 06/21/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 51, Whole Number 2333
Re: MT VOID, 06/21/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 51, Whole Number 2333