Review(s)
Master of the World — Special Edition
Translator: Unknown. Unknown, Unknown: Breakneck Classics, 2007. 144 pages.
Softcover
NOT RECOMMENDED (read why below).
This 138-page paperback is a gussied-up and flashy reprint of a very poor English-language
translation of Verne’s original 1904 French novel. It was first published
in 1911 and the translator was anonymous. A much better English translation by Cranstoun
Metcalfe (which is also in the public domain) appeared in 1914. The “special
edition” features of this slim volume include a 2-page uninformed preface,
8 rather juvenile “discussion questions” inserted right after the story
(questions such as “Are you impressed by what The Terror can do?”),
and a 4-sentence “About the Author” blurb at the end of the book. All
this for $11.95. Don’t waste your money. You can find the same text online
for free.
-- Art Evans, “A bad Verne translation reissued,” posted
on Amazon October 29, 2007.
review obtained 12 Jan 2009