Friends of Snuggly Books discussion

Post anything related to the fiction and/or literary translations of Brian Stableford.

I'm really looking forward to Brian's translation on Caltulle Mendes' Bluebirds!! Maybe he could also translate Jean Richepin's Contes Cruels (Cruel Deaths), a classic that has no current English translation.

Thanks. We are currently awaiting Bluebirds with anticipation as well.

For Richepin, do you mean Les Morts bizarres? (i.e. Bizarre Deaths) If so, we have already mentioned this to him. He has, previously, translated at least one story from the original collection. The collection itself, however, is somewhat odd in that, though it contains some of the best "cruel tales", it is not entirely made up of them. There are some stories more on the humorous side as well, or what would be called "tragi-comedies". They are all good though.

Thanks for your interest.

Snuggly wrote: "Thanks. We are currently awaiting Bluebirds with anticipation as well.

For Richepin, do you mean Les Morts bizarres? (i.e. Bizarre Deaths) If so, we have already mentioned this to him. He has, pre..."

Yes, indeed! Les Morts bizarres it is. I don't know French (obviously) thus I am relying on translations. And yes, I've seen five of those Bizarre Deaths in English -- the one Brian translated where the crazy Frenchman tries reaching the absolute via a combination of dentist drill and H.G.Well-ish time machine. One about a crazy aesthete who orchestrates his own trial and beheadiing; one about wet straw; one about a born loser; and one about a Frenchman who does some crazy writing nobody will believe he wrote. All REALLY bizarre and so great.

BTW - I reviewed Crazy Corner by Richepin on Goodreads here. Maybe I could do some reviewing for Snuggly. Check out some of my reviews. Thanks!

The drill story is definitely part of that group, though unsure of the others... It has been a long time!

And yes, we would be happy to have you review something.

Snuggly wrote: "The drill story is definitely part of that group, though unsure of the others... It has been a long time!

And yes, we would be happy to have you review something."

Thanks. Just let me know. I've done a lot of reviews of the French decadent fin-de-siecle, but I'm up for just about anything.

Snuggly wrote: "The drill story is definitely part of that group, though unsure of the others... It has been a long time!

And yes, we would be happy to have you review something."

I have not reviewed for a publisher previously. What is the usual first step?

Does Brian still write SF books? Has anyone here read any of these? Any recs if they have?

Yes, he does. Not all his own writing is science fiction though. He has a couple of books of sort of decadent short stories. He also has The Empire of Fear (a vampire thing) and Werewolves of London. So, none of those I think are SF in the since of tech stuff. But he has a bunch of SF books too if that is what you are specifically interested in.

Thanks Brendan

I don't know how Brian manages to churn out so many translations every year, not to mention his own original works. Either the man does not sleep or he is part machine. Oh, what I wouldn't give for some of that creative productivity!

In an email he told me the number of words he had translated/written in 2016... I wont quote it here as maybe it was private, but it was more than most productive writers put out in a lifetime. It was an astounding amount.

I should add, that his own writing, non translations, that i have read is all very good.

He is an amazingly talented person.

Thanks for divulging this Brendan...really interested in this writer.

I've only read a fraction of both his own writings (predominantly in the dark fantasy and decadent vein) and translations, but I have been favourably impressed with them all (and have several more waiting in my to be read stacks). Not only is he prolific, he is extremely erudite and well read, and this shines through in all he puts out there. In an interview he gave I was surprised to read that he was a self taught translator, and that his first translation was done seemingly on a whim. I also remember reading somewhere a few years ago that his health was failing and that his production levels would thus be necessarily curtailed. I'm not sure what came of that, but he seems to have recovered enough to regain his creative fervour.

I've always wondered why he never garnered more attention in the literary world. Perhaps his seeming modesty and lack of self promotion have somehow to do with it? I believe his website is run by a fan. In any case, I am happy to see that he is still going strong and that new readers are being drawn to his work. And of course I am extremely happy to see his blossoming relationship with Snuggly Books!

I think the literary world is a tricky business and tends to favor those authors who put out their "book a year" in some set genre or category. Agents and large publishers don't like people to be either too productive or too hard to pin down, as this doesn't serve their marketing scheme.

This is basically the opposite of how things used to be. For instance, one of the most popular authors in France was Ponson du Terrail, who was amazingly prolific. The most famous author in Europe was Balzac, who also was very prolific and hard to pin down. I think both these writers would have a hard time either getting an agent or a large publishing house to publish them were they alive today.

Thanks for this insight Brendan. You've given me a new perspective on how to look at so many of the writers I adore. While they are not all prolific, several of them cannot be pinpointed into a single genre, yourself included! Tanith Lee of course also springs to mind. While she started out as predominantly a fantasy and science fiction writer, she eventually branched out to several different genres and styles, which resulted in her being dropped by larger publishers, and seemed to decrease her readership somewhat as well. It's a sad state of affairs, to be sure. For me, literature has always been about how the words resonate with me more than anything else, and once I discover an author I admire, I'd like to read all of their work, regardless of genre.

Well, I think the whole idea of "genres" is a pretty modern one. For instance, Balzac easily wrote some fantastic novels without anyone even thinking they were "fantastic" or somehow diverging from his body of work.

The bright side is that, thanks to the internet, people these days do have easy access to all sorts of things to read that the didnt even twenty years ago.

Too true! Genres are more of a marketing tool than anything else it seems. As for the internet, without it, I probably wouldn't have discovered half of the writers I have, which is somewhat of a double edged sword, as I'll never have time to read them all.

I've never read any Balzac, but to bring things back to Stableford, I've recently discovered his translation of THE LAST FAY, so I might start with that. Any other recommendations?

I haven't read The Last Fay, though I probably will. It is one of his youthful works though, so whatever it is like is probably unlike his later work - at least judging by the early pieces I have read. He wrote a bunch of books under pseudonyms as a young man - so it is one of those - written under the name "Horace de Saint-Aubin". If you want his best book, I think it is Lost Illusions or Splendours and Miseries of Courtesans. For strictly fantastic, I think The Wild Ass's Skin is probably the most accessible. The Quest of the Absolute is another one. His most fantastic novel is Seraphita, but it is unlike all his other books, both in style, and content, as it is a Swedenbourgian story. I like it, but probably not the book to start with.

Thank you so much for the recommendations! They all sound intriguing, so I'm not quite sure where I'll start, but I'm leaning mostly towards Lost Illusions. Seraphita does look very interesting, but I will take your advice, and work my way towards it. I've always had a soft spot for and slight fascination with Swedenborgianisn.

Well, you would probably like it. But there is very little action. Lost Illusions is long, but has a lot of movement, as does A Harlot High or Low (i.e. the English title for Splendours and Miseries of Courtesans). Quentin bought Lost Illusions on my recommendation and I havent heard back yet. He had read Eugenie Grandet and didnt care for it... But, though famous, it is one of Balzac's less interesting works for me.

I started Cousin Bette but didn't make to even a quarter of the way in. Can't recall why. I'm still intrigued by Balzac though. Maybe I should try a different angle.

If I may - my review of Balzac's The Last Fay with translation and introduction by Brian Stableford: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Ross - You might want to try the classic Balzac short story: The Unknown Masterpiece. Link: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23060
I wrote a Goodreads review of this story with emphasis on the philosophic underpinnings: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Cousin Bette is one of his better books. But also sort of a crowning achievment. For me Balzac is possibly the greatest writer of fiction - but that is for me, and my personal taste. I think there is also an accumulative effect. Many characters appear in more than one novel and the more one understands how he builds up social layers which all depend on each other, i think the more one can appreciate it. He also is a very modern writer - in the sense that, like certain great paintings, there is a slightly unfinished quality to his work - things don't always get neatly wrapped up - he is busy with other projects - needing to begin new novels....

I'm kind of terrified by the number of books Stableford has translated for Black Coat Press. They publish his newest novels too.

Robert Adam wrote: "I'm kind of terrified by the number of books Stableford has translated for Black Coat Press. They publish his newest novels too."

Brian Stableford's literary output is indeed staggering. What I find particularly impressive is how Brian not only translates all those novels/short stories from French authors but also writes a detailed, scholarly introduction for each book he translates. I just did read and review a Black Coat Press publication that Brian did for Jules Janin. Brian's introductory essay was so informative, you would think he specialized in Janin for many years.

Brendan wrote: "I should add, that his own writing, non translations, that i have read is all very good.

He is an amazingly talented person."

I agree with you on this. The novels that I've read by Brian Stableford have been very good.

I'm amazed at the high quality of his translations, because the prose is exceptionally beautiful and descriptive. His introductions are also excellent and very detailed, not to mention informative.

Brendan wrote: "I think the literary world is a tricky business and tends to favor those authors who put out their "book a year" in some set genre or category. Agents and large publishers don't like people to be either too productive or too hard to pin down, as this doesn't serve their marketing scheme."

This is unfortunately true at this moment. It's amazing how difficult it is for some authors to find a publisher for their works, because their novels are not easily classifiable or they're too literary for most publishers. (As an example I can mention that I remember reading that John Langan had problems finding a publisher for his literary cosmic horror novel The Fisherman, because it was considered to be too literary.)

Kudos once again to Brian Stableford, this time for his translation of Bluebirds. To borrow from Dickens, "Please sir, I want some more!" Wonderful book.

A few interviews with Brian Stableford on his productivity, translations (including which ones he likes best) and quite a few bleak pronouncements about what he's doing. Most of these are getting old.

"If your august predecessor Charlie Brown was correct when he declared that print-on-demand books don’t really count as publications, but only as ‘‘potential publications’’ then I suppose I ceased to exist ten years ago, when I was finally relegated from the commercial arena, but if physicists are right in deeming that even the hardest vacuum is a seething chaos of imperceptible subatomic particles, I guess there’s some potential even in the virtual vacuum in which I’m working nowadays. At present I’m trying to produce 24 volumes of translation and a quarter of a million words of fiction per year, which would be quite a lot of potential if anyone ever paid enough attention to any of it to cause it to materialize; but if no one does, it hardly matters; I don’t have anything else to do."

https://locusmag.com/2011/11/spotligh...
https://www.sfintranslation.com/?p=4408
http://theakersquarterly.blogspot.com...
http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfict...

Recently learned he's written a bit about Sopor Aeternus and other goth music!

Also saw him being interviewed in an old episode of the Canadian show Prisoners Of Gravity.

Meant to say that most of the interviews are getting old.

French interview with him from 2016, you may have to turn sound up a bit to hear him and have a bit of patience for the translator.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7Kxa...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze6Tp...

Says his personal favorite books by himself are Prelude To Eternity, Alien Abduction: The Wilshire Revelations and Vampires Of Atlantis. None of them his better known works.