Werewolves discussion

Alfred Machard is best known for being the author of a werewolf novel that two early films were based on: 1) Le Loup Garou (1923), a French silent film, and 2) Haunted People (1932) from German director Friedrich Feher (titled in German "Der Schwarze Mann") is the first talkie werewolf film. It featured a generic bogeyman rather than a werewolf though. These early films, the third and fifth werewolf films made, are sadly considered lost today.

However, Machard's book, The Wolf Man (The Were-wolf), is not lost. It's just very obscure. I just created the entry for it today (5/14/2017) in Goodreads' database and used my recently acquired copy as the basis for the entry. Apparently, two different booksellers published a translation of Machard's 1920 Le loup-garou. In my 1925 translation edition the translator is not named. I suspect he is not a very adept translator. For example, the first sentence reads, "The workshop, cleared of its contents and litter and of a few big bits of work in hand, had been transformed into a dancing and dining saloon." Any translator would write "underway projects" rather than "big bits of work in hand." The translation is going to be rough like this throughout, I am sure.

Nevertheless, I am excited about finding this early book and think reading it will be quite a treat. It's easy to find a used copy online if you want to get your own copy, even if it does date back to 1925 if you're intrigued. Cheers!

Wow, Dan, thanks for this information! Sometimes an odd translation can be due to the translator not speaking the language he is translating to. I have purchased cookware items like that...translation is actually comical.

I finished this book and reviewed it, but just now realized I didn't warn people in the places where I simply mentioned this book. So, let me correct this.

WARNING: THIS IS NOT A WEREWOLF BOOK! Alfred Machard's protagonist uses the threat of a werewolf on the loose in order to keep his young son from wandering as they both run from the law. At no point does an actual werewolf make an appearance in the story.

This book's genre is literary fiction, I suppose. I mean, it tries to be literary, but it really isn't. That may be the fault of a sub-par translation. I can't really tell. In all, I wouldn't recommend this book for literature lovers, not even French Literature aficionados, of which I am one. There are better choices.