My previous mail was ambiguous, I admit it.
In fact I was speaking only of the novel Death
Ship.
I have tried to read another novel by Traven
(long long ago), but I do not recall which one.
Anyway, to answer Richard and Sonny : no, I never
red THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE, as my experience with
"Death Ship" was not very good (maybe the translation I had
was lousy, which is very possible as it was something
translated before 1940 and most probably hacked as well - I
discovered the translations/versions problems only a few
years ago). In fact I stayed also away from the TREASURE
after this experience, afraid of discovering a bad novel
compared to the film masterpiece by John Huston- film I saw
many many times since end of the fifties. I admire this film
and IMO the first 20 minutes of it is a lesson in cinema
making, wherein everything contributes to an astounding
result: cinematography, editing (montage), dialogue, timing,
rhythm, lighting, actors.
But after what Richard told us about the real
quality of the novel TREASURE… I will try to find an English
translation of it, or a recent one in French (if this
exists).
E.Borgers
POLAR NOIR http://www.geocities.com/polarnoir
Richard Moore <
moorich@aol.com> a 飲it : I almost always agree with
your opinions but I cannot disagree more with your dismissal
of the work of B. Traven. His work is uneven with some novels
better than others--but this can be said of nearly every
writer. His style is often conversational--the storyteller--
but I like that style and find it quite accessable. My
favorite Traven novel is THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE,
which I would put at the top of any list of the "easily
readable" and I've reread it more than any other novel. I
picked up the Pocket Books edition with Bogart on the cover
when I was 12 and read it in one gulp and then reread it
immediately. I lucked into a first American edition when I
was 14 and picked it up for $8 although that was a lot of
money to me then.
But I do respect your view as always even on this rare point
of disagreement. I also think very highly of some of his
shorter work as represented in his collection THE NIGHT
VISITOR.
The fellow who finally tracked down the details on Traven was
Will Wyatt who produced a BBC special and then a book
entitled THE SECRET OF THE SIERRA MADRE: THE MAN WHO WAS B.
TRAVEN (Doubleday 1980). An interesting earlier work by Judy
Stone is THE MYSTERY OF B. TRAVEN (William Kaufmann 1977)
which includes impressions from her conversations with the
old man in Mexico. A comprehensive, if somewhat turgid,
biography was published by Karl S. Guthke In 1987.
Richard Moore
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