I have read Mary Scott's novels since I was a teenager. She has been my favourite author for quite a while and I still care a lot for her books. They are natural, you can tell she lived through them.
Unfortunately, I only know her books in the German translation. I have always wanted to read them in the original but by the time the internet came up and it was easier to order books in different languages, they were out of print and I was unable to find them.
A while ago, I found a used copy. Hurray! Finally I could read at least one of her novels in English.
I was not disappointed. However, I noticed that not everything found its way into the translation. Not that the book story was changed but a lot of the minor characters and their stories were left out. So, now I wonder what was left out in the other books and would love to read more of them. I will carry on looking through the internet and hopefully find some of her other writings.
I will keep a list here of all the books I read in English now and put up a link in my post "Mary Scott writes about New Zealand".
Scott, Mary "Yours to oblige" (Na endlich, Liebling) - 1954
Scott, Mary "Breakfast at Six" (Frühstück um Sechs. Ich und Paul und Tausend Schafe) - 1953 - the first book in my favourite series about Susan who marries a sheep farmer
Scott, Mary "What Does It Matter" (Macht nichts, Darling) - 1966
It seems odd that the translation would leave out characters even though they were minor.
ReplyDeleteI've seen it before and it always annoys me.
ReplyDeleteStill, I have always loved Mary Scott's books and I never read them in English before.
I have not reread mine lately but I have four of her books, Yes, Darling; It's Perfectly Easy; Breakfast at Six; and What Does it Matter. I bought them from a minister's wife in Australia and they really are charming. I am not surprised that your translations are flawed because "back in the day" there was less control of foreign rights. For example, the famous Nancy Drew books in translation changed the names of the characters.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Constance. I'm glad you have a few of her books, they are so hard to come by these days. I have a few books in English but not enough for my liking. ;)
DeleteFrom the book you mention, I think I would choose "Breakfast at Six" as my favourite but that's probably because it's the first one in a long series of books about Susan and Larry.
And Nancy Drew is not the only example where they changed names, though they kept her name in the German books but they were never that popular in Germany. The twin sisters of St. Clare's (Pat and Isabel) by Enid Blyton were published in Germany under "Hanni und Nanni".
And don't get me started on the way they change titles and even give them two different ones in the same language ....
But thanks for your visit.