French Swordspoint cover & copy

[ellenkushner]

now up on the Calmann-Levy site - and an extra ration of rum to anyone who can tell me what roman à fleuret non moucheté means (people styling themselves mantichore who actually translated the book for C-L are excluded from this offer).

I love the cover with a deep and passionate love. The clothing & the attitude look just right. I am one lucky devil.

Comments

[ygolonac.livejournal.com]

That is a cool cover. If I saw it in the store I'd pick it up for a closer look.

[tournevis.livejournal.com]

An unbuttoned swordpoint novel, pun for a novel that stings, cuts like a knife.

[wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com]

According to Babel Fish- "novel with foil not moucheté"

[phoebesmum.livejournal.com]

A 'fleuret' is a fencing foil, so I agree with your previous commenter - 'non moucheté' would be unbuttoned, the fencer's version of 'pulls no punches', I suppose.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Apropos of nothing but that I am curious, did you watch women's saber this morning? It was fascinating.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

I only just heard that there had been some - wish I'd seen it! I am not so much with the television, or the Olympics . . . but bet it will appear in YouTube for us laggards.

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

Unbated -- no tip on the edge of the foil to keep it from stabbing. And that is a gorgeous cover!

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Now, if only my *name* had been scripted in blood . . . . Well, can't have everything, I suppose.

[handworn.livejournal.com]

It's a great cover. You're right about the clothing and the attitude. The only thing is, it looks like he's carrying a Scottish basket-hilted broadsword, a la Rob Roy.

It occurs to me to wonder, oddly for the first time, what Alexandre Dumas would have thought of Swordspoint. I bet he'd have enjoyed it (and perhaps wished he'd written it himself).

[handworn.livejournal.com]

And now that I'm reading the French description-- "Bords-d'eaux" is a neat way to translate Riverside. Or "Water-side," I guess the French would more literally translate to.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

And is it entirely coincidental that the translator is from BORDEAUX?

[handworn.livejournal.com]

Didn't even see that!

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

Gasp! Shudder! Am I under suspicion??? O______o?

Actually, it just worked out this way. And the Riversiders have turned into Bordiers, which feels a bit strange, because one of my friends who lived in Bordeaux for a while is called Bordier. But it just felt like the natural way to go.

As for that rum offer (in more ways than one): hmpf! Grumpf! Discriminated against. Grumble!

[belledewinter.livejournal.com]

'Non-spotted swords novel'? I'm not sure that makes any sense. XD

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

That...is really gorgeous. Wow. *admires lots*

Notre Dame

[apuleius.livejournal.com]

It's not directly related, but no one's said it, so I gotta.

How 'bout that Zagunis!?!?

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

There's not just something right about that cover, there's something tectonic in the rightness of this book being published in French.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

I love you.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

C'est un estrange entreprise que celle de faire rire les honnetes gens.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

etrange, and it doesn't have the accent, poop.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

It's not your fault; you've spent too much time in the Middle Ages. Lots of spare 's's there.

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

There might be one in honnestes, though! ^_______^

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I think that one is e circumflex t...the French started dropping those sses and putting the crown over the e, you know, just to be perverse. "You Anglais think you can spell our beautiful language! Hah! We will fix that! Hah and aha!"

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's why I said there might have been an s, the way hôtel was hostel, and hôpital was hospital, more or less. Stands to reason it would work the same way for honnête. Actually, I was just being coy when I said that there might, since there's a fairly well-known baroque group called l'Assemblée des Honnestes Curieux. ^___________^

http://www.honnestescurieux.com/

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Yes! Doh. (Blame the unending heat and late night reading...as usual, Dyslexia Brain managed to take it in back-asswards.)

But I'd never heard of that group--have to explore it!

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

There's a link at the bottom of my previous post (I say this because, the way my answer is set up, the link is not readily noticeable under my avatar.)

Swordspoint in Russian

[shon-rowgan.livejournal.com]

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6487360

http://www.ozon.ru/context/detail/id/4467010/

http://www.chtivo.ru/chtivo=3&bkid=1243870.htm

Hello Ellen,

To prepare for "The Privilege of the Sword, I just finished re-reading "Swordspoint". Once again I found myself enthralled by a gifted storyteller and awed by a master of the English language. If you weren't aware already your book has Russian fans. Check out the links above.