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Post by valeriaspirit on May 17, 2016 8:45:21 GMT -5
Hi, All -
It is well known among REH fans that he recited (declaimed?) his stories as he was writing. I find it interesting that the other master of the fantastic, JRR Tolkien, also read his tales out loud, although in his case he had an audience composed of CS Lewis and other scholars and writers, the group at Oxford U. in the 30's who were known as the Inklings. Well, since I'm becoming reacquainted with the Conan tales, I felt that the most interesting way to enjoy them would be to get the audiobooks. These are known as:
The Coming of Conan,
The Bloody Crown of Conan, and
The Conquering Sword of Conan.
They are available along with sets of The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard, Solomon Kane, and Bran Mak Morn from tantor.com . There are thumbnail descriptions on the website, along with audio samples, which give a pretty good idea of the quality of the books.
These are audiobook versions of the three volumes published by Ballantine/Del Rey and containing all of the Conan stories written by REH, along with some drafts and such, edited for textual purity (stripping out the post-REH amendments and additions to the texts) and presenting them in the order in which they were written, which the author of the Intro notes appears to be in accord with REH's intentions.
So far I have only obtained The Conquering Sword of Conan, as that was the first one I found on the amazon.ca website.
It contains the last Conan tales written by REH. Here is a portion of the description on the tantor.com website:
" This collection features Howard at his finest and Conan at his most savage.
Truly heroic fantasy at its best, this volume contains "The Servants of Bit-Yakin,"
"Beyond the Black River," "The Black Stranger," "The Man-Eaters of Zamboula,"
and "Red Nails," which is perhaps Conan's most famous adventure."
The text is read by Todd McLaren (he reads all three sets of Conan stories) and he reads with a pure tone and his enunciation is clear and precise, but he is also very expressive - perfect for enjoying the lush descriptions that REH put down on the page. I suppose one might quibble about some of the pronunciation choices, like a soft "S" for the "C" in Cimmeria, which most scholars say should have been a hard "K" sound, but what the heck that seems like minor quibbling when the work is so masterfully done otherwise.
Gotta say I think REH would highly approve this way of enjoying his works!
Valeria Spirit
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Post by vjtjcw3v on Sept 22, 2016 21:36:53 GMT -5
I'm about to purchase ePUB versions of the Wandering Star and Del Rey books, but first I'd like to make sure they're up to date, errata-wise. Is there any information available on this? Alternately, are there more recent collections (or formats) that may be better?
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Post by deuce on Sept 22, 2016 22:41:02 GMT -5
Hey VJT! Welcome to the forum.
I'm not familiar with the ePUB version. I can say the print Del Reys have no errata you should worry about. A few minor typos.
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Post by vjtjcw3v on Sept 29, 2016 3:17:26 GMT -5
Though your welcome is appreciated, I must say that I find it a bit off-putting to be told that the errors are nothing I should worry about. Even so, that's easily trumped by what I recently heard from Books-A-Million: the ePUB editions contain DRM. The disclosure makes me wonder whether your comment about "minor typos" is truer than you realize. Some methods of DRM intentionally corrupt the text, making subtle changes that consumers/suckers/peons generally wouldn't notice. Needless to say, I'll not be purchasing that kind of unethical garbage; and as long as DRM is being used in Howard's works, I'll make a point of actively discouraging other people from having anything to do with the series.
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Post by Ningauble on Sept 29, 2016 9:42:14 GMT -5
Though your welcome is appreciated, I must say that I find it a bit off-putting to be told that the errors are nothing I should worry about. Even so, that's easily trumped by what I recently heard from Books-A-Million: the ePUB editions contain DRM. The disclosure makes me wonder whether your comment about "minor typos" is truer than you realize. Some methods of DRM intentionally corrupt the text, making subtle changes that consumers/suckers/peons generally wouldn't notice. Needless to say, I'll not be purchasing that kind of unethical garbage; and as long as DRM is being used in Howard's works, I'll make a point of actively discouraging other people from having anything to do with the series. I have read most of the series in the dead-tree edition so far, and I noticed one or two typos in El Borak, but I didn't bother to remember what they were. I doubt that Paradox would allow the e-versions to be wilfully corrupted (they are fans themselves, after all). If you can demonstrate that the e-versions are corrupted, then fine; if not, you are just rumour-mongering. And to answer the OP: no, there are no other versions that use original typescripts where available. |
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Post by Ningauble on Sept 29, 2016 9:54:16 GMT -5
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Post by vjtjcw3v on Sept 30, 2016 3:43:23 GMT -5
It is not "rumour-mongering" to point out how DRM potentially encumbers the experience and certainly co-opts one's right to dispose of one's purchased property as one sees fit. And regarding the DRM article you posted, there's a related method of DRM that's been proposed: custom alteration of text. The very thought of a company deciding that my copy of a book should have certain words replaced with synonyms is appalling. I'm surprised that academics aren't up in arms over these kind of measures. Aside from places like "defectivebydesign.org", there's hardly a peep from consumers about the ethics of the topic.
I think I'll contact Books-A-Million again, just to learn precisely what methods of DRM they do use. At least then others reading this will be able to make a more informed choice.
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Post by vjtjcw3v on Oct 6, 2016 13:40:06 GMT -5
I've corresponded with Books-A-Million, and thought I was getting somewhere in regard to learning what sort of DRM is used on the REH collection. One agent even tried to provide me with a list, but apparently there was a failure in her attempt at attaching the file, as all I got was a line of text resembling a drive directory. When I inquired about that, another agent reversed the position and claimed no such list is available. I guess that's what happens when a cash cows asks too many questions about a farm's fences.
Unfortunately, this situation makes it impossible for me to enjoy a quality presentation of Howard's work in the format I prefer, without consenting to have my freedom curtailed.
I know that some people reading this won't understand what my "gripe" is in that regard. To them, the best way I can explain it is to reference the saying attributed to Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." To understand how this idea applies to DRM, simply watch any of the various interviews with GNU founder Richard Stallman on the topic of software freedom. The underlying principles are the same. There's also a good book by Stephan Kinsella, where he makes a strong argument against IP law.
As I said at the beginning of the thread, I wanted to buy the e-books, as long as they had errata corrected. That they should also be free of anything that hampers my ability to enjoy them outside of a narrow scope of "approved" methods, should have gone without saying.
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Post by deuce on Oct 6, 2016 19:04:59 GMT -5
Here's your textual notes/editing info from The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian (Del Rey print edition). You'll notice that they were prepared by Rusty Burke, Patrice Louinet and Dave Gentzel, with assistance from Glenn Lord. The first three are highly respected, award-winning Howard scholars. The last, but certainly not least, is Glenn Lord. Mr. Lord is the most respected man in the history of REH studies. He died in 2009, but he lived to see the Del Rey editions and never had a word to say against them. Don Herron and Leo Grin, also highly-respected and award-recipients, had problems with various other aspects of the WS/Del Rey editions, but never had anything to say against the textual purity or mentioned any typos. I've known all of the men above personally. How you think you can come on here and impugn their integrity or scholarship is quite beyond me.
One further note... Mr. Robrin and "Ningauble", who replied to you earlier (on this and the "Foundation" thread), are both editors/proofreaders in their day jobs, but what do they know? Enjoy.
NOTES ON THE ORIGINAL HOWARD TEXTS
The texts for this edition of Volume 1 of the Complete Conan of Cimmeria were prepared by
Patrice Louinet, Rusty Burke and Dave Gentzel, with assistance from Glenn Lord. The stories
have been checked either against Howard’s original typescripts, copies of which were
furnished by Glenn Lord, or the first published appearance if a typescript was unavailable.
Drafts of Howard’s stories, when extant, have also been checked to ensure the greatest
accuracy. Every effort has been made to present the work of Robert E. Howard as faithfully as
possible.
Deviations from the original sources are detailed in these textual notes. In the following pages,
page, line and word number are given as follows: 67.5.6, indicating page 67, fifth line, sixth
word. Story titles, chapter numbers and titles, and breaks before and after chapter headings,
titles and illustrations are not counted; in the poem, only text lines are counted. The page/line
number will be followed by the reading in the original source, or a statement indicating the
type of change made. Punctuation changes are indicated by giving the immediately preceding
word followed by the original punctuation.
Cimmeria
No original Howard typescript survives. Text taken from a typescript provided by Glenn Lord,
probably prepared by Emil Petaja to whom Howard sent the poem in December 1934. 3.25.5:
everylasting.
The Phoenix on the Sword
Originally appeared in Weird Tales, December 1932. Weird Tales’ “Thoth-Amon” has been
replaced throughout with Howard’s spelling: “Thoth-amon.” 17.19.6: star.
The Frost-Giant’s Daughter
Text taken from Howard’s original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. Howard’s typewriter
not allowing ligatures, “AEsir” has been rendered as “Æsir” throughout. 31.18.15: no quotation
mark after “Heimdul.”; 32.9.1: suporting; 32.20.1: what; 32.20.3: her; 32.28.5: dazzingly;
34.11.1: barrarian’s; 34.20.1: crystaline; 34.33.14: the; 36.19.3: too; 36.20.9: no quotation mark
after “again.”; 36.21.2: wont; 36.35.13: no comma after “mountains.”
The God in the Bowl
Text taken from Howard’s original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. 41.5.12: nitches;
42.1.2: didnt; 42.17.2: didnt; 42.29.5: dont; 43.7.8: amswered; 43.10.7: murderered; 43.34.8:
independant; 44.1.11: net-works; 44.8.2: its; 44.22.3: its; 44.23.6: Lets; 44.34.13: Dont;
45.25.12: didnt; 45.30.3: stubborn; 46.13.15: dont; 46.23.8: no comma after “men”; 46.27.4:
dont; 46.28.8: corden; 46.28.15: no quotation mark after “it.”; 47.13.5: isnt; 47.14.2: havent;
48.18.2: didnt; 48.23.5: period instead of question mark after “stay”; 48.26.2: dont; 48.30.2:
dont; 48.30.5: dont; 48.33.6: no comma after “who”; 48.37.9: wouldnt; 49.9.1: Dont; 49.32.12:
period instead of question mark after “secrecy”; 49.38.1: procede; 50.6.9: heiroglyphics;
51.11.4: Its; 51.16.2: heiroglyphs; 51.25.9: Its; 51.28.5: groves; 51.28.8: heiroglyphics;
52.19.2: didnt; 52.24.3: whither; 52.28.13: nitche; 54.3.9: couldnt; 54.11.10: Its; 54.13.3:
couldnt; 54.17.1: Its; 54.20.4: Its; 54.20.13: couldnt; 54.27.12: every; 54.28.6: didnt; 54.30.6:
cant; 54.37.2: heiroglyphic; 55.31.10: Dont; 55.32.5: “ne phew”; 56.2.10: villianous; 56.7.12:
didnt; 56.14.1: wouldnt; 56.15.6: We; 56.31.13: perfect's; 57.37.7: cushes.
The Tower of the Elephant
Originally appeared in Weird Tales, March 1933. No changes have been made for this edition.
The Scarlet Citadel
Text taken from Howard’s original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. 86.25.1: lived; 86.37.7:
king; 88.33.1: swordsmen; 89.10.4: “of” repeated; 90.25.2: it; 91.34.13: “his” absent from
original; 92.25.1: Skukeli. 94.40.12: ristling. 95.7.3: comma after “darkness”; 95.40.12: im;
97.16.3: pouding; 97.23.6: laugher; 97.26.12: no comma after “gloating”; 97.29.12: no comma
after “killer”; 98.3.8: period instead of comma after “carefully”; next word “Lest” changed
accordingly to “lest”; 98.26.14: no semi-colon after “him”; 99.31.2: vibsible; 100.1.5: slaving;
100.25.8: brances; 100.26.2: comma after “body”; 101.1.11: “a” repeated; 103.8.11: “corner
of” repeated; 106.3.1: Poitainians; 106.12.5: five’s; 106.25.2: no comma after “marble”;
106.37.4: father; 107.19.10: roayl; 108.15.4: “at” not in original; 108.21.4: “conditions”
followed by a period instead of a comma; 108.30.6: procalmation; 109.3.6: wirthing; 109.4.7:
wenches of; 110.6.12: greasure; 110.28.1: beleagured; 111.19.3: throgh; 111.20.6: brrowed;
111.20.8: miles; 112.25.5: grat; 112.27.1: ecstacy; 113.12.3: Tsotah; 113.26.16: any; 113.29.4:
very; 113.37.11: “army” repeated; 117.29.9: aprt; 118.21.1: sky-ward.
Queen of the Black Coast
Originally appeared in Weird Tales, May 1934. 122.15.11: bowman; 127.27.7: anaswered;
132.33.4: warrior’s; 136.17.4: back; 140.13.8: Howl; 140.24.13: re.
Black Colossus
Originally appeared in Weird Tales, June 1933. 177.30.3: particuluar.
ginally appeared in Weird Tales, June 1933. 177.30.3: particuluar.
419
The Coming of Conan The Cimmerian
Iron Shadows in the Moon
Originally appeared in Weird Tales, April 1934 under the title “Shadows in the Moonlight.”
204.20.3: dropped.
Xuthal of the Dusk
Originally appeared in Weird Tales, September 1933 under the title “The Slithering Shadow.”
229.11.7: question mark instead of period after “me”; 229.26.3: non-committally.
The Pool of the Black One
Originally appeared in Weird Tales, October 1933. No changes have been made for this
edition.
Rogues in the House
Originally appeared in Weird Tales, January 1934. 284.32.4: labyrinthin; 287.10.1: single
quote instead of double quote before “In”; 290.7.7: “warn ing”.
The Vale of Lost Women
Text taken from Howard’s original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. The typescript has a
number of editing marks on it, not in Howard’s hand, which makes some readings of the
punctuation conjectural. 303.13.2: crystalized; 304.7.10: eye-balls; 304.7.13: fire-light;
304.19.8: “a an”; 304.40.11: automoton; 305.15.1: semi-colon instead of comma after “stool”;
305.39.12: period instead of comma after “stool”; 306.5.13: exceded; 306.7.12: “High
strapped”; 306.27.7: “snor ing”; 307.1.5: period instead of comma after “hand”; 307.31.11:
futiley; 308.26.8: existant; 308.27.13: comma after “indeed”; 308.31.10: extra space between
the double quote and “and”; 309.23.6: set; 310.19.5: colon after “exultant”; 311.5.13: wholesale;
311.28.14: period instead of comma after “boma”; 312.1.1: Liva; 312.10.2: with;
313.5.12: Balakas; 313.22.2: reitterated; 314.7.12: supply; 314.10.6: stroke; 316.18.15: torchlight;
316.38.11: “where ever”; 317.8.5: period instead of comma after “embarrassed.”
The Devil in Iron
Originally appeared in Weird Tales, August 1934. No changes have been made for this edition.
The Phoenix on the Sword (first submitted draft)
Howard completed three drafts of The Phoenix on the Sword before he was satisfied with it.
This third version ran 28 pages and was submitted to Weird Tales in early March 1932. A few
days later, the editor, Farnsworth Wright, asked for some rewriting before accepting the tale: “I
hope you will see your way clear to touch it up and resubmit it. It is the first two chapters that
do not click. The story opens rather uninterestingly, it seems to me, and the reader has
difficulty in orienting himself. The first chapter ends well, and the second chapter begins
superbly; but after King Conan’s personality is well established, the chapter sags from too
much writing. I think the very last page of the whole story might be re-written with advantage;
because it seems a little weak after the stupendous events that precede it.” Howard followed
Wright’s suggestions to the word, rewriting only the first two chapters and the beginning of the
third, totaling 13 pages, and the last two pages of his story. Since Wright had no objection to
pages 14 to 26, Howard simply resent them with the new ones. The 15 rejected pages – most of
which have Wright’s editorial markings on them – were relegated to Howard’s archives. The
text presented in this edition is thus comprised of Howard’s first thirteen rejected pages (ending
with the word “only,” page 362, line 37), followed by the Weird Tales text up to page 372, line
31. Line 32 onward are taken from Howard’s draft. Weird Tales’ “Thoth-Amon” has been
replaced with Howard’s “Thoth-amon” and Howard’s “AEsir” with “Æsir.” 353.4.15: no
comma after “fat”; 353.5.7: petulent; 353.10.5: unconciously; 353.14.16: petulently; 353.37.1:
no comma after “I”; 353.37.13: covenented; 354.4.1: no period after “giant” (typed to right
edge of paper); 354.8.2: fade; 354.14.5: Seneschal; 354.36.5: “pala ce”; 354.40.13: string
(typed to right edge of paper); 355.17.13: every; 356.7.1: stubborness; 356.16.7: villian;
356.18.5: no punctuation after “him” (typed to right edge of paper); 356.32.4: your’s; 357.1.6:
“an swered”; 357.19.17: procede; 357.20.14: Dont; 359.12.14: its; 360.12.2: Its; 360.30.7:
vainess; 361.3.5: meaninglesness; 361.13.5: concious; 361.14.7: sylus; 372.35.8: it; 373.24.15:
knee (typed to right edge of paper); 373.29.10: “sword” followed by a period instead of a
question mark.
Notes on Various Peoples of the Hyborian Age.
Text taken from Howard’s original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. No changes have been
made for this edition.
The Hyborian Age
Originally appeared in The Hyborian Age, Lany Corp, 1938. The booklet’s “AEsir” has been
rendered as “Æsir” throughout. 382.25.1: ThePicts; 384.26.8: impetous; 384.39.7: impetuous;
385.4.4: this; 385.26.3: Thr; 386.13.4: nothern; 386.36.3: “inter-married” hyphenated at linebreak;
388.18.3: subjuction; 389.32.7: an; 390.19.6: “war-path” hyphenated at line break;
391.1.5: agression; 392.14.9: seem; 392.16.6: auxilaries; 393.8.4: mutined; 393.14.1:
inexhaustable; 394.34.2. in; 397.13.5: “or” not in original; 397.26.2: primitives; 398.04.1:
“pure blooded.”
Untitled synopsis (A squad of Zamorian soldiers…)
Text taken from Howard’s original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. No changes have been
made for this edition.
Untitled synopsis (The Scarlet Citadel)
Text taken from Howard’s original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. No changes have been
made for this edition.
Untitled synopsis (Black Colossus)
Text taken from Howard’s original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. No changes have been
made for this edition.
Untitled fragment (The battlefield stretched silent…)
Text taken from Howard’s original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. No changes have been
made for this edition.
Untitled synopsis (The setting: The city of Shumballa…)
Text taken from Howard’s original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. No changes have been
made for this edition.
Untitled fragment (Amboola awakened slowly…)
Text taken from Howard’s original typescript, provided by Glenn Lord. No changes have been
made for this edition.
List of Hyborian Names and Countries
Document provided by Glenn Lord. No changes have been made for this edition.
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Post by vjtjcw3v on Oct 7, 2016 0:05:10 GMT -5
Here's your textual notes/editing info from The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian (Del Rey print edition). You'll notice that they were prepared by Rusty Burke, Patrice Louinet and Dave Gentzel, with assistance from Glenn Lord. The first three are highly respected, award-winning Howard scholars. The last, but certainly not least, is Glenn Lord. Mr. Lord is the most respected man in the history of REH studies. He died in 2009, but he lived to see the Del Rey editions and never had a word to say against them. Don Herron and Leo Grin, also highly-respected and award-recipients, had problems with various other aspects of the WS/Del Rey editions, but never had anything to say against the textual purity or mentioned any typos. I've known all of the men above personally. How you think you can come on here and impugn their integrity or scholarship is quite beyond me. One further note... Mr. Robrin and "Ningauble", who replied to you earlier (on this and the "Foundation" thread), are both editors/proofreaders in their day jobs, but what do they know? Enjoy. ... Maybe when you're done using logical fallacies, we can actually discuss the questions I raised. |
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Post by deuce on Oct 7, 2016 0:46:43 GMT -5
Here's your textual notes/editing info from The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian (Del Rey print edition). You'll notice that they were prepared by Rusty Burke, Patrice Louinet and Dave Gentzel, with assistance from Glenn Lord. The first three are highly respected, award-winning Howard scholars. The last, but certainly not least, is Glenn Lord. Mr. Lord is the most respected man in the history of REH studies. He died in 2009, but he lived to see the Del Rey editions and never had a word to say against them. Don Herron and Leo Grin, also highly-respected and award-recipients, had problems with various other aspects of the WS/Del Rey editions, but never had anything to say against the textual purity or mentioned any typos. I've known all of the men above personally. How you think you can come on here and impugn their integrity or scholarship is quite beyond me. One further note... Mr. Robrin and "Ningauble", who replied to you earlier (on this and the "Foundation" thread), are both editors/proofreaders in their day jobs, but what do they know? Enjoy. ... Maybe when you're done using logical fallacies, we can actually discuss the questions I raised. I was discussing your original question. I don't care about your "DRM". I don't have any DRM on my print copies.  |
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