1° The translations of the Magic Mountain
you have the choice between
The Magic Mountain, translated into English by H T Lowe-Porter with an afterword by the author, 1927, Secker and Warburg, ISBN 436-27237-2
or
The Magic Mountain, a new translation into English by John E. Woods,1996, ISBN 0-679-77287-1. This won the Helen and Kurt Wolff Translator's Prize in 1996.
H T Lowe-Porter's translation is the older one, the standard one. On the minus side: the English has dated and it has a bad reputation for not being accurate in quite a number of cases. On the positive side: it keeps the original long chapter in French and the afterword of Mann.
John E Woods is the new translation. He has also translated the French chapter ( some say unfortunately ), has a more Modern language and is more accurate.
I would suggest to take the Wood's translation except if you want to read the French part in the original. Anyone willing to read it in German or any other language for that matter, please do.
2° We will rendez- vous here on 22 september at 15 hunderd GMT/UTC, check your watches please,for a base-camp briefing. The briefing will come in easily digestible chunks of info which will lead us to the foot of the Mountain. Climbing to the first camp will effectively start on 22nd of october a few hours before sunrise.
As a homage to the Salon and the book, I will use a mountain climbing metaphor. It is the ascension of Brave Mount Ulysses which brought us together in the first place eons ago.
I hope that all the Yeti's who have been scared away by our trampling since then will return and join us in our expedition.
Mac
