Book formatting adventures

[regshoe]

I'm working on turning Imre: A Memorandum into an ebook. Unlike my previous two ebooks, Imre was not published in the typical way (because of the subject matter, it couldn't have been); it was privately printed at an English press in Naples. This unusual history seems to have led to a bit of irregularity in the formatting, which I'm having an interesting time dealing with.

To begin with, there are a lot of the typical sorts of straightforward printing errors, which I generally correct as I go, although the actual missing words can be slightly tricky to figure out. More entertaining is the dialogue formatting: some of the dialogue is "like this" and some is «like this», sometimes switching back and forth within a scene. I think this comes from the Italian printing, because «angled quotes» are standard in Italian (Hungarian does dialogue „like this“—which format has, oddly, turned up in the book as well, but only once). Ellipses are another one—they contain anything from two to eight dots, apparently at random, and the spacing is very irregular. The book is in long sections rather than chapters, and these are broken up occasionally by blank lines between the paragraphs—but there also seem to be some random extra blank lines which, as far as I can tell, aren't intended to mark breaks, and it's a bit of headache trying to decide which ones are deliberate and which ones to remove.

I have to decide how to represent this in the ebook, which is an interesting question. Project Gutenberg's guidelines allow for some freedom with this sort of thing, and copying the original exactly usually seems to be allowed even if the original is non-standard. I quite like getting to see these idiosyncrasies, as part of the history of the original book as a physical object and process of publication, and I'm inclined to try to preserve some of the weirdness rather than standardising everything—but I think the switching quote styles may be a bit too confusing.

The actual quality of the printing is also not the best (though that may be partly the scans). Words are occasionally obscured, and it's very difficult to tell the difference between different accents on letters—which appear fairly often in Hungarian, German, a bit of French, etc. words, which I keep having to look up to make sure I'm getting them right. Happily—as I have learnt from trying to figure this out—Hungarian at least only uses acute accents, not grave or circumflex, so I know that fake-Budapest is correctly Szent-Istvánhely.

Anyway, in the midst of all this I'm very much enjoying the book itself. I think paying so much attention to the text is getting me to appreciate it more—the emotions in the first part are so quietly lovely, and I absolutely love how it sounds so exactly like how merely subtexual/slashy books from the same period often sound, using such similar phrases and details... but this time it stops being subtextual.

And besides more general matters, there was...for so is it in friendship as in love...ever that quiet undercurrent of inexhaustible curiosity about each other as an Ego, a psychic fact not yet mutually explained. Therewith comes in that kindly seeking to know better and better the Other, as a being not yet fully outlined, as one whom we would understand even from the farthest-away time when neither friend suspected the other's existence, when each was meeting the world alone—as one now looks back on those days...and was absorbed in so much else in life, before Time had been willing to say, "Now meet, you two! Have I not been preparing you for each other?" So met, the simple personal retrospect is an ever new affair of detail for them, with its queries, its concessions, its comparisons. «I thought that, but now I think this. Once on a time I believed that, but now I believe this. I did so and so, in those old days; but now, not so. I have desired, hoped, feared, purposed, such or such a matter then; now no longer. Such manner of man have I been, whereas nowadays my identity before myself is thus and so.» Or, it is the presenting of what has been enduringly a part of ourselves, and is likely ever abide such? Ah, these are the moods and tenses of the heart and the soul in friendship! more and more willingly uttered and listened-to as intimacy and confidence thrive. Two natures are seeking to blend. Each is glad to be its own directory for the newcomer; to treat him as an expected and welcomed guest to the Castle of Self, while yet something of a stranger to it; opening to him any doors and windows that will throw light on the labyrinth of rooms and corridors, wishing to keep none shut....perhaps not even some specially haunted, remote and even black-hung chamber. Guest? No, more than that, for is it not the tenant of all others, the Master, who at last, has arrived!

"But why..why...have you found yourself so wonderfully happy lately?" had asked Imre, curiously. "You haven't inherited a million? Nor fallen in love?"

No—I had not inherited a million.......

Comments

[theseatheseatheopensea]

Thanks for sharing your process, it's fascinating to read. It really sounds like this is a very atypical ebook to make (EPS would be pleased by it, I think! :D) but it quite fits with the story of how the book was originally printed, I guess!

I find it really interesting that all the editions of the book I've seen so far do something different with the text. James Gifford based his edition on an original, and the Spanish edition is based on Gifford's, and yet both do their own thing. Both use (different) symbols to divide sections that simply used spaces in the original, for example in the "What, then, was my new friend?" bit. But, for dialogue tags, Gifford removes all the chevrons, I think, while the Spanish edition keeps them, and uses inverted commas for dialogue between dialogue. Gifford, I think, does the opposite: double marks for dialogue, and single ones for dialogue between dialogue. And they both remove many of the ellipsis.

Overall, I think they both wanted to create a sort of uniformity among EPS's lack of consistent punctuation and chaos, heh... he sometimes uses double inverted commas within double inverted commas, and it can definitely be confusing! But I think it's still very charming, because it feels like stream of consciousness, and also the ellipsis fit in nicely with the whole said/unsaid vibe that sometimes runs through the book. Also, the mix of punctuation could be a sort of mix between cultures... this is my own pet theory, haha!

And oh, EP-S being such a Italophile might mean that the chevrons/gillemetes were his choice originally... just another theory of mine! XD He was definitely aware of the printing mistakes in the book, and perhaps he couldn't proofread this one himself, like he did with his short story collection, also printed in Italy, but by a different press, which according to him, seems better than the one that did "Imre".

I don't know if it helps at all to decide, but I'd keep it as close to the original as possible, except for the more confusing punctuation bits--not only it might save you a bit of work, but if it was good enough for EP-S, then it's good enough for us! But, of course, having seen all these interpretations already, I'm curious to see your own too, and it's very cool that you can give it your own touch! :D

Books as physical objects are a fascinating thing to think about, and this is something that shines so wonderfully in this book <3 And in the case of obvious mistakes and weirdness, I actually think it's interesting when they are preserved, to show part of the book's process and journey, it's a bit like a literary kintsugi and I love it.

And I'm so glad to know that doing this work is enjoyable, and that you got to appreciate the book even more. "Quietly lovely" really is a good way to describe it, and yes, the leap from subtext to out-there queerness is a truly, truly wonderful thing. I like how EP-S obviously saw all the possible ways to portray a bond, but made sure to tell the readers "yep, this is super queer, no mistake here, I did mean it Like That!" :D That said, there is still room in the book for ambiguous+nebulous labels for relationships, and to me, "the friendship which is love-the love which is friendship" remains such a good way to describe those intense, sometimes indefinable, sometimes said, sometimes unsaid, but always deep and real and valid bonds.

Therewith comes in that kindly seeking to know better and better the Other, as a being not yet fully outlined, as one whom we would understand even from the farthest-away time when neither friend suspected the other's existence, when each was meeting the world alone—as one now looks back on those days...and was absorbed in so much else in life, before Time had been willing to say, "Now meet, you two! Have I not been preparing you for each other?"

This is one of my favourite parts of the book! *heart eyes*

Thank you again for sharing all of this! I am really interested in all your ebook making adventures, and find them very informative, but this book is especially meaningful to me, as you might be able to tell XD so I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience! :D

[regshoe]

That's really interesting about the different editions! I will also use a symbol to divide sections—probably a row of asterisks—since my standard text and HTML paragraphs already have space between them. Oh yes, and the inconsistency in which quote marks are used within other quote marks is another thing I've noticed! I don't like the sound of removing ellipses, however—standardising the formatting is one thing, removing punctuation entirely is another. (besides, EPS's dramatic... ellipses...... are so much fun :D —and I agree that they add greatly to the mood of the book.)

Also interesting to hear EPS's opinions on the different presses—and, aww, I like the idea of him deliberately choosing Italian punctuation :D

I don't know if it helps at all to decide, but I'd keep it as close to the original as possible, except for the more confusing punctuation bits--not only it might save you a bit of work, but if it was good enough for EP-S, then it's good enough for us!

Thank you! I am leaning towards something like this—I'll see what works best.

And I'm glad you like hearing about all these details! I'm certainly learning a lot putting the ebook together—it is an adventure. :)

[starshipfox]

This sounds like a fascinating project, and making "Imre" so much more widely available is a huge gift to the world! Digging in to the typographical and printing choices sounds fascinating too -- definitely atypical choices were made by the author but also fascinating.

[regshoe]

It certainly is fascinating stuff—I'm learning so much from this ebook making hobby!

[luzula]

Ha, this sounds like a typographical challenge, with some difficult choices. Also, I have never thought of the length of ellipses as a possibility for artistic expression, but it seems EPS did!

[regshoe]

Heh, yes—at first I thought it was just weird irregularity, but he is definitely using the longer and shorter ellipses deliberately to convey meaning. An interestingly creative choice! (He also uses ellipses instead of dashes to censor names—so Imre's full name is Imre von N...).