This is topic Call to Polyglots - Les guerrières de Brocavum in forum Fragments and Feedback for Short Works at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.


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Posted by Plume (Member # 7278) on :
 
I've finished it. Fantasy, 3,343 words. In French. Here are the 1st 13. Who wants to read the rest? Not looking for grammar edit, just a general feel. Merci.

Elle grimpe d’un pas assuré le petit sentier de chèvre qui la mène vers le sommet de la montagne. Le calcaire blanc est aveuglant dans la lumière du midi et elle plisse les yeux. Le vent chaud lui apporte des odeurs qu’elle connaît bien : la sève de pin et l’iode de la mer. Elle arrive au sommet et prend le temps de contempler la vue qui s’étend à ses pieds. Tout autour d’elle la mer scintille. La pierre blanche sur laquelle elle se trouve est parsemée de pins parasols. Quelques arbustes poussent épars. Cette vue elle la porte dans son cœur. C’est cette vue qui lui redonne espoir dans les moments plus difficiles. Cette vue et les promesses qui lui sont associées.

Elle enlève son sac en bandoulière d’un mouvement de bras puis

[This message has been edited by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (edited January 29, 2008).]
 


Posted by annepin (Member # 5952) on :
 
Alas, I can only read enough to think it sounds like an interesting premise... sorry! Good luck with it.
 
Posted by bluephoenix (Member # 7397) on :
 
This is a little beyond me, so I can't comment on the quality of the writing. Here, as far as I can tell, is the gist of it - am I close?

Girl, climbing to the top of a mountain, I think she's leading a goat there. White limestone in the afternoon light. Hot wind brings her smells she knows well - iodine of the sea, and something else. She arrives at the summit... something about feet. White rock, sprinkled with parasols. The sea sparkles. There are a few shrubs dotted around. This view, she carries it in her heart. It's this view which lifts her spirits(?) in difficult moments / hard times. This view, and the promises associated with it.

My french is pretty bad, but what do we have. Girl on mountaintop with goat. She knows the view and the smells well, so has probably been here lots of times before. The memories of this place are a comfort to her.

All I'm really wondering at the moment is 'why is she on the top of a mountain with a goat?', and I'm vaguely curious about why the view from there is so important to her.

Would I read on? Probably not, since it's beyond my capability . That said, I'm still vaguely interested, but something will have to happen pretty soon to keep me engaged. I think the next line has something about 'a movement', so that could be what's needed. I'd consider cutting some of the description, though - just one or two details. One of the smells that the wind brings? The sparse shrubs? The important thing seems to be that she loves the view, not exactly what it's made up off.

Anyway, I hope I got the gist of it, and that this helped a little. Good luck with it .
 


Posted by Plume (Member # 7278) on :
 
Not climbing with a goat... more like climbing on a narrow mountain path (a goat's trail). Funny though.
 
Posted by bluephoenix (Member # 7397) on :
 
Haha, told you my french wasn't great .

I stand by what I said about cutting one or two details, though, lol.
 




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