Perhaps the fridge is the door to a time tunnel

July 12, 2008 1:49 AM

What's Harrison Ford doing in chapter 20 of Adolfo Bioy Casares' Dream of Heroes?

I'm holding a Quartet Books edition of Adolfo Bioy Casares' Dream of Heroes, translated by Diana Thorold. In chapter 20, p. 67, the main character Gauna watches the last scenes of a film starring Harrison Ford and Marie Prevost.

The problem is that the book was written in 1954, when Ford was apparently in high school.

The translation is dated 1987, so Diana Thorold looks like the culprit here. The action is not explicitly dated, but looks to be in the author's present or near past so any shenanigans by the author after initial publication seem unlikely.

Does anyone have access to the original text? Who is the actor the author intended? Any idea why the translator would change the male actor's name, yet leave M. Prevost, who fits the correct time frame, alone?

posted by ghost of a past number to writing & language (3 comments total)

This Harrison Ford?
posted by Dumsnill at 2:20 AM on July 12, 2008

I think Dumsnill has it (but dammit, Marie Prevost's death is a sad story)

"And that's how Marie died. She basically starved herself to death. Trapped in the home without food or water, the dog ended up by eating her, little by little. Instead of being remembered as one of the brightest stars in the early days of Hollywood, Marie Prevost is usually remembered, when she is remembered at all, because of her tragic death and gruesome end."
posted by ceri richard at 2:35 AM on July 12, 2008

Hey, he should sue the other guy for trademark infringement.

Turns out there's quite a few silent films starring the couple, pretty dumb of me not to google the two together.
posted by ghost of a past number at 8:01 AM on July 12, 2008