영어로 읽는 SF고전 _ 에드가 R. 버로스의 화성의 공주
"화성의 공주"는 20세기 초에 쓰여진 에드가 라이스 버로스의 공상과학 소설입니다. 이야기는 바숨이라고 알려진 화성을 배경으로 하며, 주인공인 지구인 존 카터가 신비로운 일련의 사건들 후에 자신을 발견하게 되는 곳입니다. 그는 적대적인 화성의 풍경을 헤쳐 나가고, 이상한 생물체들을 만나며, 아름다운 화성 공주 데자 토리스를 보호하기 위해 노력하는 동안 다양한 화성 부족들의 갈등에 휘말리게 됩니다.
책의 도입부는 죽음과 부활을 경험했다고 주장하는 수수께끼 같은 인물로서 존 카터를 소개합니다. 그의 과거를 돌아보며, 미국 남부연합군 군인으로서의 삶과 이후 화성의 놀랍고도 위험한 황야에서의 모험을 이야기합니다. 여정을 시작하면서, 그는 아파치 인디언들의 위협에 직면하고 자신이 육체적 능력이 향상된 다른 세계로 이동되었다는 것을 깨닫게 됩니다.
이야기는 액션과 모험, 그리고 화성 문화에 대한 더 깊은 탐구를 위한 무대를 마련하며, 특히 위험에 처한 데자 토리스를 구하려는 그의 임무를 통해 바숨의 운명을 바꿀 수 있는 투쟁의 중심에 존 카터를 위치시킵니다.
Classics Read in English _ A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
"A Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs is a science fiction novel written in the early 20th century. The story is set on Mars, known as Barsoom, where the protagonist, John Carter, an Earthman, finds himself after a mysterious series of events. He navigates the hostile Martian landscape, encounters strange creatures, and becomes embroiled in the conflicts of various Martian tribes, all while striving to protect the beautiful Martian princess, Dejah Thoris. The opening of the book introduces John Carter as an enigmatic character who claims to have experienced death and resurrection. Reflecting on his past, he recounts his life as a Confederate soldier in America and his subsequent adventure in Mars' stunning and treacherous wilderness. As he begins his journey, he faces threats from Apaches and realizes he has been transported to another world, where his physical prowess is enhanced. The narrative sets the stage for action, adventure, and deeper exploration of Martian culture, putting John Carter at the center of a struggle that could change the fate of Barsoom, particularly in his quest to save Dejah Thoris from peril.
Among the contents
I am a very old man; how old I do not know. Possibly I am a hundred, possibly more; but I cannot tell because I have never aged as other men, nor do I remember any childhood. So far as I can recollect I have always been a man, a man of about thirty. I appear today as I did forty years and more ago, and yet I feel that I cannot go on living forever; that some day I shall die the real death from which there is no resurrection. I do not know why I should fear death, I who have died twice and am still alive; but yet I have the same horror of it as you who have never died, and it is because of this terror of death, I believe, that I am so convinced of my mortality.
And because of this conviction I have determined to write down the story of the interesting periods of my life and of my death. I cannot explain the phenomena; I can only set down here in the words of an ordinary soldier of fortune a chronicle of the strange events that befell me during the ten years that my dead body lay undiscovered in an Arizona cave.
