[Help] translation of the phrase "reads to me"

Hi, I have to write about my favourite book and I wanted to write about
"Call of the Wild" by Jack London- and:

« Call of the Wild »- un roman qui, à mon avis, est le meilleur exemple de la littérature poétique; chaque mot, chaque ligne me lit comme une pièce en poésie

Transliteration: "Call of the Wild"- a novel that, in my opinion, is the best example of poetic writing; each word, each line reads to me like a piece of poetry.

"son écriture est entièrement poétique- cependant il respect aussi le sens du chaque mot sans être alambiqué "

his writing is entirely poetic- however, he also respects the meaning of each word without being convoluted"

-I was trying to communicate that, even though he writes in such a poetic fashion, the understanding or the meaning communicated is not compromised

merci de m'aider

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Erwan on January 16, 2012 at 11:03am

I think it could be a good thing to use the french name of this book : l'appel de la forêt.

chaque ligne me lit comme une pièce en poésie -> chaque ligne se lit comme un morceau de poésie.

I have not exactly translated the "to me" part but it sounds more natural. Morceau isn't probably the best word but I can't find a better way to translate "piece" without writing a whole new phrase.

cependant il respect aussi le sens du chaque mot -> cependant il respecte (aussi, I think it's better to not use it) le sens de chaque mot

sans être alambiqué -> sans rendre les phrases alambiquées/sans que son style soit alambiqué/ tout en gardant des structures simples. I don't think we can use "convoluted" to people. It's referring more to objects or feelings