Tag: Robert Fagles

WWW Wednesday – 2017/09/20

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www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a book meme run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

NeverwhereOver the weekend I started reading Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, about a hapless hero named Richard Mayhew who helps an injured girl on the street named Door, which gets him wrapped up in a previously unseen world of strange and magical beings that exist under and around London. I’ve yet to experience the full breadth and depth of this world, but Richard has started to learn that his good deed has not gone unpunished, forcing him to dive headfirst into this world to turn his life back around. I love Gaiman’s writing as per usual, but at 75 pages in I feel I should be more drawn in than I am so far. I plan to finish it this week, at any rate, so I’ll be spending a lot of time with it regardless.

Recently Finished

TheAeneidI finally capped off reading the Aeneid by Virgil, which you can read a full review of here. I still love and appreciate this sort of literature, but I have been reminded that reading stuff like this is a more laborious love than other literature for me. It perhaps didn’t help that this was my least favourite after the Odyssey and the Iliad. There were many great moments, but I never really felt a strong connection to Aeneas himself in the same way that I did with Achilles or Odysseus. Though it will be a while before I move on to this, the next epic poem I want to read is, fittingly, The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri.

Reading Next

TheNightmareCollectiveAs I said last week, I’ve outlined some books I want to get through during the remainder of September and throughout October. I still plan to read Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett before the month is out. Hopefully I can actually accomplish that. As for October, one book looming on the horizon is an anthology of horror short stories called The Nightmare Collective, curated by the editors of PlayWithDeath.com. It’s a Kindle book I’ve had for a while that I’ve been saving for this upcoming season.

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Book Review – The Aeneid by Virgil

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Summary

Fleeing the ashes of Troy, Aeneas, Achilles’s mighty foe in the Iliad, begins an incredible journey to fulfill his destiny. His voyage will take him through stormy seas, entangle him in a tragic love affair, and lure him into the world of the dead itself – all the way tormented by the vengeful Juno, Queen of the Gods. Ultimately, he reaches the promised land of Italy where, after bloody battles and with high hopes, he founds the Roman people. An unsparing portrait of a man caught between love, duty, and fate, the Aeneid redefines passion, nobility, and courage for our times.

TheAeneid

It always feels a bit awkward when I decide to review something like Virgil’s Aeneid, considered a master work of literature millennia before I was born. This isn’t just a review of an epic poem from the dawn of the Roman Empire, however, but one of a specific modern translation as well. As with the copies of the Iliad and the Odyssey I’ve read over the past few years, this edition was translated by Robert Fagles with a lengthy introduction written by Bernard Knox. That all being said, I’ve realized that the work’s age does not invalidate my personal experience reading it, nor does my assessment put a dent in what is deservedly a celebrated piece of literature.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – 2017/09/13

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www_wednesdays

WWW Wednesday is a book meme run by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

TheAeneidI’m much further into The Aeneid by Virgil , currently at Book 10 “Enemy at the Gates.” I like Robert Fagles’ translations, but it is once again a little jarring for me to come to a work like this after strictly reading novels (for the most part). I’ll get more into this when I write about it after I’m done, but it’s interesting when you become self-aware of how your brain is processing something written in a more challenging way. I wanted to have it done by now (that is starting to become a catchphrase), but I’ve admittedly procrastinated reading it a little as a result of its difficulty. Being my own worst enemy notwithstanding, I hope to finish it by the week’s end.

Recently Finished

WWHIncredibleHerculesThough I’ve got other comic book series I’m meaning to finish or start, I read a trade on a whim (as I’m wont to do). This week it was World War Hulk: The Incredible Hercules by Greg Pak et al. This was actually the first volume in the Incredible Hercules series that I’ve read through over the past year, but was the last one I acquired. There aren’t numbers designating order on the spines of this series, so that’s what made things confusing. It’s not exactly essential either, in terms of story. It was typical comic book event tie-in fare (at best fine), but it was fun to see Amadeus Cho and Herc working together before becoming a notable duo of their own.

Reading Next

Guards!Guards!I’ve started to put together a plan for what I want to read next, in preparation for Halloween, my most favourite time of year. I’m putting together a line-up of books I want to get through and review in October, meaning I’m also laying out reading goals I think will be realistic for the rest of September. Provided that I finish The Aeneid on schedule, I still want to read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, as well as Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett, in order to push further along with the Discworld series. I’ve heard this one is especially good, so I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully you’ll be hearing all about it over the next couple weeks.

Reading Epics: The Odyssey by Homer

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TheOdysseyCover

Very recently I finished reading Homer’s The Odyssey in its entirety for the first time. This is particularly significant for me because while minored in classical studies in university and learned a lot about the story of The Odyssey, I never actually read the entire text. I’ve made it a personal mission to read epics like these, having started with The Iliad, which I finished reading at the end of 2013.Read More »