Books and radio: Beowulf, Dresden Files
Mar. 25th, 2015 04:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
inevitableentresolBeowulf
On my list of ancient literature Beowulf was pretty high up on what I wanted to read soon, preferably the Seamus Heaney translation. So I was delighted to recently find out Radio 4 was re-running it as book of the week. (Most of it is still up there.) Even better, Heaney was reading it himself.
The translation was undoubtedly fine, both clear and with some enjoyable turns of alliteration. Heaney's reading is wonderful. Still, the epic tale itself was less interesting than I'd expected. I actually used the episodes several times as a cure for insomnia.
I amused myself by counting the number of synonyms for "mead hall" (gift hall, gold hall and royal hall being some of them). Wow, that really shows how little I got out of this work. Spot the Tolkien influence was another game I used to keep myself entertained. There was a lot of epic naming of weapons going on.
I have no desire whatsoever to buy the book now, which saddens me. After all that build up, I thought it was going to be better.
Books I've picked up in the last few months and then lost interest in
- My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk - An Ottoman minaturist is involved in a murder. Fantastic backdrop for a story. Unfortunately, I found the style over-florid and far too literary in a self-conscious way. Eventually my patience wore out. I'll probably go back later.
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon - This is a really interesting book about WWII golems and comic book writers. Gripping! But the book is really heavy and my arthritis flared up (a family problem). So not so gripping after all. Looking forward to reading more of this soon.
Currently reading
Book One of the Harry Dresden Files. It's literally a light read, for which my hands thank the author. This is a detective noir pastiche involving a modern day wizard and starts faithful to its source. By the midway point, which is where I'm at now, it's showing signs of growing more into its own creature in a pleasing manner. Dresden shows a sense of self awareness that most 50s noir detectives lack, which is refreshing and makes me warm to him even through his occasional bouts of aggression. I'm hoping the style will keep improving as it goes on.
Want to read
Story of the Stone
On my list of ancient literature Beowulf was pretty high up on what I wanted to read soon, preferably the Seamus Heaney translation. So I was delighted to recently find out Radio 4 was re-running it as book of the week. (Most of it is still up there.) Even better, Heaney was reading it himself.
The translation was undoubtedly fine, both clear and with some enjoyable turns of alliteration. Heaney's reading is wonderful. Still, the epic tale itself was less interesting than I'd expected. I actually used the episodes several times as a cure for insomnia.
I amused myself by counting the number of synonyms for "mead hall" (gift hall, gold hall and royal hall being some of them). Wow, that really shows how little I got out of this work. Spot the Tolkien influence was another game I used to keep myself entertained. There was a lot of epic naming of weapons going on.
I have no desire whatsoever to buy the book now, which saddens me. After all that build up, I thought it was going to be better.
Books I've picked up in the last few months and then lost interest in
- My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk - An Ottoman minaturist is involved in a murder. Fantastic backdrop for a story. Unfortunately, I found the style over-florid and far too literary in a self-conscious way. Eventually my patience wore out. I'll probably go back later.
- The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon - This is a really interesting book about WWII golems and comic book writers. Gripping! But the book is really heavy and my arthritis flared up (a family problem). So not so gripping after all. Looking forward to reading more of this soon.
Currently reading
Book One of the Harry Dresden Files. It's literally a light read, for which my hands thank the author. This is a detective noir pastiche involving a modern day wizard and starts faithful to its source. By the midway point, which is where I'm at now, it's showing signs of growing more into its own creature in a pleasing manner. Dresden shows a sense of self awareness that most 50s noir detectives lack, which is refreshing and makes me warm to him even through his occasional bouts of aggression. I'm hoping the style will keep improving as it goes on.
Want to read
Story of the Stone
no subject
Date: 2015-03-26 04:53 pm (UTC)Interested in tackling the Dream of the Red Chambers, huh? Good reading then, although your hand might end resenting you for a while.