Book Geek moment of Excitement

[YankeyMCC]

Just got notice that my request for "Lavinia" by Ursula K. Le Guin has come in at my local library. http://www.ursulakleguin.com/Index-Lavinia.html

And I just finished my re-read of the Aeneid this AM.

I got so excited and I'm excited about tomorrow just because I'm going to be able to pick this up and start reading it!

I guess I just fit very snugly into one of those liberal/progressive/elitist stereotypes. :)

[YOY]

1. Nothing Geeky about the Aeneid!

It's Ovidliscious!

[wtmusic]

2. Which translation of the Aeneid did you read? nt

[YankeyMCC]

3. Robert Fagles

He's also the translator for my copies of Iliad and Odyssey

I've read the Fitzgerald translations of Iliad and Odyssey but waayy back in High School, so I wouldn't venture to say I have Fagles because it's a superior translation that just what I ended up with and I've had these copies for many years and read them all almost every year and enjoy them greatly.

On Edit: You know I heard in one of the recordings of Le Guin's book readings for Lavinia that the translation she used was Fitzgerald. I wonder if the fact that I'm more familiar with a different translation will become evident as I read her novel.

[wtmusic]

4. Interesting article in the New Yorker about a year ago

which compared sections of Fitzgerald/Fagles next to each other, when Fagles first came out.

Having never read it before (what can I say, ignoramus) IMO Fitzgerald was hands down more descriptive and engaging.

Since then I've read Fitzgerald's Aeneid and all of Homer. Entirely different experience from the snoozy Harvard Classics version I read previously.

[YankeyMCC]

5. I should do that sometime

read both and compare.

[flamingyouth]

6. I saw that at the bookstore the other day.

I can't wait to read it.

[YankeyMCC]

7. Just thought I'd give an update

I've finished the book (well i still have the few pages of the afterward to read) and I really can not say enough about this novel.

It is nothing like reading Homer or Vergil, it's not written in that poetic rhythm, it is a modern novel, perhaps with a touch of the poetic here and there but still a modern novel. And it doesn't treat the ancient pagan gods as real characters. Yet it grabs you like those ancient classics, Lavinia comes to life with a vibrancy that rivals the vibrant figures in Homer and although the gods are not characters they play a role, the beliefs and religions of the Trojans and Latins or better I should say the beliefs and religions Aeneas and Lavinia and the other characters play as important a role as the gods of the Iliad and contribute greatly to bringing the characters to life.

Just outstanding, highly recommended.