Spren of Kindness Posted March 27, 2021 Report Share Posted March 27, 2021 I'm almost halfway through The Great Hunt. Still rather confused, but bluffing works wonders. One spoiler below: Spoiler Selene... I'm not very impressed. I've skimmed pretty much everything she's in because it's so awkward. My current guess is that she turns out to be evil and Rand will go back to his 'true love' Egwene. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkum Posted March 27, 2021 Report Share Posted March 27, 2021 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Spren of Kindness said: I'm almost halfway through The Great Hunt. Still rather confused, but bluffing works wonders. One spoiler below: Hide contents Selene... I'm not very impressed. I've skimmed pretty much everything she's in because it's so awkward. My current guess is that she turns out to be evil and Rand will go back to his 'true love' Egwene. Spoiler yea, Selene is...not subtle. if it helps the suspension of disbelief, Rand is a Farm Boy whose only ever seen like 12 books in his entire life and read maybe 4; not a genre savvy fantasy nerd. Edited March 27, 2021 by Dunkum add spoiler tag 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spren of Kindness Posted March 27, 2021 Report Share Posted March 27, 2021 1 minute ago, Dunkum said: yea, Selene is...not subtle. if it helps the suspension of disbelief, Rand is a Farm Boy whose only ever seen like 12 books in his entire life and read maybe 4; not a genre savvy fantasy nerd. That's true, but I just really despise this particular trope... cliche... whatever. And the thing is, I'm really bad at spotting what trope is being used, so if I can see it... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aneonfoxtribute Posted March 31, 2021 Report Share Posted March 31, 2021 Finished Fires of Heaven FINALLY. Gonna take a break from Wheel of Time, and hit my backlog. I'm probably gonna read Tower of Nero next, maybe focus on that, and then jump back into Golden Compass, Hobbit, and Name of the WInd 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spren of Kindness Posted March 31, 2021 Report Share Posted March 31, 2021 Finished The Great Hunt and The Tempest! Next up will probably be Shadow and Bone. I think I like Wheel of Time more now that I've read the second book. I'm properly hooked. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urrutiap Posted April 3, 2021 Report Share Posted April 3, 2021 reading a couple of books this month Dune Messiah Hyperion Star Wars Courtship of Princess Leia. books that i bought a day ago while i was out of town Stephen King's new crime novel Later Dragon Reborn from the Barnes and Noble. Been looking for the book for awhile recently this year one of the newer/recent Jack Ryan Jr novels. What Id like to know is how is Jack Ryan Sr still President? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spren of Kindness Posted April 4, 2021 Report Share Posted April 4, 2021 5 hours ago, urrutiap said: reading a couple of books this month Dune Messiah Hyperion Star Wars Courtship of Princess Leia. books that i bought a day ago while i was out of town Stephen King's new crime novel Later Dragon Reborn from the Barnes and Noble. Been looking for the book for awhile recently this year one of the newer/recent Jack Ryan Jr novels. What Id like to know is how is Jack Ryan Sr still President? Which one is Dune Messiah? Is it the sixth? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orlion Blight Posted April 4, 2021 Report Share Posted April 4, 2021 59 minutes ago, Spren of Kindness said: Which one is Dune Messiah? Is it the sixth? Second, if I recall correctly 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkum Posted April 4, 2021 Report Share Posted April 4, 2021 10 hours ago, Orlionra said: Second, if I recall correctly second is correct 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Unknown Ajah Posted April 5, 2021 Report Share Posted April 5, 2021 I am currently rereading the Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. I'm planning on reading the Realm of the Elderlings in chronological order this time. After I finish Royal Assassin I'm going to either the Soldier's Son trilogy book two also by Robin Hobb or Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shard of Reading Posted April 5, 2021 Report Share Posted April 5, 2021 On 4/3/2021 at 11:53 PM, Orlionra said: Second, if I recall correctly I know for a fact that it's the second because I just started reading Dune, and I've been looking into the sequals a bit preemptively because that's just what I do. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orlion Blight Posted April 5, 2021 Report Share Posted April 5, 2021 Currently reading The Poppy War by R F Kuang. Not to be confused with The Puppy War. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spren of Kindness Posted April 6, 2021 Report Share Posted April 6, 2021 I finished Shadow and Bone. So now it's a long wait for Siege and Storm. And I also read The Stolen Moon, a middle-grade sci-fi. It's the sequel to The Lost Planet, and gosh, I hope that one day the third one comes out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuckOfMysteriousProportion Posted April 8, 2021 Report Share Posted April 8, 2021 On 4/5/2021 at 7:13 PM, Orlionra said: Currently reading The Poppy War by R F Kuang. Not to be confused with The Puppy War. I might prefer to read a book called the Puppy War. The title has merit, depending on the author. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eluvianii Posted April 8, 2021 Report Share Posted April 8, 2021 58 minutes ago, DuckOfMysteriousProportion said: I might prefer to read a book called the Puppy War. The title has merit, depending on the author. I was thinking about how silly that sounded, perfect for fiction, when I remembered that we have a real event called the Cake War, so who knows, maybe it's even a real thing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuckOfMysteriousProportion Posted April 8, 2021 Report Share Posted April 8, 2021 4 minutes ago, Eluvianii said: I was thinking about how silly that sounded, perfect for fiction, when I remembered that we have a real event called the Cake War, so who knows, maybe it's even a real thing. Just looked it up. It's a book by Allen Zadoff, though I had never heard of him before this. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urrutiap Posted April 10, 2021 Report Share Posted April 10, 2021 bought couple more stuff from the Barnes and Noble store since Im out of town right now since yesterday. two Dune books. Paul of Dune and one of the Prequel books Corrin something I think its called Wheel of Time books 3 and 4 recent issue of Rue Morgue magazine 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spren of Kindness Posted April 11, 2021 Report Share Posted April 11, 2021 Partials by Dan Wells. I'm enjoying it quite a bit, considering that YA of this particular subgenre is about 50/50 hit or miss for me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Use the Falchion Posted April 11, 2021 Report Share Posted April 11, 2021 Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey and Demon Slayer - I bought the first three volumes this week, and after a few false starts over the years, I think I'm in it for good. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ammanas Posted April 12, 2021 Report Share Posted April 12, 2021 @Use the Falchion Have you read the Fangles translation of the Odyssey and if so could you please compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the two translations? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Use the Falchion Posted April 12, 2021 Report Share Posted April 12, 2021 (edited) 43 minutes ago, Ammanas said: @Use the Falchion Have you read the Fangles translation of the Odyssey and if so could you please compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the two translations? I think that's the version high schoolers read or used to read at least...or at least did so when I was in high school... Yeah, I've read it...or at least parts of it...I wasn't the best reader in High School... Wilson's is definitely better for pleasure reading. Wilson's poetry is crisp and reads much more like prose than anything else. She uses modern phrases that keep the spirit of the translation, making it far easier to understand what on earth is going on. I'm hoping Wilson eventually comes out with a version of the Iliad like that, since while I read Fagles' translation in 2018 for fun, I'd rather read it again and not have to wade through the poetry and styling to experience the story in that way. Wilson's is great for the story. It feels like one of those "No Fear Shakespeare" sort of guides, where the story is the same, but the language has been updated for modern times. The original poem used a type of hexameter beat IIRC, and I'm not sure what Fagle uses, if anything. Wilson is using iambic pentameter, since she wanted to keep the poetic reading while also giving her English readers what they'd be accustomed to. I'm going back to certain parts, and now after reading the Wilson version, I'm finding Fagles' translation easier to read. Just for fun, here's the first paragraph of both translations (which is actually a poor representation since Fagles' version is pretty straightforward): Fagles Quote Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven by time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy. Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds, many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea, fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home. Bu he could not save them from disaster, hard as he strove - the recklessness of their own ways destroyed them all, the blind fools, they devoured the cattle of the Sun and the Sungod wiped from sight the day of their return. Launch out on his story, Muse, daughter of Zeus, star from where you will - sing for our time too. Wilson Quote Tell me about a complicated man. Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy, and where he went, and who he met, the pain he suffered on the sea, and how he worked to save his life and bring his men back home. He failed, and for their mistakes, they died. They ate the Sun God's cattle, and the god kept them from home. Now goddess, child of Zeus, tell the old story for our modern times. Find the beginning. Here's part of a speech at Menelaus' feast (which is referring to the events in the tragedy Oresteia) Fagles Quote But while I roamed those lands, amassing a fortune, a stranger killed my brother, blind to the danger, duped blind - thanks to the cunning of his cursed, murderous queen! So I rule all this wealth with no great joy. You must have heard my story from your fathers, whoever they are - what hardships I endured, how I lost this handsome palace built for the ages, filled to the depths with hoards of gorgeous things. Well, would to god I'd stayed right here in my own house with a third of all that wealth and they were still alive, all who died on the wide plain of Troy those years ago, far from the stallion-land of Argos. Wilson Quote ... But while I wandered there accumulating wealth, someone crept in and killed my brother; his own scheming wife betrayed him. I can take no joy in all my wealth. Whoever they may be, your fathers have surely told you how much I have suffered! I lost my lovely home, and I was parted for many years from all my splendid riches. I wish I had stayed here, with just a third of all the treasure I have now acquired, if those who died at Troy, so far away from Argive pastures, were alive and well. I'm not that far (halfway through Book 4 out of 24), but I definitely like Wilson's translation better in terms of pure enjoyment. I'm not sure which I'd give high schoolers to read, however. Fagles' version is what's known, but Wilson's reads better. And maybe the fact that it's translated by a woman may help? (Some of the reviews talked about the woman's perspective in relation to this story and its translation. I'm a dude, and I'm typically blind to these things, but maybe it'd foster some good conversation.) And the Iambic Pentameter could be good to introduce here, so that when the students read Shakespeare later on they're not blind-sided by the styling. But again, I'm not that far, and I'm not an English-Lit or History teacher. Edited April 12, 2021 by Use the Falchion 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ammanas Posted April 12, 2021 Report Share Posted April 12, 2021 @Use the Falchion Thank you for that very detailed answer. The new translation definitely seems leaner and that would seem to build momentum faster. I’ll definitely have to check it. Fangles or Wilson we have come a long way from the Pope translation and it’s nice to see new life breathed into such a old work. The question of translation has been on my mind recently. After spending most of my life trying occasionally to read the King James Bible I finally admitted to myself that I could hardly understand a word of it. It was basically gibberish to me. Perhaps I’m just not smart enough *shrugs*. So I have been reading/comparing the ESV and CSB and sometimes to really dumb thing down for me I consult the NLT. Everything became clear to me and I finally was able to see the power and the beauty of this book. It’s kind of like (I imagine) of suddenly being cured of really bad dyslexia. But I digress...thanks again for the response. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orlion Blight Posted April 12, 2021 Report Share Posted April 12, 2021 I honestly figuratively vomited a little on reading those Wilson selections. Look, I get that poetry can't ever truly be translated. And I get that sometimes people want to recreate how a listener of the original would feel without somehow imparting the various experiences and environment those listeners would be in and how that's impossible... And I also get that liking the Samuel Butler translation kinda disqualifies me from having an opinion..but...um...well... kinda lost my train of thought there. Well, I guess what I'm trying to say is Spoiler I...HATE...SAUERKRAUT! That's all I'm really trying to say... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Use the Falchion Posted April 12, 2021 Report Share Posted April 12, 2021 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Ammanas said: @Use the Falchion Thank you for that very detailed answer. The new translation definitely seems leaner and that would seem to build momentum faster. I’ll definitely have to check it. Fangles or Wilson we have come a long way from the Pope translation and it’s nice to see new life breathed into such a old work. The question of translation has been on my mind recently. After spending most of my life trying occasionally to read the King James Bible I finally admitted to myself that I could hardly understand a word of it. It was basically gibberish to me. Perhaps I’m just not smart enough *shrugs*. So I have been reading/comparing the ESV and CSB and sometimes to really dumb thing down for me I consult the NLT. Everything became clear to me and I finally was able to see the power and the beauty of this book. It’s kind of like (I imagine) of suddenly being cured of really bad dyslexia. But I digress...thanks again for the response. No problem! I definitely understand the feelings! (The few times I had to read the King James Bible it gave me a headache too!) Edited April 12, 2021 by Use the Falchion 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Hoiditthroughthegrapevine Posted April 12, 2021 Report Share Posted April 12, 2021 @Use the Falchion and @Ammanas, just wanted to let you guys know that I think one of the best ways to experience the Odyssey is the Fagles translation in audiobook form read by Ian McKellen, it's phenomenal! Audible also has the Wilson translation read by Clair Danes, but I like the rhythm and phrasing of the Fagle translation better, and Ian McKellen (one of the finest actors ever) does a great job of pulling out the through line of meaning from the sometimes complicated and hard to follow passages. @Orlionra, if you are ever in Tacoma Washington, go to the Antique Sandwich Shop, which is just a bit south of Point Defiance Zoo. Order their reuben which is served on warm marbled rye, and features a smear of mayo, some delightful low key swiss cheese, perfect pastrami, and a liberal portion of sauerkraut. Also get a chocolate shake, and only after trying this can you truly say that you hate sauerkraut, to know that you truly can't stand it you must first experience it in it's most exalted form, that my friend is the true test. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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