Wednesday 21 October 2009

The Really Old Classics Challenge: Introductory Post



So I read about the Really Old Classics Challenge and thought it perfect since I was already planing to read The Epic of Gilgamesh which fits the rules:

To join the Really Old Challenge, commit to read at least one work written before 1600 A.D. between November 2009 and February 28, 2010.
  • Audiobooks count.
  • Cross-overs with other challenges count.
  • You do not need a blog to participate, but if you do post about it on your blog, we’d love to hear about it.
  • You don’t need to decide what you’ll read before hand.
  • Decide for yourself which works count. You could even read excerpts or abridgments (although of course we suggest reading the entire work). Our guideline is pre-1600 A.D.
So my choice:

The Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a collection of poems from Mesopotamia which tells the story of the Hero King Gilgamesh. It describes the age old fight against death thus still being relevant despite being "really old".

I chose this particular old classic because I am currently reading The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer and she leans heavily on it in the first part of the book as an original source document. It sounds like a fascinating story and I am really looking forward to reading it.

Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Associate so if you click on book links from me they will take you there and if you buy the book I get a small percentage. I have yet to get anything from this service. I mainly provide it since I personally appreciate it when others do this. However my copy of this book I bought from BookDepository because they offer free shipping world wide. 

2 comments:

Table Talk said...

What I like about Gilgamesh is just how universal it is. Although we have the original that you have described here, once you start reading it you realise just how often elements of it turn up in other stories. Books and stories do have this wonderful habit of talking to each other.

Rebecca Reid said...

I hope you love it! I've heard so many good things about Gilgamesh, I may move it up my list too.

I haven't heard of the translator you linked to, but I hope he's good too!