TSS: 2010 Challenges Round-Up 2

Week before last I did part 1 of my 2010 Challenges Round up. This week is round 2.

My start of challenge post
Level: The Unshepherded Path
My List of Books:

Freedom in Exile by The Dalai Lama

Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers by Stephanie Levine

The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose 

The Odyssey by Homer 

Om Gud (About God) by Jonas Gardell 

I would have liked to have read more books for this challenge but simply ran out of time. I did enjoy all of the books I read but if I had to pick a favourite it would have to be Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers by Stephanie Levine. I enjoyed both the topic, girls in the Lubavic community and the way the book was written. Levine manages to present her subjects very well. I am glad that with the five books I cover four different religions.

My start of challenge post
Level: Lambda 4 Books
My List of Books:

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

En komikers uppväxt (A Comedian Growing Up) by Jonas Gardell 

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger

The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson

Och jag läste att det var omöjligt att leva lycklig förutan dig (And I read that it was impossible to live happily without you) by Mark Levengood

Om Gud (About God) by Jonas Gardell

In my start of challenge post I set out to read 4 books by GLBT authors but hoping to read more. I’m glad I did manage this goal. One of the books was a re-read En komikers uppväxt (A Comedian Growing Up). I read it as a teenager and it had as much of an impact now as it did then. Out of the books I read I learned a lot in Om Gud (About God) by Jonas Gardell but my favourite was probably Och jag läste att det var omöjligt att leva lycklig förutan dig (And I read that it was impossible to live happily without you) by Mark Levengood it was just really sweet and funny.

My start of challenge post
Level: Literati 6 Books
My List of Books:

Immortal in Death by J.D. Robb

Madicken by Astrid Lindgren

The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles

Rapture in Death by J.D. Robb

Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

En komikers uppväxt (A Comedian Growing Up) by Jonas Gardell

I could have added loads more books to this list but I’ve kept it to the six that I signed up for. Five of the six books are books I have loved. One I’m less fond of. The two In Death books are books I loved as an adult. I so love this series Madicken by Astrid Lindgren and Anne of Avonlea are books I loved as a child. Madicken (the title character) was one of my childhood heroines as was Anne. I really must get back to my Anne re-read (which I will now that I have them for free on my new kindle (more on that later)). Finally the two books I read in high school: The French Lieutenant’s Woman and En komikers uppväxt (A Comedian Growing Up). I really enjoyed En komikers uppväxt but wasn’t that fond of The French Lieutenant’s Woman.

My Start of Challenge Post
Level: 1 book

1.  The Odyssey by Homer

A challenge that only requires one book isn’t that hard to manage . I really did enjoy the audiobook I listened to for this challenge. And look for more Greek classics on my blog in 2011.

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: The Odyssey [Audio]

The Odyssey by Homer

Translated by Robert Fagles

Narrated by Sir Ian McKellen

Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks

Category: Classic

Challenges: Really Old Classics, World Religion Challenge

Synopsis: The Odyssey tells of Odysseus journey back from Troy. Odysseus manages to anger Poseidon and therefore his journey home takes 10 years. While he is away his house becomes filled with suitors who want to marry his wife Penelope.

My Thoughts: When sign-ups for Really Old Classics went up I knew I wanted to read one of the Greeks but to tell you the truth, they scare me just a bit. Because of this I was really glad when I saw The Odyssey narrated by Sir Ian McKellen in the Audible list. I figured it was perfect, the Greek epics were made to be told. Here I would get the experience the way Homer had meant it, read the book and not be quite so scared by it.

I knew the story before I listened to it, but this was the first time I listened to it because I wanted to and I think this made me approach it in a slightly different way. I treated it more as entertainment and not as a school assignment.

I have to admit the first time I came across one of the many repetitive phrases that are in the epic I thought my ipod had done something wonky. And then I remembered that the reusing of phrases is to help both the teller of the tale and the audience. But it did jar me that first time, and I have to admit the next few times as well. I think this is because I am not used to this particular stylistic device. Sure modern authors use repetitive phrases to remind their readers but not quite in the same way. After awhile I got used to it though and I did come to really appreciate it. It helped me keep people separate.

I will admit that the story reminded me of daytime soaps to some extent. All the intrigue and disguising, it just really brought to mind those soaps. I suppose this goes to show that we today find the same things intriguing as people did way back when .

The mythology in it was very interesting as I am currently reading Om Gud (About God) by Jonas Gardell which is about the Old Testament and it talks about different views of God. Contrasting this with the Greek mythology posed some great insights into the way people viewed the world at the time. The close relationship between Gods and people and the way Gods became directly involved with their subjects. This is a way of viewing the world that I find fascinating.

The translation by Robert Fagles was really well done I think. I obviously can’t compare it to the original but the language felt quite authentic. Just the right mixture between “older” words such as libations but so that you could understand.

Sir Ian McKellen does a really good job with the narration. It is clear but with life in it. You can definitely tell that he is an old school stage actor. There is a certain amount of presence in the voice. He also does not give in to the stupid accents that some narrators give the different characters. The only issue I have with the audio production is actually the music at the start of each new chapter, it is REALLY grating. I actually liked having the music but just not the music itself. The reason I liked the music was that it gave me a chance to pause at a good point in the story.

Overall the story was quite exciting and the translation and narration were really good. I recommend this particular production.

Purchase The Odyssey from BookDepository

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Really Old Classics Challenge: Intro Post

The Really Old Classics Challenge is a really easy challenge to complete. Between today (September 1, 2010) and December 31st, 2010, you have to read one book. Yep you read that right, to complete this challenge all you have to do is read one book. The catch is that it has to be a Really Old Classic, which, for the purpose of this challenge is a book written prior to 1600 AD. I took part in last years challenge (which went into early this year) and I read The Epic of Gilgamesh which I thought was an interesting story but I wasn’t to fond of the translation I read.

This is the challenge I was hinting at yesterday that I was going to join. Part of my goal for this blog is to challenge me to read widely, which is why I try to join challenges that have me reading books I wouldn’t pick up normally. And, although I like classics, I have to admit the Really Old Classics are not ones I pick up often :D.

So what book am I planning to read for this challenge? Well, I was thinking of spending some time with the Ancient Greeks. While sorting through our books while doing our library renovation I found a copy of The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer, so I might go with them, but at the same time, after last years issues with translations I don’t want to jump into a book just because I have it on my shelf, so I might do a bit more poking around trying to find other translations. I am looking forward to this challenge!

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Book Review: Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh 

Translated by Andrew George

Category: Ancient Literature

Challenge: Really Old Classics Challenge

Synopsis: The ancient story of the King Gilgamesh tells of friendship and heroics and a fear of death.

My Thoughts: I liked the story. I liked what it had to say about the human condition. I would like to in the future read another translation to see what is different. I liked that the language was accessible, I felt like I could fly through it.

However, I am not sure about this translation. Since I have not read The Epic of Gilgamesh before I have no idea if this is how the translations are often done but I found the fact that the volume contained the translations of several tablets annoying. I just wanted to read the story. I didn’t really care to compare the Yale tablet with the Pennsylvania tablet. I did appreciate that in the first part they told you when they, due to missing parts switched tablets but I didn’t really need the tablet translations again in the following parts.

What I also didn’t like was the fact that at the start of each tablet they told you what happened. The language in the translations was so accessible that I had no problems following it. I didn’t need the short synopsis at the start of each tablet. It really just ruined the story for me. I feel that this edition is paradoxically an edition for high school students to lazy to read the whole thing and an edition for the scholar who wants an introduction to the different tablets. Personally, as someone who just wanted to read the story, I was not well served by this edition.

So in conclusion: good story, bad book.

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.