During my week off, I finally read The Spartacus War by Barry Strauss that I mentioned a couple of months ago. Several books I’ve read lately raises the question of what makes a successful history when little trustworthy material is available on the subject. Persistent use of qualifiers like “perhaps”, “he might have seen”, and […]
I’ve been enjoying a week off from work and staying offline as much as possible. Here’s wishing everyone a happy Fourth of July.
We’re reading less Dr. Seuss and working our way through ‘first reader’ books with the oldest. But I did like this line from an interview with Dr. Philip Nel, professor of English at Kansas State University and director of the graduate program in children’s literature (who knew there was such a thing? and would Dr. […]
A Sportsman’s Notebook by Ivan Turgenev Translated by Charles and Natasha Hepburn The Cresset Press, London, 1950 I am glad that this book has come out; it seems to me that it will remain my mite cast into the treasure chest of Russian literature, to use the phraseology of the school-book… Much has come out […]
Book Illustration for ‘The Day Before’ by Ivan Turgenev, 1947 Konstatin RudakovThe text of “First Love” can be found at Project Gutenberg, Google Books, or The Literature Network A summary is provided at Wikipedia My post on links to Turgenev resources can be found here The library copy of “First Love” I read was translated by […]
Portrait of Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev By Ilya Yefimovich Repin (1879) Picture sourceA few links on Turgenev. I’ll link to individual works as I cover them. BIOGRAPHY Wikipedia entry ONLINE WORKS Most online works use translations by Constance Garnett Works at Google Books or Project Gutenberg Audio works available at LibriVox ADDITIONAL (most of my previous links […]
No, not the picture of me from August 1982 (which I ran across this morning when looking for other files). Someone placed a hold on The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel at the library and I can’t renew it. Who knew it was in high demand? Unfortunately I had checked it out several weeks before I […]
Totally off-topic to anything and everything, but… Last night I watched We Jam Econo, the documentary on the Minutemen. It was 25 years ago that I last saw them, and the Minutemen t-shirt I had from that date was one of my prize possessions for quite a while. The documentary is decent, although I would […]
The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel by Nikos Kazantzakis Translation by Kimon Friar Simon and Schuster, New York, 1958 They think of me as a scholar, an intellectual, a pen-pusher. And I am none of them. When I write, my fingers get covered not in ink, but in blood. I think I am nothing more than […]
Odysseus and Circe by Bartholomäus Spranger Picture source Of all the things that breathe and move along the ground, Earth does not raise anything more insignificant than man. He thinks he’ll never suffer any harm in days to come, as long as gods provide prosperity and his knees stay supple. But when blessed gods bring […]
Some stray thoughts on The Odyssey… The first thought has to do with the similarities and differences to The Iliad as well as references to the Trojan War in The Odyssey. Both works look at mortality and man’s need to accept it. Achilles, when presented with a choice of fates, initially chooses a long life. […]
Odysseus’ Palace According to Johann Heinrich Voss (1820) Let Death come down to slavish souls and craven heads with his sharp scythe and barren bones, but let him come to this lone man like a great lord to knock with shame on his five famous castle doors, and with great awe plunder whatever dregs that […]
I haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, but PBS’ Great Performances has King Lear available online. CastKing Lear – Ian McKellenGoneril – Frances BarberRegan – Monica DolanCordelia – Romola GaraiAlbany – Julian HarriesCornwall – Guy WilliamsGloucester – William GauntEdgar – Ben MeyjesEdmund – Philip WinchesterKent – Jonathon HydeFool – Sylvester McCoy
Aftermath of the disaster Picture sourceCurious Expeditions has a good overview of The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919, as well as a little on the London Beer Flood of 1814. Highly recommended article and site. (I had previously linked their wonderful post of beautiful libraries) An excerpt from the Wikipedia article which Curious Expeditions […]
Odysseus recognized by Euryclea by Gustave Boulanger (1849) Have Ithaka always in your mind. Your arrival there is what you are destined for. But do not in the least hurry the journey. Better that it last for years, so that when you reach the island you are old, rich with all you have gained on […]
Odysseus is put ashore in Ithaca Theodor van Thulden Fair nymph! if fame or honor were To be attained with ease, Then would I come and rest with thee, And leave such toils as these. But here it dwells, and here must I With danger seek it forth : To spend the time luxuriously Becomes […]
Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus by John William Waterhouse (1891) Picture source When Circe had detained me more than a year There near Gaeta, before it had that name Aeneas gave it, and I parted from her, Not fondness for my son, nor any claim Of reverence for my father, nor love I owed […]
Nausicaa by Frederick Leighton (1878) Picture source Gerty smiled assent and bit her lip. A delicate pink crept into her pretty cheek but she was determined to let them see so she just lifted her skirt a little but just enough and took good aim and gave the ball a jolly good kick and it […]
I’m not much on academic-type studies, but Brian Boyd’s On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction looks interesting. From the product description: Art is a specifically human adaptation, Boyd argues. It offers tangible advantages for human survival, and it derives from play, itself an adaptation widespread among more intelligent animals. More particularly, our […]
Penelope Unraveling Her Web Joseph Wright of Derby Picture source A god could easily bring someone home from a long way off, if he wanted to. But I’d prefer to go through many hardships and then see the day when I got back and reached my home, than to complete my trip only to be […]