I've been reading A.O. Lovejoy's The Great Chain of Being: A Study of the History of an Idea; his ideas on "monistic pathos", the delight human beings take in unifying opposites into one whole, are peculiarly fascinating.
Also rereading that most sinister of plays Macbeth:
She should have died hereafter;
There would have been time for such a word.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
This sums it up in a suitably inadequate manner, I suppose:
Now, I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor, dumb bastard die for his country.---Patton
There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism.---Teddy Roosevelt
I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception.---Groucho
And if you all get killed, I'll piss on your graves.---Shaman Urdnot
How would you like to own a little bit of my foot in your ass.---Red Foreman
The English translation. I think there is a Video game comming out about it too. The bumber is that it is M and I don't care much for M rated games exept Halo and War Hammer: DOW
The English translation. I think there is a Video game comming out about it too. The bumber is that it is M and I don't care much for M rated games exept Halo and War Hammer: DOW
The bummer is that they've resorted to making good pieces of literature into what looks like a terrible game.
Are you one of those poor Macintosh gamers that are in the possession of Empire at War, yet because of the scarcity of Mac players out there you have nobody to play against? If you are, PM me if you want to set up a game.
Which translation are you using? Unless you're Italian, of course. >_<
Quote:
Originally Posted by Te Darasuum Mandalor
The English translation.
I believe Pavlos is asking who translated it into English from the original Italian. Some translations are better than others.
From MST3K's spoof of "Hercules Unchained"--heard as Roman medic soldiers carry off an unconscious Greek Hercules on a 1950's Army green canvas stretcher: "Hi, we're IX-I-I. Did somebody dial IX-I-I?"
I'd have to say that this is one of the better translations, particularly since it includes rather verbose, comprehensive explanations for otherwise obscure 14th century Italian lore, as well as a myriad of maps, diagrams, etc. Don't bother yourself with the most recent "translation", since I don't have much faith in the historicity of the game to begin with, particularly the notion that Dante battle his pagan role models in Limbo.
I swear, soon we'll see Fahrenheit 451: THE GAME. Coming from the creators of Game of the Year God of War comes the epic adaptation of the greatest sci-fi novel of all time! Firefighter Guy Montag embarks upon an action-packed, gritty and mature quest against a future government, all armed with nothing but a flamethrower! Execute mind-blowing attacks and combos with a stunning arsenal of FIRE! Save the future of tomorrow... today! Plays best with NVidia
Gah! I hate Fahrenheit 451!!! We're reading it in English class....And I hate it.
For my own books, I'm reading the Battle of the Books books (its a competition about...books) and the Eulalia! by Brian Jaques, the latest book in the Redwall series.
I'd have to say that this is one of the better translations, particularly since it includes rather verbose, comprehensive explanations for otherwise obscure 14th century Italian lore, as well as a myriad of maps, diagrams, etc. Don't bother yourself with the most recent "translation", since I don't have much faith in the historicity of the game to begin with, particularly the notion that Dante battle his pagan role models in Limbo.
I can't read (classical) Italian (you'll have to forgive me that sin) so I can't talk in terms of accuracy but Allen Mandelbaum's translation for the Everyman's Library is beautiful in its clarity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JuniorModder
Amazing book so far. What makes it better is that my literary course for school is focused on LotR.
That's surprisingly progressive for a school course, I'm impressed. Are you looking at it in the light of Professor Tolkein the Mediaevalist at all? LotR chimes with many of the themes of Anglo-Saxon literature, from little things like his pilfering of middangeard (Middle-Earth; it's actually a Norse phrase, I think) to reading the entire thing as a warrior-Christ story. To convert the Saxons, the Christians used their own culture, transforming Christ into a warrior king, far from the peaceful figure who dies on the cross.
Ring = Original Sin. Frodo = Jesus. Quest = the Passion. Though that's naturally pared-down somewhat.
Part of Tolkein's aim in writing his book was to reconnect people with an English literary heritage which had been silenced by the "civilising" influence of classical and neo-classical mythology: who in Mercia reads about Wodan these days?
Speaking of mock-mediaeval settings: I'm hacking through Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene at the moment. Nifty, I think sums it up.
And as she lookt about, she did behold,
How over that same dore was likewise writ,
Be bold, be bold, and every where Be bold,
That much she muz'd, yet could not construe it
By any ridling skill, or commune wit.
At last she spyde at that same roomes upper end,
Another yron dore, on which was writ,
Be not too bold.
Edit: Here's a rather disturbing video of a man who's far too enthusiastic reading from Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon epic and a favourite of Tolkein. And perhaps easier to grasp: Chaucer's much later Canterbury Tales.
That's surprisingly progressive for a school course, I'm impressed. Are you looking at it in the light of Professor Tolkein the Mediaevalist at all? LotR chimes with many of the themes of Anglo-Saxon literature, from little things like his pilfering of middangeard (Middle-Earth; it's actually a Norse phrase, I think) to reading the entire thing as a warrior-Christ story. To convert the Saxons, the Christians used their own culture, transforming Christ into a warrior king, far from the peaceful figure who dies on the cross.
Ring = Original Sin. Frodo = Jesus. Quest = the Passion. Though that's naturally pared-down somewhat.
Part of Tolkein's aim in writing his book was to reconnect people with an English literary heritage which had been silenced by the "civilising" influence of classical and neo-classical mythology: who in Mercia reads about Wodan these days?
Speaking of mock-mediaeval settings: I'm hacking through Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene at the moment. Nifty, I think sums it up.
And as she lookt about, she did behold,
How over that same dore was likewise writ,
Be bold, be bold, and every where Be bold,
That much she muz'd, yet could not construe it
By any ridling skill, or commune wit.
At last she spyde at that same roomes upper end,
Another yron dore, on which was writ,
Be not too bold.
Edit: Here's a rather disturbing video of a man who's far too enthusiastic reading from Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon epic and a favourite of Tolkein. And perhaps easier to grasp: Chaucer's much later Canterbury Tales.
Yeah it's very interesting. I love all of the allegories and metaphors Tolkien used. Tolkien must have been fascinating to know. Imagine sitting in on one of his readings of Beowulf. I read the Aeneid, and the Odyssey last year, and currently I'm reading Beowulf.
I'm reading 'Confessor' by Terry Goodkind. It's the last book in the Sword of Truth series. All I can say is, thank God I didn't start reading this series when it first came out, because the last 2 books ended with massive cliff-hangers, a la The Empire Strikes Back. I wanted to wring George Lucas' neck for leaving Han Solo in limbo for 3 very long years, and I would have wanted to wring Goodkind's neck for leaving Kahlan in limbo through two entire books if I hadn't been able to pick up the next ones in the series right away.
From MST3K's spoof of "Hercules Unchained"--heard as Roman medic soldiers carry off an unconscious Greek Hercules on a 1950's Army green canvas stretcher: "Hi, we're IX-I-I. Did somebody dial IX-I-I?"
^^^ Heheh.
Currently Reading:
Local city gov't. audit on a neighbor's biz. "We just want to know if you've been stiffing us." Yeah right. It's been so dead here.
Love me, I win.
Hate me, I win.
Ignore me, I've got exactly what I wanted.
Love me or hate me, you're still thinking of me either way.
Just started reading "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. Quite interesting so far, even though it's rather slow in the beginning. Also reading "Wayne Rooney: My Story" which is quite self explanatory.
I am also reading a book called Master Cornhill which is about an orphan living in late 17th centry London. Its quite good and has quite a few plot twists.
I love the entire series, charting Harry Flashman's latest adventures as he flees, fights and fornicates his way through ever greater peril, but Royal Flash is my favourite.
It's quite good, to say the least. It's... rather dismal at times, but it's post-apoc, so what else can you expect?
No Country for Old Men is also quite interesting, also from McCarthy.
I totally agree. It's kept me on the edge of my seat throughout! I'm only 107 pages in and the thing I think this book lacks the most is length. It is ridiculously short!
This Town Will Never Let Us Go by Lawrence Miles - the first novel in Miles' series concerning Faction Paradox, the time-travelling voodoo cult that crops up throughout his work in one form or another (and who, according to this one, don't exist), it's an interesting book.
There are five 'chapters', each divided into 60 sections (numbered 0-59), which in itself is an interesting choice. I've got through the first "chapter" so far; the written style is deceptively simplistic, and at times conveys a real feeling of creeping horror; the characters so far are peculiarly believable grotesques. Certainly intriguing so far, though I'm not quite sure how the various subplots are going to tie together.
The Book of the War, edited by Lawrence Miles - a pseudo-encyclopaedia of the first 50 years of the War in Heaven (in which the aforementioned Faction Paradox plays an ambivalent and often minor role); so far I've got to 'B', and there's certainly no shortage of interesting ideas so far.
Works-In-Progress
~ Mods Released
~ Website
~ Jallama Reed is the New Pioneer. Jallama Reed is Life Under Siege. Jallama Reed is the Model of Tragedy. Jallama Reed is the Avatar of Us All.
Yeah it's very interesting. I love all of the allegories and metaphors Tolkien used. Tolkien must have been fascinating to know. Imagine sitting in on one of his readings of Beowulf. I read the Aeneid, and the Odyssey last year, and currently I'm reading Beowulf.
If you can get a hold of them then his essays on medieval literature, some of which are collected in the widely-available The Monsters and the Critics, are really rather worth reading. He's essentially the man responsible for ripping Beowulf out of the hands of the hands of humourless Historians and restoring it to its rightful place as a work of great creative genius: others had realised it before him (Tennyson and Hopkins leap to mind) but he's the first to argue it so convincingly. "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics" is still probably the most influential essay on the poem.
It's really rather worth putting the effort into learning Old English and reading the poem itself. As Professor Tolkien himself says, it isn't a very difficult language to learn, the similarities with modern English are really rather staggering; once you get over how strange it can look on the page, at least. Professor C.S. Lewis, a critic who was of the utmost common sense, once said that to be unable to read Old English was to miss a corpus of poetry which, while so much Renaissance neo-classicism may have faded into effete and useless ornament, still speaks to man's soul: the Northern spirit of fighting on against the odds because it is the right thing to do.
Here's some Aelfric to show how easy it is to pick some of this stuff up:
Renas cumað of ðære lyft [...] Seo lyft liccað ond atyhð wætan of ealre eorðan ond of ðære sæ [...] ond þonne heo ne mæg mare aberan, þonne fealð hit adune
ð = a hard "th", as in "that"
þ = a soft "th", as in "thorn"
æ = "a" as in "bat"
y = "u" as in "pull"
g at beginning/end = "y" as in "yes"
Show spoiler
Rain comes of the sky [think of the German "luft", as in Lufthansa] ... The sky licks and draws up water of all the earth and of the sea, and when she may not more bear, then falls it adown.
Poetry's harder than that but it's still easier than, say, learning Latin.
Now, I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor, dumb bastard die for his country.---Patton
There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism.---Teddy Roosevelt
I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception.---Groucho
And if you all get killed, I'll piss on your graves.---Shaman Urdnot
How would you like to own a little bit of my foot in your ass.---Red Foreman
Taking a step-down from all the "serious" reading lately.. I wanted a little light reading for a change... these books are hilarious (and aimed at a much lower target age..seriously 9-12 stuff.. but I digress).
Just started The Scarlet Letter, I've heard bad things. I'll let you know.
It's a very interesting look at guilt, sin, human nature, and hypocrisy. Is it an adventure story? No. However, the tension between the various characters is quite well done. It's one of those books that you appreciate later on after gaining more life experience.
@ChAiNz--you need to check out the Captain Underpants series. With titles like 'Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants', you can't lose.
From MST3K's spoof of "Hercules Unchained"--heard as Roman medic soldiers carry off an unconscious Greek Hercules on a 1950's Army green canvas stretcher: "Hi, we're IX-I-I. Did somebody dial IX-I-I?"
@ChAiNz--you need to check out the Captain Underpants series. With titles like 'Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants', you can't lose.
I'll have to agree! I read those books in elementary school, classic stuff. The "Flip-O-Rama" parts are great too.
I went to the local bookstore today on one of those occasional book splurges. Picked up a pretty diverse collection of books, including The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, a book on American President Andrew Jackson, called American Lion, Dexter Filkins' The Forever War, about the war in Iraq, and The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad.
With so many of them, it's a trouble deciding which to pick up first!
Are you one of those poor Macintosh gamers that are in the possession of Empire at War, yet because of the scarcity of Mac players out there you have nobody to play against? If you are, PM me if you want to set up a game.
Also a book of the same name by Joe Haldeman. If you haven't already read it, you should give it a look.
Now, I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor, dumb bastard die for his country.---Patton
There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism.---Teddy Roosevelt
I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception.---Groucho
And if you all get killed, I'll piss on your graves.---Shaman Urdnot
How would you like to own a little bit of my foot in your ass.---Red Foreman
From MST3K's spoof of "Hercules Unchained"--heard as Roman medic soldiers carry off an unconscious Greek Hercules on a 1950's Army green canvas stretcher: "Hi, we're IX-I-I. Did somebody dial IX-I-I?"
I read the Aeneid, and the Odyssey last year, and currently I'm reading Beowulf.
Heheh.
Linear Mode
