What are you currently reading?

[Jo498]

I did "Of mice and men" in school about 25 years ago. Later I read Cannery Row which is quite funny and Grapes of Wrath which is rather depressing. Have not got around to East of Eden, although it's included in the doorstopper that also has Grapes of Wrath.

I am not sure I ever read a translation of the Aeneid complete (although I should have done this in school when we translated some bits of it and maybe I did, I don't remember). Same for the Metamorphoses. My Latin is now way too rusty for this kind of stuff (I can read not too elaborate prose with a dictionary, but poetry is usually too hard) but I probably should get a bilingual edition at some stage and re-read them.

I am reading lighter fantasy stuff now: "Half a King" by J. Abercrombie, going to be a nice quick read. And I got another doorstopper on the Kindle: Struggle for Rome (Ein Kampf um Rom) but I am not sure If I'll get through this one. I saw the movie as a kid in the 80s. Lots of intrigues and monumental battles between Goths, Romans and Byzantines in the 6th century...

[North Star]

I loved Milton when I read him. I doubt I'd get through PL again, but it made a hell of an impression on me way back when. The only two English poets who I could recite more than tiny amounts of were Milton and Blake. Donne, Milton, Blake are my favorite English poets.

That is some heavyweight group, for sure! Have you read all the big Blake works? (I certainly haven't yet).
Shakespeare (sonnets & other poems), Milton, Donne, Traherne, Blake, Coleridge, Wordsworth,  Keats, Yeats and Auden are my favourites, but I haven't read enough of any of them, let alone others.

[Brian]

Just finished The Three Musketeers. That was fun! Are the sequels as entertaining?

[Ken B]

Just finished The Three Musketeers. That was fun! Are the sequels as entertaining?

No, but Iron Mask is well worth reading.

Monte Cristo beckons too. I read an abridgement  but am tempted to read the whole thing. Don't read the first few pages! They are incredibly appealling ... 

[Ken B]

That is some heavyweight group, for sure! Have you read all the big Blake works? (I certainly haven't yet).
Shakespeare (sonnets & other poems), Milton, Donne, Traherne, Blake, Coleridge, Wordsworth,  Keats, Yeats and Auden are my favourites, but I haven't read enough of any of them, let alone others.

Not all. Read a lot, long ago. The odd thing is I loathe mysticism, but like Blake! I did read most of Milton, aside from Regained.

Don't forget De Rerum Natura; it's my favourite Roman book, even over Plautus, and certainly over Virgil.

[North Star]

Not all. Read a lot, long ago. The odd thing is I loathe mysticism, but like Blake! I did read most of Milton, aside from Regained.

Yeah, good writing is often just that, regardless of values and ideas of the writer - and Blake's 'Satanic Mills' certainly contain more than just mysticism.

Don't forget De Rerum Natura; it's my favourite Roman book, even over Plautus, and certainly over Virgil.

Thanks, I'll certainly put it on the list.

[North Star]

And of course Bookdepository sends a soon-to-expire 10 % off coupon just after I bought the previous lot . .

[Brian]

No, but Iron Mask is well worth reading.

Monte Cristo beckons too. I read an abridgement  but am tempted to read the whole thing. Don't read the first few pages! They are incredibly appealling ... 

I read Monte Cristo last year. There are parts that lag, but if your abridgment did not contain the lesbian affair escape sequence, you're missing out for sure.

[North Star]

I read Monte Cristo last year. There are parts that lag, but if your abridgment did not contain the lesbian affair escape sequence, you're missing out for sure.

Damn! I read an abridged Finnish translation in elementary school, and a lesbian affair escape sequence would surely have enriched the experience. 

[Henk]

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Coincidentally, I started rereading Monte Cristo about a week ago. Non-abridged, by Jalmari Finne.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

[North Star]

Coincidentally, I started rereading Monte Cristo about a week ago. Non-abridged, by Jalmari Finne.

[unabridged]

Very nice.

Thread duty

I returned just now after bathing in the bright summer's sun on the beach in the best of companies:
[asin]0199535795[/asin]

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Well, excuse meee, I wrote that in a hurry.

[North Star]

Well, excuse meee, I wrote that in a hurry.

No apology is necessary.
I certainly didn't intend to grumble. . .

How is the Finne translation, by the way? I see it's from 1912.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

1911, actually. It's excellent, although there are some outdated expressions (the word "tyhmeliini" sounds a bit silly, like straight out of old fairy tales).

[ritter]

Starting with this recent purchase:

[asin]8831719394[/asin]
I still haven't reached the musical part of these memoirs by one of Italy's foremost (and most scathing) music critics. The first few pages are rather pompously loaded with latin quotes (from Virgil and Horace), but then as he starts talking about himself, Paolo Isotta is one of those raconteurs who manage to make you take a keen interest in the vicissitudes of, for instance, their third-grade teacher. Definitely a fun read so far...

[North Star]

1911, actually. It's excellent, although there are some outdated expressions (the word "tyhmeliini" sounds a bit silly, like straight out of old fairy tales).

Hah! It's a good word in the appropriate place, though.
I'll certainly keep this one in mind if/when I want to read the whole thing later on.

[Florestan]

1911, actually. It's excellent, although there are some outdated expressions (the word "tyhmeliini" sounds a bit silly, like straight out of old fairy tales).

What does tyhmeliini mean?

[ritter]

What does tyhmeliini mean?

I was wondering the same thing..saw it translated as "nincompoop" in some webpage.