What are you currently reading?

[Ken B]

Went for more classical poetry

You read Latin, or are these just the most convenient editions?

That Argonautika is in my short list ...

[kishnevi]

You read Latin, or are these just the most convenient editions?

That Argonautika is in my short list ...

Mostly convenience.  I don't know Latin, but like having the original texts, and like having a relatively literal  translation instead of someone's versified modern equivalent.  The price is not that much more than an English only version.

[Brian]

Has anybody read any novels by John Williams? Not the Star Wars composer, nor the classical guitarist, but the northeast Texas man who spent decades teaching writing at the University of Denver.

I just finished his "western" novel, Butcher's Crossing, which seems to be considered, by many critics, the darkest, gloomiest western novel before Cormac McCarthy arrived on the scene. At the very beginning, it suffers from a few cases of overwriting and the novelist adding details which serve only to draw attention to himself; but when the main character meets Miller, a buffalo hunter, and begins his journey, the prose tightens to a mesmerizing focus. The ensuing events, which I shall not reveal, are fascinating in their tragedy; one could easily imagine this being a better movie than The Revenant. The novel works as a metaphoric investigation of the American dream and the poisonous consequences of American hunger/ambition, but it's also a straightforwardly fascinating tale.

Someone once wrote that John Williams is like Hemingway without the brusque machismo, Fitzgerald without the fashion, or Faulkner without the pomp. An interesting comment.

A few months ago I read one of his other novels, a totally different beast: Augustus, a series of letters and diary entries documenting the life of the Roman emperor. It is such a remarkable achievement that by the end, I forgot I was reading fiction, so absorbing were the narrative voices and so completely believable were the characterizations. The final section is a rhetorical firework show, as Augustus himself writes what he seems to intuit will be his final letter, and rushes to document all he has learned about the disappointments of life and power. The writing here achieves an elegiac beauty I could compare to late Richard Strauss, or The Tempest.

There are only three mature novels by John Williams, but the two I've read are uncontestably masterpieces, and the third - Stoner - which I will read soon - is considered by many critics to be even better.

Without doubt (edit: but with apologies to Magda Szabo), my literary discovery of the year.

[Jo498]

I read Butcher's crossing in German translation a month ago or so. It is quite good but trying a little too hard to be (almost) Moby Dick with buffalo hunting instead of whaling.
Wasn't "Stoner" Williams' debut or the one that made him famous?

[Brian]

I read Butcher's crossing in German translation a month ago or so. It is quite good but trying a little too hard to be (almost) Moby Dick with buffalo hunting instead of whaling.
Wasn't "Stoner" Williams' debut or the one that made him famous?

This is potentially a fair criticism (about Moby Dick) - though I think the obsessions of the characters are for very different reasons. And I do appreciate Williams' brevity.

None of Williams' novels were famous - Butcher's Crossing was first, Stoner second, and Augustus was his last. Augustus sold poorly even after winning the National Book Award for best fiction. It is true, however, that in the last 10-15 years Stoner has been the most highly acclaimed and it has been the focus of the Williams "revival".

[Ken B]

Has anybody read any novels by John Williams? Not the Star Wars composer, nor the classical guitarist, but the northeast Texas man who spent decades teaching writing at the University of Denver.

I just finished his "western" novel, Butcher's Crossing, which seems to be considered, by many critics, the darkest, gloomiest western novel before Cormac McCarthy arrived on the scene. At the very beginning, it suffers from a few cases of overwriting and the novelist adding details which serve only to draw attention to himself; but when the main character meets Miller, a buffalo hunter, and begins his journey, the prose tightens to a mesmerizing focus. The ensuing events, which I shall not reveal, are fascinating in their tragedy; one could easily imagine this being a better movie than The Revenant. The novel works as a metaphoric investigation of the American dream and the poisonous consequences of American hunger/ambition, but it's also a straightforwardly fascinating tale.

Someone once wrote that John Williams is like Hemingway without the brusque machismo, Fitzgerald without the fashion, or Faulkner without the pomp. An interesting comment.

A few months ago I read one of his other novels, a totally different beast: Augustus, a series of letters and diary entries documenting the life of the Roman emperor. It is such a remarkable achievement that by the end, I forgot I was reading fiction, so absorbing were the narrative voices and so completely believable were the characterizations. The final section is a rhetorical firework show, as Augustus himself writes what he seems to intuit will be his final letter, and rushes to document all he has learned about the disappointments of life and power. The writing here achieves an elegiac beauty I could compare to late Richard Strauss, or The Tempest.

There are only three mature novels by John Williams, but the two I've read are uncontestably masterpieces, and the third - Stoner - which I will read soon - is considered by many critics to be even better.

Without doubt (edit: but with apologies to Magda Szabo), my literary discovery of the year.

I read a few books from "best westerns" lists, and BC was on a few. I have not read it yet.
FWIW the best westerns I know are still ones I read a while ago, Lonesome Dove and True Grit.

[Karl Henning]

My publisher, knowing how I have enjoyed dipping into Pogo, feels that I need more Southern in my reading diet, so he sent me a copy of this:

[asin]B007VTEGMQ[/asin]

[Cato]

That Argonautika is in my short list ...

The version of the story by Apollonius Rhodius has often puzzled readers with the rather passive characterization of Jason.  In the vast Cato Archives I have a translation from 50 + years ago, which is no longer available from what I can glean from the Internet/Amazon.  I saw a claim where "only two translations" have been available, and the one I possess was not one of them!  Possibly the version I picked up is more of a "retelling" than a translation.

I have no access to it right now, but will look for it soon.

[AndyD.]

I've read the Rosen Schoenberg at least a dozen times, and I'm just starting this one. A favorite subject of mine.

[Karl Henning]

I've read the Rosen Schoenberg at least a dozen times, and I'm just starting this one. A favorite subject of mine.

I'm at about the two-thirds point; very well done.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Say, Karl: did you ever finish Pickwick?

[Jaakko Keskinen]

Thread duty: started Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre.

[Karl Henning]

Say, Karl: did you ever finish Pickwick?

I blush to answer that I have not.  And yes: I ought, really I ought.

[Jaakko Keskinen]

I blush to answer that I have not.  And yes: I ought, really I ought.

Don't feel bad. I haven't even started reading it. 

[Karl Henning]

Don't feel bad. I haven't even started reading it. 

Well, I have multiple motivations.  I just need to interiorize it 

[Ken B]

Well, I have multiple motivations.  I just need to interiorize it 

Now I have visions of you eating it.

[Bogey]

I do enjoy reading about history and Karl's recent posts on WWII with his World At War dvd set reminded me of how little I know about this event.  Sure, I know the basic timeline and such, with a general knowledge of some of the bigger events, but when it comes to knowing details of specific battles, I fall way short.  Instead of working through chronologically, I have decided to read about events during this time period based on what grabs my attention.  I remember having some of these Ballantine books as a kid because I enjoyed the artwork on the covers.  (Still do.)  So, I found one in a used shop the other day and got cracking on it.  So far, a very solid read and easy to follow while netting some stories that only these authors would be privy to. 



This landmark study was first published in English by the Naval Institute in 1955 and was added to the Classics of Naval Literature series in 1992. Widely acknowledged for its valuable Japanese insights into the battle that turned that tide of war in the Pacific, the book has made a great impact on American readers over the years. Two Japanese naval aviators who participated in the operation provide an unsparing analysis of what caused Japan's staggering defeat.
Mitsuo Fuchida, who led the first air strike on Pearl Harbor, commanded the Akagi carrier air group and later made a study of the battle at the Japanese Naval War College. Masatake Okumiya, one of Japan's first dive-bomber pilots, was aboard the light carrier Ryujo and later served as a staff officer in a carrier division. Armed with knowledge of top-secret documents destroyed by the Japanese and access to private papers, they show the operation to be ill-conceived and poorly planned and executed, and fault their flag officers for lacking initiative, leadership, and clear thinking. With an introduction by an author known for his study of the battle from the American perspective, the work continues to make a significant contribution to World War II literature.

[Ken B]

I do enjoy reading about history and Karl's recent posts on WWII with his World At War dvd set reminded me of how little I know about this event.  Sure, I know the basic timeline and such, with a general knowledge of some of the bigger events, but when it comes to knowing details of specific battles, I fall way short.  Instead of working through chronologically, I have decided to read about events during this time period based on what grabs my attention.  I remember having some of these Ballantine books as a kid because I enjoyed the artwork on the covers.  (Still do.)  So, I found one in a used shop the other day and got cracking on it.  So far, a very solid read and easy to follow while netting some stories that only these authors would be privy to. 



This landmark study was first published in English by the Naval Institute in 1955 and was added to the Classics of Naval Literature series in 1992. Widely acknowledged for its valuable Japanese insights into the battle that turned that tide of war in the Pacific, the book has made a great impact on American readers over the years. Two Japanese naval aviators who participated in the operation provide an unsparing analysis of what caused Japan's staggering defeat.
Mitsuo Fuchida, who led the first air strike on Pearl Harbor, commanded the Akagi carrier air group and later made a study of the battle at the Japanese Naval War College. Masatake Okumiya, one of Japan's first dive-bomber pilots, was aboard the light carrier Ryujo and later served as a staff officer in a carrier division. Armed with knowledge of top-secret documents destroyed by the Japanese and access to private papers, they show the operation to be ill-conceived and poorly planned and executed, and fault their flag officers for lacking initiative, leadership, and clear thinking. With an introduction by an author known for his study of the battle from the American perspective, the work continues to make a significant contribution to World War II literature.

A general history of the war in toto is worth reading. Keegan's is not too long.

[AndyD.]

Pretty darn good! The rivalry between Keats and Shelly is always amusing to me, I actually prefer Shelly's works. #ozymandias

Once I finish, I'll probably have to reread the graphic novel, a very great favorite of mine.

[SimonNZ]