I’m late getting this up. No excuse! I was having too much fun working on author notes for Hand of Fire and having lunch with a Paris-based editor of a small press and I just plain forgot. Off to my Saturday morning yoga now!
On an e-reader? Sound advice for the historical fiction reader on what you may have been missing on every book you’ve read and how to fix the problem. Simple advice from Tinney Heath. Link here
Archaeologists are 95% certain they have identified Nerik, the city most sacred to the Hittites. Because we have many royal records from the Hittite capital of Hattusha, we know the names of cities across the Hittite Empire, but frequently we don’t know their true locations. This city is especially significant because of its centrality to Hittite religion. Also the Hittites’ perennial enemy, the Kaska, captured and held this city for years, so it took on a huge political significance during the period I write about. As the fifth season of excavation closed, they’ve discovered enough cuneiform tablets and seals from this dig that they feel sure they are indeed uncovering Nerik, a city that captured the minds and hearts of all the Hittite kings and queens. I think in scale this is as if Jerusalem had been buried and its location lost and then it was rediscovered. That’s the best parallel I can come up with to explain the role Nerik held in this part of the ancient Near East. Shivers, anyone? Link here
How is Rome like the US today? How does research save the stuck writer? What do Moses, Romulus and Jesus all share in common? For a first-rate author interview go to this one done by Erin Al-Mehairi with David Blixt. Erin avoids the typical questions and David’s answers are especially engaging and thought-provoking.Link here
The formidable Bess of Hardwick & author Gillian Bagwell interviewed by Jo on the book blog JaffaReadsToo. Link here
In honor of upcoming translations of the Iliad (by Barry B. Powell) and the Odyssey (by Stephen Mitchell), the NYT Book Review ran two essays on what the authors look for in modern translations. Homer has always posed special challenges for translators. I’m not sure I’ll love either of these two new ones, although it’ll take much closer examination to know. Here’s a snippet from one of the essays about the new translations:
“In their eagerness to make Homer accessible to impatient 21st-century ears, both new translations sometimes opt for speed and directness at the cost of nobility. In Powell’s Iliad, a displeased Achilles poutily informs Agamemnon, ‘O.K., I’m off to Phthia.’”
I found Daniel Mendelsohn’s list of qualities in a good translation right on the mark (accuracy, sensitivity to formal considerations, texture and tone). His argument is too complicated to excerpt briefly, so go have a look. What ticks you off in a translation? Or lights your fire? Link here
I’m intriqued: dual point of view, 1st & 3rd, WWI & London today. The Girl You Left Behind by author JoJo Moyes, a thoughtful review by Cynthia Robertson. Link here
Copy-editors: what they really do. This was an enlightening post. Good to know. A post by Robert Doran on the blog Catherine, Caffeintated Link here
Let your voice as a reader be heard! 2013 Historical fiction survey (created by Historical Novel Society and Mary Tod) Simple, 5 mins. and worthwhile. Go take it now! Link here
My first reaction to “OK, I’m off to Pythia.” is a grinding of teeth. That said, I came to reading the classics through Classics Illustrated and opera from Strauss waltzes. If a soon-to-be outdated vernacular gets someone to fall in love with history, archaeology or literature, I will joyfully concede the value. Personally, I will stay with the translated cadences I have fallen in love with.
Priscilla, I think there is a lot to be said for each generation finding its own translation. And the one you fell in love with is probably not going to get dislodged by a later version. I’m glad new translations keep coming out. It’s a sign of Homer’s endurance and continuing influence. I think there is a lot to be said for finding new cadences or vernaculars each time around. It’s a fluid evolving tradition not a final statement.
Thanks for the mention, Judith!
Took the survey. Can’t wait to see the tallied results.
Thanks for the mention, Judith!
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