Karsa Orlong

Book #3: The Iliad - Homer, translation by Robert Fagles From Amazon.com: Robert Fagles, winner of the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters presents us with his universally acclaimed modern verse translation of the world's greatest war story. 'Rage-Goddess, sing the rage of Peleus' son Achilles, murderous, doomed, that cost the Achaeans countless losses, hurling down to the House of Death so many sturdy souls?' Thus begins the stirring story of the Trojan War and the rage of Achilles that has gripped listeners and readers for 2,700 years. This timeless poem still vividly conveys the horror and heroism of men and gods wrestling with towering emotions and battling amidst devastation and destruction, as it moves inexorably to its wrenching, tragic conclusion. Renowned classicist Bernard Knox observes in his superb Introduction that although the violence of the Iliad is grim and relentless, it co-exists with both images of civilized life and a poignant yearning for peace. Combining the skills of a poet and scholar, Robert Fagles brings the energy of contemporary language to this enduring heroic epic. He maintains the drive and metric music of Homer's poetry, and evokes the impact and nuance of the Iliad's mesmerizing repeated phrases in what Peter Levi calls "an astonishing performance." Thoughts: I decided I wanted to try and read a few different books to my norm this year, and The Iliad was top of the list. I'm still actually quite shocked that I have read it. I expected to try reading it for a day or two, get a little way into it and then decide I'd had enough. Happily, that never happened. I'm still not sure how to review it, though, as it's not something that I can easily compare to my normal fare. Or is it? As I was reading it I couldn't help but see from where many fantasy authors must draw some inspiration. There is an elongated passage in Book Two (unsurprisingly called 'The Gathering of the Armies') in which name after name of soldiers is reeled off. On top of that, as each is named, there is a potted family history and occasionally tales of previous feats. George R.R. Martin does this regularly (I'm not saying he's the only one, or that he's ripping off Homer, just that the similarities jumped out at me). One of the lengthy main battle sequences brought to mind a sequence in Joe Abercrombie's The Heroes, following one soldier until he dies, then jumping to the next etc. And then there are the meddling gods - Steven Erikson would know something about this, not to mention the vast armies clashing on the Scamandrian Plain. I wonder just how far its influence extends. I searched a long time, through six or seven different translations, before settling on this one by Robert Fagles. There is something about it that is very readable. The blurb above calls it a verse translation but I think what made it so easy for me to read is that it seems, to me, to be more of a halfway house between verse and prose. You certainly couldn't chant this version, which I think is what would have happened originally. Sure, there were times when I had to re-read passages because I'd lost the thread but this, I think, was more down to a lapse in my concentration than any problem with the text. Sometimes there are so many names flying about - many of which made me grind to a halt as I tried to figure out the pronunciation (thank the gods for the 'Pronouncing Glossary' at the back of the book!) - that it's easy to go off track, but it's a small issue that's far outweighed by all the good points. It has a drive about it, a pace that kept me reading and - more importantly - made me want to read more. It's also incredibly violent - easily the most violent, gory piece of work I've ever read. I wasn't expecting that but I suppose I should have - there's a war going on, after all. What I didn't know is that the poem is not the tale of the war, of the wooden horse or the fall of Troy. It is about Hector and Achilles, and Achilles fury with Agamemnon and its tragic results. The poem starts in the tenth year of the war. A priest of Apollo, Chryses, comes to the Achaeans to pay ransom for his daughter, who has been taken as a prize by Agamemnon. Turned away by the King, Chryses prays to Apollo, and the god sends a plague amongst the Achaean armies. Achilles, the fearsome leader of the Myrmidons, confronts Agamemnon when he learns what has brought the plague upon them and, after a violent argument, the King agrees to return the girl to Chryses - but only if she is replaced by Briseis, Achilles' own prize. At this point, Achilles has a bit of a hissy fit, and it will last a long time (there's about 540 pages to go after that . . . ). He's not a particularly likeable character, but he is a beast. It did annoy me, somewhat, that every time he speaks I had Brad Pitt's voice in my head On top of this come the gods. There is a reasonable amount of humour in the poem, and much of it stems from the gods and the way they manipulate each other. Hera and Athena are dead set against the Trojans, whilst Zeus has something of an investment in Hector. They interfere in proceedings. A lot. I don't think anyone knows how much truth there is in the human side of the Trojan War - if it even happened - but I'm pretty sure, if it did, there were no gods involved. There's a fantasy element right there. Also, you have to wonder how much the source material has been altered and embellished over the centuries. None of that mattered to me, though. I can't believe what a fantastic read it was. I don't think I can score it by my normal scale. The story and the characters are iconic - it really is an amazing piece of work. Fagles' translation - as the only one I've read - did pretty much everything I could ask of it. It won't be for everyone, for sure, but if you're feeling brave, I really can't recommend it more. For the quality of the translation alone, it gets a 10. If anyone's interested you can listen to the beginning of the audiobook version here

The actual poem was about 550 pages long

They look blimmin' marvellous, Devi I feel your shelf space problem. I hate to make it worse, but from Toll the Hounds onwards it's possible you might get the larger format paperbacks (like the Beauchelain & Korbal Broach one you have there, except about a billion times thicker). Those were what came out in the UK and they're enormous. I ordered the last three from Canada in the end, because they got the smaller trade paperback editions. I'll never understand why they chose to change the format part way through the series. It's not like they've re-issued the first seven books in the larger size . . . yet Doggies? Doggies??? Those are the Deragoth, the Hounds of Darkness, I'll have you know

I finished The Iliad Now I need a lie down

I don't think this'll affect you but just FYI, Play.com's in a bit of trouble. They're closing down their retail business but, from what I can gather, the marketplace is going to keep going. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-20953357

Sadly, anyone or thing as successful as Dan Brown becomes an easy target, especially on the internet. Good luck to the guy - he writes for a living, unlike the vast majority of us.

Yeah, I hope it's a long shelf I hope you'll post a photo ETA: beat me to it . . .

There are ten books in Erikson's 'Tales' series. . . . but . . . A handful of characters/plots spill over into Esslemont's 'Empire' series, of which there are five books (so far). I've only read the first two, and Return of the Crimson Guard answered a couple of questions I had left from the main series. Then there are five (again, so far) 'Beauchelain & Korbal Broach' novellas, although they don't have any bearing on the main stories, they're just a bit of fun. Oh, and there's the new 'Kharkanas' trilogy and the 'Toblakai' trilogy to follow, too - again, no bearing on the main series, although some characters re-appear (for instance, the 'Toblakai' trilogy is set to be about Karsa and his people). Gardens of the Moon is the shortest at 703 pages. The rest are between 900 and 1,300 pages long.

Yeah, that's what I did. I'll probably join you for Gardens at least, just so my memory's fresh. Although that's dangerous, cos I probably won't be able to stop myself continuing after that

It's a great film. Great cast, too

Bet you'll never look at a banjo the same way again

I'm looking forward to reading your review of The Name of the Wind, I've heard a lot of good things about it

Just as well - if it was someone else you'd be in big trouble Hi Kate

500 pages into The Iliad. I wonder how much Homer charged for performances of this?

That happened to me too I spent ages editing and updating my TBR list, went to post it, and the board crashed on me and lost it all. Next time I'll do it in Word first

Yeah, there's enough background info in The Redbreast. Plus it's got one of the best suspense sequences I've yet read

I've been hanging onto that one for ages, waiting for him to finish the last part. For some reason, if it's a trilogy, I like to have all three books before I start. I think it goes back to Night's Dawn, when I read them as they came out, and re-read the previous book(s) with each successive release, so I ended up reading The Reality Dysfunction three times, The Neutronium Alchemist twice and The Naked God just the once So the sensible half of the household has arrived

It's one I've thought about reading before but never done anything about. Which, come to think of it, still hasn't changed

Another one for the wishlist: The Last of the Mohicans (Oxford World's Classics)

I thought the movie was really good

Fantastic shelves, Athena - loved seeing all the Neal Asher books there - not to mention The X Files dvds

The final WoT book seems to be going down very well over on the Malazan forums

*sigh* It's Tolkeen And I'm not a fan at all