In September, I worked on finding balance in my reading life. I’ve been so consumed with ancient Greece and The Odyssey that I’ve neglected my relaxation reading, meaning the reading I do to clear my mind at bedtime and when I first wake up. It can feel so self-indulgent to read without any destination or purpose other than relaxation and the pleasure of getting lost in a story. But I’m trying to allow myself this simple joy. Continue reading “September Reads in Review”
Rereading Homer’s “The Iliad”
Since Stephen Mitchell’s 2011 translation of the The Iliad came out, I’ve been telling myself that I should reread this epic poem. The last time I read it, I was in high school studying modern Greek with a tutor. This tutor came to my house each week. Seated at a round table in my parents’s shades-of-brown family room, with its faux wood-paneled walls, I’d read out loud from a modern Greek translation of The Iliad. I think maybe we discussed it? I can’t recall exactly how I felt about the poem, other than that it seemed to involve a lot of killing, trash talking, and whining gods.
Four years after purchasing Mitchell’s translation and reverently placing it on my bookshelf, I finally got around to the task of reading it. Turns out, I wasn’t so off the mark with my initial assessment. Also: It’s one of the saddest books I’ve ever read, and an absolute must read for anyone who wants to understand the human condition.