On Reading The Iliad

A woman in one of my book clubs started reading one of those 100 greatest books list that are frequently found on the internet.  Each month she's talked about her progress from The Great Gatsby, which was number one on the list, to Anna Karenina, which was taking her forever to get through.  She is determined to read every single one of the books on the list.  Her goal intrigued me, so much so that I started Googling 100 greatest books of all time searches but was never satisfied with the results.  Especially when many of the lists had 50 Shades of Grey on them.  Okay, I admit, I read the series and will see the movie, but greatest book of all time it is not!  The book snob has spoken and passed judgement!  Be warned, ye list makers!

Then I got to perusing my unread book shelves and noticed I'd picked up a copy of Clifton Fadiman's The New Lifetime Reading Plan some months ago because I love books about books and flipping through it I figured it's a far better compilation of worthy books to read than some of the lists I was finding on the good ole WWW.

Hence we come to Homer's The Iliad, the second book listed (the first being the Epic of Gilgamesh which I read earlier this year).  I had always wanted to read Homer but always shied away.  I have this prevailing thought in my head that old, classic books are way difficult to read and will take months and months to slough through (okay, true of the Russians, but not necessarily true of everything else as I'm slowly realizing). 

I chose to read Stephen Mitchell's translation, which uses such plain English the reading of Homer is turning out to be a breeze.  Except for the fact it has a gazillion Greek and Trojan names to stumble over and the battle scenes seem to go on forever.  Despite all that, I'm really enjoying it.  Especially Homer's turn of phrase, and his use of metaphor to paint a vivid picture of the movements of the troops and gods.  What is starting to get on my nerves though is the childish behaviour of the immortals and the sulking Achilles.  Really folks, time to grow up!  Of course, the same could be said of the Greeks who started the war because Paris made off with the one guy's wife.  Really, I get that Helen was beautiful and all, but was she worth 10 years of bloodshed?  I'm thinking not.  Guess it makes for a decent story though.

Till next time, happy reading!
L :)